The Bee Report is back (again)
The Bee Report is back (again)...
Despite my best intentions in April to get this newsletter sent out on a regular basis once more, my actual efforts and energies were (again) pulled in other important directions: continued fundraising for the Bees of Grand Staircase-Escalante project, spending 10 days on the ground in Utah for fieldwork and filming, and (most important of all) marrying the most amazing woman in the world.
Now that I've returned to the Bee Report, I've quickly realized that this service needs to be refreshed. Since it's creation in 2017, my goal has always been to make the Bee Report the foremost source for staying up to date on the world of bees and our multifaceted relationship with them. The most effective way to do this is by connecting you quickly and simply with the work of scientists, journalists and advocates who understand bees in a variety of different contexts. I want the Bee Report to spare you the near-impossible task of finding and following countless headlines, reports, studies, press releases and social media posts about the bees of our world.
So here it is: The Bee Report 3.0, streamlined in both appearance and content to make staying informed about bees as easy as possible for you. As a newsletter, on the web and on Facebook. Enjoy!
For those of you interested in an update on the Bees of GSENM...
The project is moving along brilliantly! We ultimately raised over $28,000 through our ioby crowdfunding campaign to travel to Utah for fieldwork and filming. Those 10 days on the ground were amazing – we couldn't have asked for better conditions and company! You can read quick summaries and see some photos from the trip here and here. And check out ioby's recent blog post about the Bees of GSENM project, the fundraising process and some of the background that's lead us to where we are now.
Conservation
Native Thistles Have Been Getting Bad Rap From Invasive Species
(Lancaster Farming) “Our native thistles are sort of a largely forgotten and wrongly maligned group of wildflowers.” Thistles are popular among pollinators, include the American bumble bee, the tiger swallowtail and monarch butterflies. Despite their conservation value, native thistles have lost habitat due to farming, development and failure to distinguish them from invasive species.
RIT partners with Seneca Park Zoo to promote the conservation of pollinators
(RIT) The Rochester Institute of Technology has partnered with the Seneca Park Zoo Society to work on several projects both on and off campus to promote the conservation of pollinating animals, including birds, bees, and butterflies. RIT planted a seed mix specially designed to conserve pollinators in Western New York along a main road on campus.
Altering Grassy Areas Next To Parking Lots To Attract Pollinators
(CBS4 Denver) With help from students in a class she teaches at the University of Colorado, plus a grant from the university, Danielle Bilot is beautifying grassy areas beside parking lots that are essentially food deserts for pollinators. She’s replacing grass with native plants.
Economics
Arriving in stores: Bee Better Certified blueberries
(Xerces Society) Bee Better Certified has grown significantly since its launch during Pollinator Week 2017, having certified nine farms. This summer the program has reached yet another milestone: the first product licensed to display the Bee Better Certified seal is now arriving in stores.
Policy/Law
Program to pay Minnesota homeowners to let their lawn go to the bees
(Star Tribune) The state of Minnesota will set aside $900,000 over one year to assist homeowners by covering much of the cost of converting traditional lawns by planting wildflowers, clover and native grasses in an effort to slow the collapse of the state’s bee population. The plan could help replenish food sources for pollinators of all kinds, but will specifically aim at saving the rusty patched bumblebee, a fat and fuzzy species on the brink of extinction that seems to be making its final stand in the cities of the Upper Midwest.
California Fish and Game Commission adds four bumble bees to candidate list
(JD Supra/Nossaman LLP) The Commission voted 3-1 that listing four subspecies of bumble bee may be warranted under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). The decision was made after the Xerces Society, Center for Food Safety, and Defenders of Wildlife filed a petition to list the Crotch bumble bee, Franklin’s bumble bee, Suckley cuckoo bumble bee, and western bumble bee as endangered species.
EPA to allow pesticide seen as threat to bees
(PBS NewsHour) Friday’s EPA announcement makes sulfoxaflor the latest bug- and weed-killer defended by the Trump administration despite lawsuits alleging environmental or human harm. EPA said Friday that new industry studies that have not been made public show only a low level of risk to bees and other wildlife.
EPA blocks a dozen products containing pesticides thought harmful to bees
(Washington Post) The EPA announced Monday it has canceled the registrations of 12 pest-killing products with compounds belonging to a class of chemicals known as neonicotinoids, as part of a legal settlement.
Declines in insect abundance and diversity: We know enough to act now
(Conservation Science and Practice) “The scientific community has understandably been focused on establishing the breadth and depth of the phenomenon and on documenting factors causing insect declines. In parallel with ongoing research, it is now time for the development of a policy consensus that will allow for a swift societal response… To these ends, we suggest primary policy goals summarized at scales from nations to farms to homes.”
Science
Why is an invasive thistle so attractive to resident bees in Pennsylvania?
(Twitter, Laura Russo @lrusso08) "Our paper on pollen nutrition and invasive thistles is out! Why is an invasive thistle so attractive to resident bees in Pennsylvania? We found that it might be because it has high pollen protein."
MSU researchers collaborate with one-room schoolhouses to collect bee data
(TriState Livestock News) “We are in year two of a 15-year project to document the 500 to 1,000 species of native bees in Montana.” But to examine all 147,000 square miles of the state would require significant manpower, and to fill that need, an unlikely partnership was created. The researchers put together boxes that included curriculum and bee-sampling tools and sent them to one-room schoolhouses across the state.
Plant probe could help estimate bee exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides
(EurekAlert/American Chemical Society) Researchers have developed a new type of probe that helps to quantify neonicotinoids in plants and study their movement and distribution throughout the plants over time.
Early arrival of spring disrupts the mutualism between plants and pollinators
(Hokkaido University) Researchers examined the relationship of Corydailis ambigua and bumble bees for 19 years in a natural forest of Hokkaido. Usually the bloom of the flowers and emergence of the bumble bees are in sync. But when the snowmelt is early, flowering tends to occur before the bees emerge, creating a mismatch. The wider the mismatch, the lower the seed-set rate due to insufficient pollination.
Pollen collected by US honey bees in urban settings shows dramatic seasonal variation
(EurekAlert/PLOS) The total overall pollen species diversity varied significantly across all four states, with highest diversity in California and lowest diversity in Texas. Nationally, the total pollen diversity was significantly higher in the spring across all locations as compared to other seasons. Top pollen sources across all states included legumes, oaks, roses and daisies. Only a few plant groups provided pollen throughout the year.
Species facing climate change could find help in odd place: urban environments
(Tufts University) Researchers conclude that low-quality habitats – such as urban environments – that meet a minimum standard could actually provide a benefit as conduits for species to migrate to high-quality habitats in the face of climate change. TBR Editor: Of course, this presumes there’s actual high-quality habitat to move to…
Wild Bees Have Been Found Building Nests Entirely Out of Plastic Waste
(Science Alert) In the crop fields of Argentina, bees have been building nests for their young out of some strange materials. For the first time, scientists have found bee nests made entirely out of plastic waste.
New bee inventory sheds light on what native bees live in northern New Mexico
(The Bees in Your Backyard) Olivia Carril and the Institute for Applied Ecology are inventorying the bees of Rio Grande del Norte National Monument (RGNM) in New Mexico. Before the start of this project in 2016, fewer than 40 bee species were known to exist in Taos County. Now, initial results have identified at least 140 species and 32 genera of bees in the monument area.
Xerces’ Newest Community Science Project: Nebraska Bumble Bee Atlas
(Xerces Society) To help further our understanding of, and conservation efforts for, bumble bees, The Xerces Society has launched the Nebraska Bumble Bee Atlas. This community science project offers locals the opportunity to work alongside researchers to collect data that will shed light on the distribution, status, and habitat needs of Nebraska’s bumble bees.
Why are grasses in pollinator mixes if bees don’t feed on them?
(Twitter, Elaine Evans @fuzzybumblebee) "Why are grasses in pollinator mixes if bees don’t feed on them? Besides food for endangered butterflies like Dakota skippers, deep roots for water filtration & soil retention, native grasses makes great bumble bee nesting material. Bumble bee nest in our @UMNBeeLab_Squad gardens."
Technology
Six suborbital research payloads from MIT fly to space and back
(MIT News) “We currently have no robotic alternative to bees for pollination of many crops. If we want to grow crops on Mars, we may need to bring bees with us. Knowing if they can survive a mission, reintegrate into the hive, and thrive afterwards is critical.”
Unleashed, Robo-Insect Takes Flight
(New York Times) For years, scientists have sought to build aerial robots inspired by bees and other flying insects. But they have always run into a fundamental problem: Flying takes a lot of energy. “Having onboard power is the first big step to getting microrobots out of the lab and into the real world.”
How a Honey Bee’s Waggle is Inspiring Aerospace Design
(Entomology Today) According to the researchers, this type of structure and mechanism is rarely seen in animals and has never previously been reported as regulating and controlling physiological activities.
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