GENETICALLY ENGINEERED CROPS PROVIDE MANY BENEFITS SUCH AS DECREASED PESTICIDE USE, INCREASED YIELD, AND INCREASED PROFITS (KL&UUML;MPER AND QAIM 2014). HOWEVER, THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THESE CROPS IS NOT WITHOUT RISKS. ONE OF THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THEIR IMPLEMENTATION IS THE RISK OF TRANSGENE ESCAPE. BASF RECENTLY RELEASED A REPORT CONCERNING ONE EXAMPLE OF TRANSGENE ESCAPE OBSERVED WITHIN THEIR LIBERTYLINK CANOLA PRODUCTION SYSTEM. THEY DISCOVERED EVIDENCE OF CROSS-POLLINATION BETWEEN THEIR HERBICIDE-RESISTANT CANOLA AND A VARIETY OF CANOLA DEVELOPED BY NUSEED WITH INCREASED LEVELS OF OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS (HINES 2021). EVENTS LIKE THIS POSE A SERIOUS THREAT TO THE US AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY. IN THIS CASE, THE NUSEED TRAIT IS NOT YET APPROVED IN MANY EXPORT COUNTRIES AND PUTS US AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES AT RISK. ACCORDING TO THE NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE, US CANOLA PRODUCTION IS VALUED AT OVER $600 MILLION ANNUALLY, MAKING ANY THREAT TO THIS INDUSTRY A SERIOUS ISSUE (USDA NASS 2020). THE RISK OF POLLINATOR-MEDIATED GENE ESCAPE IS NOT JUST AN ISSUE FOR TRANSGENIC CROPS, BREEDERS OF ALL INSECT-POLLINATED CROPS MUST ENSURE THE ISOLATION OF THEIR FIELDS DURING BREEDING AND SEED PRODUCTION TO ENSURE THE PURITY OF THEIR SEED. THIS RISK IS NOT UNIQUE TO CANOLA, ALFALFA IS ANOTHER COMMON GE CROP AND UTILIZES INSECT POLLINATION FOR SEED PRODUCTION. IN 2021, ALFALFA PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES WAS VALUED AT $9.69 BILLION DOLLARS (USDA NASS 2021). GLOBALLY, INSECT POLLINATION IS REQUIRED FOR THE PRODUCTION OF 13 CROPS AND IMPROVES YIELD IN AN ADDITIONAL 78 CROPS, MAKING THIS A SIGNIFICANT ISSUE FOR GROWERS AND REGULATORS EVERYWHERE (KLEIN ET AL. 2007). WHILE FLIES, WASPS, SOLITARY BEES AND EVEN BEETLES ALL ACT AS POLLINATORS, THE MOST WIDELY USED AGRICULTURAL POLLINATOR IS THE HONEY BEE (APIS MELLIFERA) BECAUSE THEY ARE AVAILABLE IN LARGE QUANTITIES AND CAN BE EASILY TRANSPORTED BETWEEN CROPS.OPTIMAL FORAGING THEORY SUGGESTS THAT BEES WILL ADOPT A FORAGING STRATEGY THAT PROVIDES THE GREATEST BENEFIT FOR THE TIME/ENERGY INVESTED IN COLLECTING THAT RESOURCE. BEES TEND TO FORAGE IN AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT MANNER BY FORAGING ON THE FLOWERS CLOSEST TO THE HIVE FIRST (MARDEN AND WADDINGTON 1981). HONEY BEES IN A NATURAL LANDSCAPE WITH NORMAL POPULATION DENSITY PERFORM 95% OF THEIR FORAGING WITHIN A 2-3 KM RADIUS (VISSCHNER AND SEELEY 1982). RESEARCH LIKE THIS HAS BEEN USED TO ESTABLISH CROP PRODUCTION ISOLATION STANDARDS FOR POLLINATION DEPENDENT CROP PRODUCTION. HOWEVER, BEEKMAN AND RATNIEKS (2000) FOUND THAT HONEY BEES WILL FORAGE UP TO 9.5KM FROM THEIR HIVE WHEN NECESSARY. THIS NECESSITY CAN BE DRIVEN BY 2 POTENTIAL FACTORS 1) A LACK OF QUANTITY OF POLLEN; EFFECTIVELY FORCING BEES TO FLY FURTHER TO FIND MORE PROTEIN OR CARBOHYDRATES. 2) A LACK OF FLORAL DIVERSITY, FORCING BEES TO FORAGE FURTHER TO FILL IN GAPS IN NECESSARY NUTRITIONAL COMPONENTS. IT HAS BEEN SHOWN THAT FORAGERS ATTEMPT TO BALANCE NUTRITION BY SEEKING OUT FORAGE THAT CONTAINS MIS,SING COMPONENTS FROM THEIR DIET (AMINO ACIDS, FATTY ACIDS, STEROLS, ETC.) (HENDRIKSMA AND SHAFIR 2016, ZARCHIN ET AL. 2017). HONEY BEES ARE GENERALIST POLLINATORS AND NEED A POLYLETIC DIET, MEANING THEY FORAGE ON A WIDE VARIETY OF FLOWERS TO BETTER MEET THEIR NUTRITIONAL NEEDS. THEREFORE, A SINGLE MONOCULTURED FIELD CANNOT MEET THEIR NUTRITIONAL NEEDS. THIS NUTRITIONAL DEFICIT IS FURTHER WORSENED BY HYBRID SEED PRODUCTION SYSTEMS. THE HYBRID BREEDING STRATEGY USED IN MANY INSECT POLLINATED SEED CROPS, INCLUDING GENETICALLY ENGINEERED CANOLA, SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCES THE AMOUNT OF POLLEN AVAILABLE TO BEES. GENERALLY, ABOUT 1/3 OF THE FIELD IS PLANTED IN POLLINIZERS (PRODUCING NECTAR AND POLLEN); THE OTHER 2/3RD OF THE ACREAGE IS PLANTED IN STERILE FEMALE PLANTS THAT DO NOT PRODUCE POLLEN. THIS CREATES A SITUATION IN WHICH A COLONY'S ABILITY TO GATHER POLLEN FROM THAT FIELD IS SEVERELY LIMITED. THE HIGH STOCKING RATE AND LIMITED NUMBER OF POLLEN PRODUCING PLANTS IS LIKELY CAUSING A SCENARIO WHERE A GREATER NUMBER OF SCOUTING FORAGERS ARE LOOKING FOR ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AT LONG DISTANCES OUTSIDE THE INTENDED CROP. THE HYBRID SEED PRODUCTION FIELDS ARE MONOFLORAL AND CANNOT PROVIDE HONEY BEES THE POLYLECTIC DIET THAT THEY REQUIRE AS GENERALISTS. TO OVERCOME THE SEVERE LIMITATIONS OF MONOCULTURE FIELDS, AND ESPECIALLY THOSE USED FOR HYBRID SEED PRODUCTION, PATCHES OR STRIPS OF DIVERSE POLLINATOR FRIENDLY PLANTS CAN BE GROWN IN OR AROUND THE FIELD. EXAMPLES INCLUDE GROWING CLOVER BETWEEN THE ROWS OF AN APPLE ORCHARD, OR PLANTING HEDGEROWS AROUND FIELDS, OR REPLACING STRIPS OF A FIELD WITH PRAIRIE STRIPS. THIS LAST EXAMPLE HAS BEEN TESTED EXTENSIVELY IN THE MIDWEST, WHERE STRIPS OF NATIVE PRAIRIE PLANTS ARE GROWN WITHIN OTHERWISE MONOCULTURED FIELDS. THESE STRIPS HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED POLLINATOR DIVERSITY AND IMPROVED HONEY BEE HEALTH (SCHULTE ET AL, 2017; ZHANG ET AL, 2023). IN THE CASE OF HYBRID SEED FIELDS, SEVERAL ROWS OF MALE PLANTS CAN EASILY BE REPLACED WITH A MIX OF POLLINATOR FRIENDLY PLANTS. THROUGH CAREFUL SELECTION AND TIMING OF PLANTING, THESE PLANTS COULD BE ESTABLISHED TO BEGIN BLOOMING AT APPROXIMATELY THE SAME TIME AS THE CROP AND COULD THEN BE MOWED AT THE END OF CROP POLLINATION, PREVENTING ANY ISSUES WITH PESTICIDE APPLICATIONS OUTSIDE OF THE CROP POLLINATION WINDOW. PROVIDING POLLEN SUBSTITUTE TO HIVES RESULTED IN A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN NON-KIWI POLLEN COLLECTION BUT DID NOT INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF KIWI POLLEN COLLECTED (GOODWIN ET AL., 1994). WHILE THE GOAL OF THESE STUDIES WAS TO IMPROVE POLLINATION RATHER THAN IMPROVE ISOLATION, THEIR DATA SHOWED THAT BEES FED POLLEN SUBSTITUTE BROUGHT IN LESS POLLEN FROM OUTSIDE THE CROP AND BEES FED SUGAR SYRUP BROUGHT IN MORE POLLEN FROM THE CROP. THIS WOULD EFFECTIVELY REDUCE THE RISK OF POLLEN TRANSFER OFF THE CROPPING SITE. THE EFFECT OF FEEDING BOTH POLLEN SUBSTITUTE AND SUGAR SYRUP AT THE SAME TIME WAS NOT TESTED IN EITHER STUDY.BASED ON THE ABOVE STUDIES, WE HYPOTHESIZ,E THAT PROVIDING COLONIES WITH AN OVERABUNDANCE OF ALL ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS THROUGH IN-HIVE FEEDING, OR DIVERSE FORAGE WILL DECREASE HONEY BEE FORAGING DISTANCE, AND THEREFORE DECREASE THE RISK OF TRANSGENE ESCAPE. TO TEST THIS HYPOTHESIS, WE WILL IDENTIFY BEE COLLECTED POLLEN AND DECODE WAGGLE DANCES FROM FED AND UNFED COLONIES, AS WELL AS COLONIES PROVIDED WITH ADDITIONAL IN FIELD FORAGE OR NOT. WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY IS THE IDEAL INSTITUTION FOR CONDUCTING THIS RESEARCH BECAUSE THE ENTOMOLOGY DEPARTMENT AT THIS INSTITUTION HAS ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIPS WITH MULTIPLE GROWERS AND BEEKEEPERS ACROSS THE WESTERN UNITED STATES AND MAINTAINS APPROXIMATELY 250 COLONIES OF ITS OWN. WASHINGTON STATE, AND PARTICULARLY THE EASTERN PORTION OF THE STATE WHERE THIS RESEARCH WILL BE CONDUCTED, IS A HIGHLY VALUABLE CANOLA SEED PRODUCTION AREA, PROVIDING THE OPPORTUNITY TO TEST THIS HYPOTHESIS ACROSS MULTIPLE FIELDS.