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Conclusion:

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If bees are released in a seed field at 10% bloom seed yield could be 7% greater than if released near full bloom.

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Notes:

A 7% increase could be a useful increase for a grower, though small. But my overall conclusion is that this bee is a pretty good pollinator for alfalfa, and the risk of increased self pollination is surprisingly low when standing crop is high. This has been the conclusion for quite a few plants in natural systems as well.
For further information, see:
Strickler, K. 1999. The impact of flower standing crop and pollinator movement on alfalfa seed yield. Environ. Entomol. 28(6): 1067-1076.
Strickler, K. and J. Vinson. 2000. A simulation of the effect of pollinator movement on alfalfa seed production. Environ. Entomol. 29(5):907-918.   (PDF file)