[joseph]

Yes, I am looking to enhance cross pollination rates of tomatoes. Using an existing pollinator and selecting for plants that are more attractive to that pollinator seems like the most straight forward approach.

I already have a decent population of bumblebees. I counted at least 5 species on two tomato plants this summer. The other varieties were ignored. I'd like to do more to cultivate bumblebees.

Some years ago I switched from growing barren potatoes to growing abundantly fruiting potatoes. The bumblebees used to ignore the barren potatoes, but they are all over the abundantly fruiting potatoes. On close examination, the non-fruiting potatoes have clumpy pollen. It doesn't come out of the the flower, and when dissected to pollen looks like jelly. If I jostle the fruitful potato flowers a stream of pollen pours out. The bumblebees like collecting pollen so they visit the flowers. I noticed the "jelly pollen" trait on one of the few tomato flowers I dissected this summer.

I think that I am looking for something similar with tomatoes. There might be several different traits to seek out: non-clumpy pollen, more open anther cones, etc... I figure that the bees will tell me without going to the trouble of dissection.