Karin Gastreich: The prairie bees of Kansas City
This week on the podcast I'm talking with Karin Gastreich, professor of biology at Avila University. Her recent work surveying the native bee communities in the remnant prairies around Kansas City was just published in the March issue of Ecological Restoration and is a fascinating read. She and I chat about the bees, the prairie ecosystems of yesterday and today, and the difference between restoration and reconstruction.
If you haven't yet spent time in the gently-waving tall grass of a modern prairie, surrounded by the buzzing of life, with blue sky touching the horizon in every direction – put it on your list! It is truly magical.
Here is our conversation. Enjoy!
The Bee Report Podcast is available on all major podcasting platforms such as Apple and Spotify.
P.S. While Karin was doing her original collecting, I got to spend time in the same prairie patches making photos of the various bees. And, thanks to Karin, one of those photos made the cover of Ecological Restoration. One of my favorite bee photos!
Do you have tips, comments, questions or ideas for collaboration? Please send them to tbr@bymattkelly.com.
Conservation
Bees are the Best: USU biologist publishes new children's book
(Utah State University) Conservation biologist Joseph Wilson and illustrator Jonny VanOrman have published a new whimsical children's book about bee diversity and broadening one's horizons. “If we want to conserve bees, teaching our rising generation may be the best strategy.”
Policy/Law
California attorney general calls out insufficient regulation of insecticide
(Santa Barbara Independent) Flonicamid is currently under review by the EPA for residential use, but California Attorney General Xavier Becerra asserts the insecticide may be toxic to bees and other critical pollinators. A new study on adult honey bees found flonicamid to be fatal for bees, Becerra stated in a letter to the EPA. A copy of the comment letter can be found here.
Monsanto’s secret funding for weedkiller studies
(The Guardian) Monsanto secretly funded academic studies indicating “very severe impacts” on farming and the environment if its controversial glyphosate weedkiller were banned. The new revelations center on studies published in 2010 and 2014 by researchers at an agricultural and environmental consultancy in the UK that concluded “the loss of glyphosate would cause very severe impacts on UK agriculture and the environment”.
Bee bill sails through Iowa Senate
(KBOE) Iowa is one step closer to having the honey bee as the official state insect. The state Senate endorsed the bill, which now heads to the House. Iowa is one of only two states without an officially recognized state insect.
Science
Pesticide seed coatings are widespread but underreported
(Penn State) Pesticide-coated seeds – including neonicotinoids – are increasingly used in the major field crops but are underreported, in part, because farmers often do not know what pesticides are on their seeds, according to an international team of researchers. “One of the most important findings of this study is that farmers know less about pesticides applied to their seeds than pesticides applied in other ways.”
How does an intersex bee behave?
(Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute) In a neotropical forest in Panama, an unusual bee was born. Its form was that of a male on one half and a female on the other half. Given the singularity of the occurrence, the group decided to describe an aspect of its behavior that hadn’t been previously studied in gynandromorphs: the circadian activity – the internal clock that drives an organism's daily activities.
Blinded by the light: How sensory pollution impacts animal survival
(Utah State University) A new paper provides a framework for understanding how light and noise pollution affects wildlife. The framework is the product of an effort among worldwide experts in ecology and physiology and reveals the presence of “sensory danger zones”, or areas where sensory pollutants influences animal activity. For example, artificial lights cover the glow of the moon, preventing birds or insects from detecting it. “From a conservation biology point of view, we don’t know how to mitigate the effects of sensory pollution if we don't know what the pathway of harm is.”
Technology
Bee Vectoring Technologies contracts with three new growers to kick-start us west coast expansion
(Yahoo Finance) Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. announced that it has closed three new grower deals with berry producers in Oregon and Washington states. These new customers will use BVT's proprietary bee delivery system for fungicides on portions of their blueberry and raspberry crops in the upcoming growing season. These new deals also mark the first commercial use of BVT's recently announced patent-pending computer-controlled honey bee hive dispenser system.
One More Thing…
Looking for fun things to do while practicing appropriate social distancing? The Washington DC Environmental Film Festival has made a giant selection of its 2020 films available through its website – most of which are free. This includes two bee-related films: Detroit Hives and Honeyland ($). And according to DCEFF, more films may be added in the days ahead.