 Bumblebees are Northern Hemisphere animals . When red clover was introduced as a crop to New Zealand in the nineteenth century , it was found to have no local pollinators , and clover seed had accordingly to be imported each year . Four species of bumblebee from the United Kingdom were therefore imported as pollinators . In 1885 and 1886 the Canterbury Acclimatization Society brought in 442 queens , of which 93 survived and quickly multiplied . As planned , red clover was soon being produced from locally @-@ grown seed . Bumblebees are also reared commercially to pollinate tomatoes grown in greenhouses . The New Zealand population of buff @-@ tailed bumblebees naturally colonised Tasmania , 1 @,@ 500 miles away , in 1992 . 
