Become a Friend of the Bee Report. The plant viruses that hitchhike on pollen. National Butterfly Center closing after right-wing attacks. Spring arrives a month earlier in U.K.
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Become a Friend of the Bee Report
I love working on the Bee Report. Going on five years now, it is an absolute joy and passion for me – and the response from all of you has been outstanding! I’m now at a point where I can clearly see what the Bee Report means to readers, and I want to continue doing my absolute best to bring you all the important bee-related news.
So this week I am launching Friends of the Bee Report.
This is a pay-if-you-can program. It’s not a paywall and won’t prevent anyone from reading the Bee Report. Instead, the program is a way for enthusiastic, loyal readers to pay a small fee to ensure that bee-related news is easy to find, easy to share and accessible to all.
Over time I would like to expand what the Bee Report regularly provides each week with original reporting and, quite possibly, restarting the Bee Report podcast. But right now the Friends of the Bee Report is simply generous support for this unique newsletter. If you look forward to receiving the Bee Report each week and think $2 per month is within your budget, then consider becoming a Friend.
Thank you!
Conservation
Photo: Sion Touhig, Getty Images
Spring in the U.K. arrives a month earlier than in the 1980s
(Scientific American) For more than 200 years, scientists have documented the changing seasons across the British Isles. Now, these long-term records have revealed a concerning trend. Spring – defined by the blooming of flowers after a long winter – is arriving nearly a full month earlier than it used to.
Economics
Photo: Peter Somerville, ABC Gippsland
Logging, bushfires hamper Australian beekeepers’ ability to satisfy increasing pollination demand
(ABC News) Gippsland beekeepers fear they are not being heard in forest management discussions, and as a result, some patches of the forest will have “no value for decades”. That’s the concern of a third-generation beekeeper who has been involved in the industry for most of his life. He said some parts of the bush that were logged and then hit by the Black Summer bushfires had suffered major structural changes.
Policy/Law
Photo: Jerry Lara, San Antonio Express-News
(Houston Chronicle) The butterfly center has been the target of far-right conspiracy theories for years, after the sanctuary in 2017 sued over the Trump administration’s plans to build a border wall through the 100-acre nature preserve. But the situation escalated over the past two weeks, starting with a confrontation between the center’s executive director and a GOP congressional candidate from Virginia.
New Mexico senators aim to ‘Save the Bees’ through performances
(KRQE) One state senator is making a splash in Santa Fe during this legislative session, but it’s not because of any vote he has cast at the roundhouse. It’s because he found a way to take the drama inside the capitol, and put it on the stage at Teatro Paraguas in Santa Fe. Save the Bees was born from a real-life vote at the roundhouse on a bill designed to save bees. “We all wanted to save the bees, who doesn’t want to save the bees? But it has to be in a way that doesn’t jeopardize the farmers in the rural part of our state... In the play, I talk about what it’s like when you do cross the aisle.”
Canadian beekeeper petitions for Day of the Honey Bee to be recognized nationally
(CTV) A Saskatoon beekeeper wants Canada to mark May 29 as Day of the Honey Bee to recognize the insect’s work in the food system and raise awareness about the threats to bee colonies.
Senators urge U.S. Interior Department to protect western wild lands as part of climate strategy
(Senator Richard Durbin) “Dear Secretary Haaland: We encourage you to use your authority under the Federal Land Policy Management Act (FLPMA) to provide protections for lands that demonstrate wilderness characteristics as Wilderness Study Areas... Protecting Wilderness Study Areas would be a significant step to mitigate climate change and reach the administration’s 30 x 30 goal.”
Science
Photo: Unsplash, CC0 Public Domain
Exploring the surprising breadth of plant viruses that hitchhike on pollen
(Phys.org, University of Pittsburgh) We rely on pollinators like honey bees for all sorts of different crops. But that same flexibility could put plants at risk of disease. A new study shows that a variety of viruses travel on pollen – especially in areas close to agriculture and human development where honey bees dominate.
The link between shea, plant diversity and bees in West Africa
(The Applied Ecologist) “We investigated the relationship between pollination services to shea and the diversity of trees and shrub species in cultivated fields as well as the amount of uncultivated habitat near the fields. We found honey bees more frequently, and other bees in greater abundance, in sites with a greater diversity of trees and shrubs. We also found that fruit production of shea was limited by lack of pollination, and that this limitation was greater at sites with less tree and shrub diversity.”
Fungi mediates effects of fungicides on bumble bees
(Twitter, Danielle Rutkowski @DanielleRutkow) “Fungi can mediate effects of fungicides on bumble bees, and improve bee survival and reproduction” Original paper
Plant spatial patterns are important for pollinator foraging behavior and pollination success
(Twitter, Bethanne Bruninga-Socolar @beepunstings) “We mapped individual bee foraging paths and found that spatial arrangement of plants matters for bee plant choice and impacts estimates of floral constancy. In a natural system!” Original paper
Testing of Melipona beecheii stingless bees shows guards do not choose new queen
(Phys.org) A team of researchers reports that guard Melipona beecheii stingless bees do not confer chemicals to larvae that allow them to develop into queens.
Stingless bee soldiers have bigger to-do lists – but not bigger brains
(University of Southern Mississippi) During their brief lifespan, stingless bee soldiers face complex tasks as part of their social organization. Yet do they require larger brains to complete these duties? Based upon ant studies, scientists have thought for a long time that social insect soldiers have relatively smaller brains because they perform fewer tasks, and thus have a smaller cognitive demand. “With bigger task repertoires, our stingless bee soldiers provided the perfect opportunity to test that. We found that stingless be soldiers did not have bigger brains to go along with their bigger task repertoires.”
Decreased bee emergence along an elevation gradient
(Twitter, James Gilbert @james_gilbert) “Megachilid (leafcutter, mason) #bee species’ hatching success went down in nests transplanted down a mountain (warmer), and went up if moved up (cooler) – but clear diffs in vulnerability reflecting bees’ ecologies” Original paper
Future of ecological research in the UK
(British Ecological Society) “We’ve launched a project to set out the priorities for the future of ecological research in the UK. This year the British Ecological Society will examine what is needed to take our science forward in the UK. We will canvass views across the full breadth and diversity of our vibrant community of ecologists. Our aim is to develop a unified community vision of the grand challenges for ecology and how they can best be met. It will also provide funders with a clear understanding of future research needs. Please submit your ideas by the deadline of 11 February 2022.”
Society/Culture
Photo: Wikipedia
How I’m helping to save the birds by keeping chickens
(Zach Portman) “A while ago I heard that birds are declining all over the world, and I found that really upsetting. So I decided I something needed to be done and I am exactly the person to do it. I thought about the best way I could help and did a couple google searches, and ultimately I decided to get some backyard chickens.”
(The Grid) If you’re enchanted by honey bees or really want honey from your backyard, become a beekeeper. But the rest of us would be better off providing safe habitat for the many insects that are already there, if only we’d look down long enough to see them.
Technology
Photo: Harvard Microrobotics Laboratory
RoboBee can now pivot on a dime
(IEEE Spectrum) Since becoming the first insect-inspired robot to take flight, Harvard University’s famous little robotic bee, dubbed RoboBee, has achieved novel perching, swimming, and sensing capabilities, among others. More recently RoboBee has hit another milestone: precision control over its heading and lateral movement, making it much more adept at maneuvering. As a result, RoboBee can hover and pivot better in midair, more similarly to its biological inspiration, the bumble bee.
One More Thing…
“Not a wordle, just T1-T6 of a Bombus pensylvanicus” From Teri Cocke @TeriCocke via Twitter.