Sheila Colla: Planning for the future of the rusty patched bumble bee
This week on the podcast, I talk with Sheila Colla, assistant professor in Environmental Studies at York University. At the end of February, Sheila and other bee experts came together at the Minnesota Zoo to plan for the recovery and future of the rusty patched bumble bee. And Sheila fills us in on what happened at the meeting.
Sheila's graduate work first identified the drastic decline of this bumble bee and has been the foundation for protecting it as an endangered species in the United States. She has been an essential part of a now ten-year journey towards recovery, and the recent conservation strategy meeting is just the latest step in that journey.
Here is our conversation. Enjoy!
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Conservation
Conservation detection dogs and the search for bumble bee nests
(Highland Canine Training) There are three ways to find bumble bee nests. You can walk around and look for them. You can get volunteers to walk around and look for them. Or you can use a conservation detection dog. Meet Darwin, the conservation dog searching for Alpine bumble bee nests.
Economics
Pollinator License Plate online auction starts March 21
(Twitter, @WildFriendsNM) "Preview the Pollinator License Plate online auction, Mar. 21-29! Support native plants & pollinators and Wild Friends' science and civics education programs. Anyone can participate, even if you don't live in NM or don't have a car! Bids start at $25." To preview the auction, click here.
Ugandan beekeepers up in arms over locust pesticides
(New Vision) Beekeepers in Karamoja, Lango and West Nile sub-regions are up in arms with the government over pesticides used to spray locusts, which they say have killed their bees. Last month, the government delivered 18,000 liters each of cypermethrin and chlorpyrifos pesticides to the sub-regions to spray desert locusts.
Virginia launches program to certify solar facilities as 'pollinator smart'
(Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation) The Virginia Pollinator-Smart Program is an initiative to encourage pollinator-smart solar development in the commonwealth. A key focus the certification is the use of Virginia native plant species for these projects.
Policy/Law
Thousands of homeowners apply for Minnesota funding to turn lawns into bee-friendly habitats
(Star Tribune) The state's Board of Water and Soil Resources will select the first 500 or so homeowners this week to receive funding under the trial program, which will pay residents up to $350 to plant pollinator gardens or convert their traditional grass lawns to more bee-friendly yards. Interest has been high enough that the state will keep accepting applications online until early June. "We knew there were going to be a lot of applications for this, but we didn't know we were going to get close to 6,000 of them in just this first round."
Science
Bumble bees hate pumpkin pollen, which may help pumpkins
(Cornell University) A new study found that squash and pumpkin pollen have physical, nutritional and chemical defense qualities that are harmful to bumble bees. But the results also suggest that deterring bumble bees from collecting and eating pollen may provide an evolutionary benefit to cucurbit plants.
Flower faithful native bee makes a reliable pollinator
(University of California, Riverside) Entomologists at UC Riverside have documented that a species of native sweat bee widespread throughout North and South America has a daily routine that makes it a promising pollinator. “Even if you put honeybees in your field there’s nothing to say they’re not actually going two farms over, whereas these sweat bees forage repeatedly on plants right around the area where they live.”
(ScienceDaily/University of Würzburg) After more than 70 years, a great mystery of zoology has been solved: Honey bees actually use different dance dialects in their waggle dance. Which dialect has developed during evolution is related to the radius of action in which they collect food around the hive.
Honey bee and pollinator facility officially opened
(Washington State University) Washington State University is celebrating the opening of its new Honey Bee & Pollinator Research, Extension and Education Facility. The nearly 50-acre property will house most of WSU’s Honey Bee and Pollinator program.
Technology
These tiny, plastic-munching caterpillars can clean up our world – but there's a catch
(USA Today) The waxworm, researchers discovered in 2017, is seemingly able to eat through common types of plastic — including polyethylene, a non-biodegradable type of plastic that is the most commonly used worldwide. Waxworms are not an end-all solution to plastic waste, however. Wax larvae are pests for bees, naturally feeding off honeycomb and running the risk of reducing their populations — and those of plants and crops.
People are stinging themselves with bees to treat Lyme disease
(Vice) The protocol is known as bee venom therapy, and among those afflicted with chronic Lyme, it’s gaining a lot of adherents. The claim is difficult to measure because chronic Lyme is not recognized by the medical establishment as existing at all.
One More Thing…
From Sam Droege on Facebook: "Here is the only Zadontomerus of the Eastern U.S. (Note: I will give anyone $100.00 if they name their kid Zadontomerus... first names only). Ceratina cockerelli. The other more blueish species are all in the subgenus Ceratinula (also a good name for a child). As an aside giving a child a 'different' name is always a plus in my book, it is like feeding them linguistical antibodies, for example, they are way less likely to spend all day on a cell phone if their name is Zadontomerus than Tim. No one does their child a favor by naming them Tim (except for my cousin Tim). Ok, back to bees (society building is always exhausting). This species is small more black green than blue green and smaller and more southern than the others. It possibly is also more fond of sandy environs. Like other species of Ceratina it likely builds its nest in the cut stems of plants. Not much is know about this species life history, so if you are looking for things to do then studying this species nesting biology should be right up there. Photo taken by Sierra Williams."