  The total cross section for electron-positron annihilation into hadrons is
calculated in the region just below the B meson threshold. QCD corrections up
to third order, quark mass effects, initial state radiation, the running of
alpha_QED and the tails of the Upsilon resonances are included in the
prediction. For given alpha_s the prediction is accurate to 0.5 percent. An
experimental measurement with the corresponding precision would allow to
determine alpha_s with high accuracy at intermediate energies.
