Counting bees: updates on two important research efforts
Second annual Backyard Bumble Bee Count ends this weekend
The second annual Backyard Bumble Bee count started last Friday – and ends this Sunday, Aug. 2. So if you want to help increase our knowledge about bumble bees in North America, now's your chance to do it.
The goal of the Backyard Bumble Count is to document bumble bee occurrence and relative abundance in the eastern United States with the help of community scientists. So far this year, 168 participants have contributed over 1,100 observations to the project, encompassing about 5,300 individual bees – roughly doubling the participation across the board from last year. A total of 22 species of bumble bees have been tentatively identified.
"We're seeing a lot more affinis this year!" says Elaine Evans, an extension educator and bee researcher from the University of Minnesota, referring to the endangered rusty patched bumble bee. "Only two last year and we have 41 this year, including a queen!" These sightings are mostly extensions of the known range for Bombus affinis – but they also include a few areas where the bumble bee hasn’t been documented in over 20 years.
The count has had great participation in the Upper Midwest, particularly around urban centers, says Elaine, so it would be great to get more participation outside of cities before wrapping up this year. She says it would also be incredibly helpful to have more observations coming from around Virginia and West Virginia where rusty patched bumble bees have been found recently and may be more widespread than previously known.
"This is a great bumble bee year and now is the time to get out there, particularly for rusty patched bumble bees," says Elaine. "The colonies are peaking and will start dwindling soon."
How often do you have the opportunity to observe – and help – an endangered species right in your own backyard? And how many of the 45 different species of bumble bees North America can you recognized?
To contribute your own observations before things come to a close this Sunday, you can visit the project's website or visit the iNaturalist webpage for the project.
And what’s happening with the national native bee monitoring network?
Remember in pre-COVID times when we were all super excited about the creation of a national native bee monitoring network? Here is a much anticipated update from Dr. Hollis Woodard, assistant professor in the Department of Entomology at the University of California, Riverside, on the current status of making the network a reality:
“After a brief delay due to COVID-19, the research coordination network is officially underway. The co-organizers are working behind the scenes this summer and we plan to go live at the end of September, with a formal introduction to the community about what we hope to accomplish, our timeline, and what resources we will be providing to better support monitoring activities.
“For people who have collected data this field season, or at any time in the past: the data repository we are using is open access (unless the user wants to set restrictions due to privacy or other concerns) and you can input data at any time.
“In light of national events, we are thinking even more about how to make the RCN as inclusive as possible so that anyone in the country can participate – that includes, for example, translating materials into Spanish, considering different ethical perspectives about lethal sampling, making educational materials that are accessible at all levels of expertise, and using online user-friendly platforms for communication and outreach.”
If you have questions about the national native bee monitoring network, get in touch with Hollis by email (hollis.woodard@ucr.edu).
The podcast will be back soon with a brand new episode! In the meantime, why not catch up on some previous episodes? Available on Apple, Stitcher, other major platforms and at thebeereport.buzzsprout.com.
Do you have tips, comments, questions or ideas for collaboration? Please send them to tbr@bymattkelly.com.
Conservation
Cherokee Nation adds 16 bee pollinator homes to heirloom garden
(Cherokee One Feather) The Cherokee Nation has installed 16 new bee pollinator homes in the tribe’s heirloom garden in Tahlequah as part of a new initiative by First Lady January Hoskin to boost the population of pollinators while improving the environment.
English hay meadow is foraging ground for rare bees
(BBC) A country park in Somerset is creating habitats aimed at allowing a rare species of bee to thrive. Park rangers will leave dense grassy tussocks to grow in the hay meadows. They hope shrill carder bees can forage, nest and hibernate there.
Economics
Beekeeper says nothing can be done to stop New Zealand bees picking up traces of glyphosate
(TVNZ) The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) first found small traces of the chemical in 22.3% of samples it took from a range of different honey types from across the country. It later discovered further tiny traces in 11 of 60 mānuka honey products purchased from retail outlets. While MPI stresses it’s safe to eat and there is no food safety risk, they admit beekeepers have “little practical means of excluding bees from foraging on plants treated with glyphosate”, saying the only way to be sure is to place a hive in the center of a 28 square kilometer spray-free area.
Bee shortage in Australia threatens crop pollination after back-to-back dry wet seasons
(ABC NEWS) Bee numbers in Australia’s Northern Territory are dwindling after back-to-back dry wet seasons, to the point that beekeepers cannot satisfy demand for honey and crucial pollination services. The lower rainfall caused many native Top End trees and plants to produce much less nectar, on which healthy bee populations depend.
Policy/Law
Conservation groups petition Forest Service to stop approving commercial beehives on federal lands
(Center for Biological Diversity) Conservation groups filed a formal legal petition today urging the U.S. Forest Service to stop allowing the placement of hundreds of commercial honey bee hives on national forest lands without proper environmental review. Honey bees, which are not native to the United States, are important agricultural crop pollinators but have been shown to transmit diseases to native bees. They can also outcompete native bees for pollen and nectar, their only source of food. Yet, over the past decade, the Forest Service has approved permits for at least 900 hives, which could house up to 56 million honey bees on Forest Service lands on the Colorado Plateau alone. A request is pending for an additional 4,900 hives on just one national forest in Utah.
New York state issues guidelines to promote creation of pollinator habitats on commercial properties
(New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets) The New York State Departments of Agriculture and Markets (AGM) and Environmental Conservation announced new actions to benefit and protect New York’s pollinators, including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. AGM issued new guidelines to help businesses create pollinator-friendly habitats on commercial properties or utility project sites.
Science
Studying interactions between ground-nesting bees and soils
(Phys.org) Researchers at Oregon State University are studying the interaction between the bees and soil in agricultural settings. The team looked at physical and chemical properties of soils collected from active bee and sand nest wasp sites in the Willamette Valley of western Oregon. They compared soil properties among seven farm sites to identify similarities and differences. An interesting finding from the research is that the team found lipids in the soil nest linings. The lipids may provide a type of waterproofing for the nests and their inhabitants.
Decline of bees, other pollinators threatens US crop yields
(Phys.org/Rutgers University) Crop yields for apples, cherries and blueberries across the United States are being reduced by a lack of pollinators, according to Rutgers-led research. “We found that many crops are pollination-limited, meaning crop production would be higher if crop flowers received more pollination. We also found that honey bees and wild bees provided similar amounts of pollination overall.”
Bees' buzz is more powerful for pollination, than for defense or flight
(EurekAlert/University of Stirling) Buzzing by bees during flower pollination is significantly more powerful than that used for defence or flight, according to a new study from experts at the University of Stirling. The research found that flower buzzing produced forces of more than 50G - five times that experienced by fighter jet pilots - and provides an important insight into the pollination process.
Research finds first African carder bees to reach Western Australia
(Curtin University) Research from Curtin University has recorded the first known appearance of the African carder bee in Western Australia and has highlighted the need to closely monitor the impacts of such introduced species on the ecosystem. “Unlike native Australian bees, which all are solitary nesters, the African carder bee nests communally, where masses of brood cells from multiple females are found in the one place.”
Science sweetens stingless bee species honey health claims
(ScienceDaily, University of Queensland) Examination of honey from five different stingless bee species across Neotropical and Indo-Australian regions has identified the unusual disaccharide trehalulose as a major component representing between 13 and 44 g per 100 g of each of these honeys. The previously unrecognized abundance of trehalulose in stingless bee honeys supports some of the reported health attributes of this product. According to the researchers, trehalulose is a rare sugar with a low glycemic index and not found as a major component in other foods.
Society/Culture
IKEA wants to help you design your own bee home for free
(My Modern Net) SPACE10, a research and design lab supported by IKEA, has started the Bee Home project – an online hive designer where users can download designs for free. Additionally, no tools are needed to construct the homes. The site also features an interactive map where you can locate other Bee Home designs around the globe. “With a design that is flexible and accessible through open-source design principles, everyone, everywhere is empowered to design and fabricate their own Bee Home locally.”
Too many senior white academics still resist recognizing racism
(Nature) “I call on over-represented people in science who are expressing outrage about racism in broader society to focus the same level of energy on looking inwards, to wake up to how the culture in academic science is exclusionary. We debate the most exciting technology to bring to our departments to accelerate discovery; we should apply the same spirit to examining the culture of the department and improving how people are treated, because that, too, accelerates discovery. Leaders and faculty members must approach creating an anti-racist culture with the same vigour we apply to achieving every other dimension of scientific excellence.”
Taking down its ‘own monuments,’ Sierra Club assesses the racism of John Muir
(NPR) Arguably no figure looms larger than John Muir in the history of America’s national parks. His writings and contributions are widely regarded as the founding ethos of environmentalism in the U.S., including by one of the country’s oldest environmental groups, the Sierra Club. But amid the nationwide reappraisal of racist monuments, the Sierra Club said Wednesday that “it’s time to take down some of our own monuments,” including of its founder, Muir. “He made derogatory comments about Black people and Indigenous peoples that drew on deeply harmful racist stereotypes.”
Technology
(ABC NEWS) Australia’s biosecurity regime is about to get a timely technological boost from an unlikely alliance. Some young tech-savvy aerospace engineers have joined forces with one of Australia's largest dairy companies to create the Purple Hive Project, which is aimed at safeguarding Australia’s bee and honey industry from invasive and destructive pests like the varroa mite with cameras and artificial intelligence. Australia is the only inhabited continent still free of the varroa mite.
Google adds creepy crawlies to its augmented reality search results
(The Verge) If you’ve ever wanted to invite giant beetles or hornets into your living room without fear, Google has got you covered. You’ll be able to see the AR insects by searching for the name of the insect and selecting the “View in 3D” option. Android users will even be able to hear the insects, if you want to listen to the startling buzz of a hornet hovering next to you. The full list includes 23 insects – but not a single bee!
One More Thing…
From the amazing Jay Hosler @Jay_Hosler via Twitter. Do you get it?