What's the alternative: What's the best way to collect and ID bees without killing them?
Here's why I'm asking: I'm currently conducting a baseline survey of a property here in the Finger Lakes of New York state. Our local college recently acquired the property and (to make a long story short) asked if I'd be interested in doing a survey of the bees before the college starts to make any changes. Obviously, I said yes.
The property is on a slope leading down to our local lake. It's primarily tiered lawns, each highly manicured and dutifully mowed once a week to a minimal height. There are two man-made ponds and several stands of various trees. The property is surrounded on all sides and the tiers are separated by a winding blacktop driveway.
There are essentially no flowering plants on the property. Patches of dandelions and clover have appeared in the lawn between mowings. There were some tall but small white flowers early in the season around the forested areas. And on my most recent visit this week, the only appreciable group of flowers – daisies and more clover – were found around one of the ponds, beyond the reach of the mower. It sure seems pretty barren from a bee's perspective.
And yet...
On every weekly visit since the beginning of May I have found bees here. Some days I've collected a dozen specimens within my 30 minute time frame, other days I've collected only a couple. Overall there have been bumble bees, honey bees, and a truly surprising array of smaller solitary bees whose identities I won't pretend to state with any certainty just yet.
But I want to identify the bees here without killing them.
At the beginning of the season, I was collecting, pinning and labeling the bees as one does. But when I started getting only two or three specimens during a collection period, it suddenly occurred to me that taking these bees could have a real impact on this particular community at a particular moment in time. It suddenly seemed absurd to be taking bees from a location when I have absolutely no idea how many more might be out there. Our traditional collecting methods are certainly appropriate when we're confident that the number of bees we're taking are minuscule compared to the total number of bees in a place. I just don't have that confidence here.
So over the past few weeks I've switched to shooting photos and video (including slow motion) of all the bees I collect, and then releasing them. This definitely limits the degree of identification I'll be able to achieve. But the goal of this year's survey is to observe and document the bee community that's here; photo and video seem just fine for that. I can start taking physical specimens next year, once we have a better understanding this community.
But tell me what you think. Is my concern about taking specimens reasonable? Is my method of documenting and identifying the bees also reasonable? What other options do I have?
I recently had a conversation with Israel Del Toro from Lawrence University about the survey work he's doing in Appleton, Wisconsin. His recent fieldwork assessing the potential impact of No Mow May on urban bee communities included identifying bees in the field and then releasing them; he and his team kept virtually no specimens at all. Once my skills with keying out bees are up to the task, I might just take this same approach – next year, maybe?
By the way, Israel and his No Mow May work will be featured in the next episode of the podcast. Looking forward to sharing that conversation with you!
The podcast will be back soon with a brand new episode! In the meantime, why not catch up on some previous episodes?
Do you have tips, comments, questions or ideas for collaboration? Please send them to tbr@bymattkelly.com.
Conservation
Agroforestry is ‘win win’ for bees and crops
(EurekAlert/University of Reading) A new study provides observed evidence that Planting woody plant species alongside crops can increase wild insect pollinator numbers and increases pollination. Researchers found agroforestry sites had double the number of solitary bees and hoverflies, and in arable agroforestry sites there were 2.4 times more bumblebees than in those with just one kind of crop.
Teenagers create 13-mile 'Bee Byway' in their town to save native bees
(The Week) Using a geographic information system, the teenagers plotted a "Bee Byway", identifying dozens of sites across Newport News, Virginia, where they could plant native and bee-friendly plants. During the pandemic, the boys have delivered plants to more than 60 homeowners, so they could add to the Bee Byway without worrying about going out to a nursery.
(University of Tennessee, Knoxville) UT has been designated a Bee Campus USA. With this designation, the university joins 98 campuses certified by the Bee Campus USA organization.
Protecting insect habitats is saving multitudes
(Reasons to be Cheerful) Over the past couple of months, construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline has faced two legal challenges. One is from a Native American tribe concerned that pipeline workers might spread the coronavirus to their communities. The other is driven, in part, by an inch-long beetle. A colorful scavenger of grasslands and forest understories, the American burying beetle is an endangered species, and on April 15, a federal judge in Montana ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers, in its haste to build the pipeline, had violated the insect’s protected status. The Endangered Species Act has been a conservation triumph for numerous species, including insects.
Economics
Plan Bee: How farmers are using native mason bees to boost crop production
(Capital Press) Jim Watts calls himself a farmer, but he doesn’t raise livestock or crops. Watts is a mason bee farmer. Watts Solitary Bees has two divisions: a commercial side that sells mason and leafcutter bees to large-scale producers, and a rental side, called Rent Mason Bees, that rents bees to small farms, backyard gardeners and urbanites. In recent years, many farmers say they have bought or rented mason bees because they are affordable, low maintenance, improve crop yields, repopulate areas with native species and even push honey bees working alongside them to be more efficient.
Science
Scientists decode honey bee queen toots and quacks in hive
(BBC) Worker bees make new queens by sealing eggs inside special cells with wax and feeding them royal jelly. The queens quack when ready to emerge – but if two are free at the same time, they will fight to the death. So when one hatches, its quacks turn to toots, telling the workers to keep the others – still quacking – captive.
Seeking more volunteers for Nebraska bumble bee survey
(Nebraska Bumblebee Atlas) “We need a few more volunteers in the green areas to help survey for bumble bees this summer! Lookin’ at you #NorthPlatte”
Honey bee lives shortened after exposure to two widely used pesticides
(Oregon State University) The lives of honey bees are shortened – with evidence of physiological stress – when they are exposed to the suggested application rates of two commercially available and widely used pesticides: sulfoxaflor and flupyradifurone. According to the researchers, this is the first study to investigate sub-lethal effects of these active ingredients.
Society/Culture
Entomological Society of America donates 100 two-year memberships to EntoPOC
(Twitter, Entomologists of Color @EntoPOC) “FLOORED & proud of this action by @EntsocAmerica! We thank you & look forward to working together to #DiversifyEntomology! POC students/ento enthusiasts - Visit http://entopoc.org to snag these memberships!”
Database being assembled for early career pollination ecologists
(Twitter, John Mola @_JohnMola) “Pollinator and pollination people - we have begun assembling an ‘Early Career Pollinat* Ecologists’ database! I hope it will be used to network, find reviewers, search for candidates, etc.” Enter info here. The database is accessible here.
iNaturalist: Black Lives Matter
(iNaturalist) “We believe that nature is for everyone. Biodiversity is for everyone. Curiosity and exploration are for everyone. Everyone should be able to be in nature without fear of discrimination. Unfortunately, recent events in the United States have reminded us that enjoying the outdoors carries much greater risks for Black people like Christian Cooper, who had the police called on him while birding, or Ahmaud Arbery, who was chased down and murdered while jogging. We stand for the safety and the right of Black people to be outdoors and in nature without being subject to suspicion, confrontation, or the threat of violence.”
Technology
Soap bubbles could assist with pollination
(CNN) Researchers found that a soap bubble solution made with the right surfactant, an optimized pH, calcium, other minerals and chemicals was effective at retaining pollen grains on the thin film of the bubbles, transporting them to the targeted flowers, and facilitating germination. While the fruit-bearing rate of the control group was about 58%, bubble and hand pollination both achieved a rate of around 95%. Soap pollination also called for much fewer pollen grains than other methods did.
Journey to the musical center of the beehive
(Modern Farmer) Bioni Samp’s music blends recordings of bees buzzing and humming with electronic music. Samp records bees using a digital recorder attached to a special frame he made with microphones. He has managed to isolate the sounds of different bees – queens, drones and workers. The result is a wall of sound, which Samp hopes will make people think about their relationship with nature.
One More Thing…
“They call that ‘parking the bus’ in football. For a stingless bee, it’s an impressive defensive formation. Trigonisca nataliae, one of the smallest social bees in the world, about 3 mm long, from Brazil” From Christopher Grüter @chris_LeDuck via Twitter.