Thank Bees for Your Thanksgiving Dinner by Married with Bees

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food, pollination, Thanksgiving

Millions of Americans are about to celebrate Thanksgiving, and the grocery stores are bracing themselves for the onslaught of customers.  The fact that hundreds of millions of people in the US can eat a meal that consists of roughly the same menu on the same day is a miracle of modern agriculture as well as a testament to good supply chain management at that nations’ grocery stores.  Have you ever considered how your Thanksgiving meal is impacted by bees?  Many of your Thanksgiving favorites would not make it to the table without the pollination services provide by bees.

Let’s consider a typical Thanksgiving meal that consists of the following: turkey, stuffing, yeast rolls, green bean casserole, cranberry relish, pumpkin pie and coffee.  How would the menu be impacted if there were no bees?

Cont.

Read the full article here: Thank Bees for Your Thanksgiving Dinner — Married with Bees

Can Robobees Solve the Pollination Crisis? by The Xerces Society

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honey bees, native pollinators, pollination, robobees

Earlier this year, Walmart filed a patent application for drones that are designed to pollinate crops by carrying pollen from one plant to another, detecting flower locations with sensors and cameras. More recently, there has been a surge in news articles analyzing the concept of “robobees,” which is also being researched in labs around the world, from Harvard to Russia’s Tomsk Polytechnic University. Although several organizations are exploring this concept as a way to address the alarming decline in honey-bee populations, it seems highly unlikely that robotic pollinators could actually provide a solution.

First, in crop plants alone there are myriad varieties of flower shapes, sizes, and arrangements. For a sense of this diversity, just think of squash flowers, sunflowers, apple blossoms, and tomato flowers. Bees have coevolved with plants to collect and transport pollen efficiently. How many different types of drones would one farmer need? We are a very long way from having technology that will accomplish the task that bees already perform.

And the problem is more complex than just crops. At least 85 percent of all terrestrial plant species either require or strongly benefit from some form of animal pollination, and the idea of robotic pollinators ignores the many wild plants in meadows, prairies, hedgerows, and forests. Focusing solely on crop pollination and failing to take the pollination of native plants into account may well lead to a deterioration in the plant communities that make up the very fabric of our environment.

Read the full article here: Can Robobees Solve the Pollination Crisis? — The Xerces Society

Garden Plan For Pollinators by Keeping Backyard Bees

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gardening for bees, plants for pollinators, pollinator gardening, pollinator gardens

Many pollinator species have suffered serious declines in recent years. Unfortunately, most of our landscapes offer little in the way of appropriate habitat, forage, and housing. Even the most beautiful gardens are not always healthy ecosystems. Design choices, plant selections, and maintenance practices can make a huge difference in creating your own healthy ecosystem, filled with life. As a garden designer, I use this landscape plan for many gardens to attract the greatest varieties of pollinators.

Read full article with lots of pictures and plans here: Garden Plan For Pollinators — Keeping Backyard Bees

In Praise of Bees in Our Yards by Kingfisher Journey- Marina Richie

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honey bees, pollination, pollinator gardening

A burly bumblebee nose dives into the unfurling gold petals of a California poppy and vanishes. I lean ever closer until I’m a foot away. The bee spirals up and out, bearing pollen on her legs. Off she hums to the next flower, almost bumping into the honeybees plying the summer morning air.

Read full article with some awesome pictures here: In Praise of Bees in Our Yards — Kingfisher Journey- Marina Richie

National Pollinator Week by Bad Beekeeping Blog

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national pollinators week, pollination

Here’s a reminder from our friend Ron Miksha over at Bad Beekeeping Blog to celebrate NAtional Pollinator Week. Thanks Ron!
~sassafrasbeefarm

National Pollinator Week has arrived: June 18-24! Today, I’m re-running part of a blog I posted last week.  It had some ideas on what you might do to celebrate Pollinator Week.

Pollinator Partnership tells us, “National Pollinator Week is a time to celebrate pollinators and spread the word about what you can do to protect them.” Eleven years ago, when colony collapse was at its peak and the end of civilization was near, the US Senate approved “National Pollinator Week” unanimously. Unanimously! Has the US Senate ever approved anything else by undissented decree? That’s a hundred out of a hundred. Congratulations to them for collaborating, for once, on something important. They wanted every American to recognize the pollination services provided by birds and bees and beetles and bats.

Read the full blog post at: National Pollinator Week — Bad Beekeeping Blog

Crop pollination depends on wild AND managed pollinators

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ecology, environmental ecology, pollination, pollinator gardening

Common sense approach to pollinator ecosystems.

Ecology is not a dirty word

I just published this letter with Toby Smith and Romina Rader, in response to an opinion piece in Science back in January. The original paper argues that high densities of honey bees can harm wild pollinators (this can happen in some contexts).

It also suggests that a first step toward a conservation strategy for wild pollinators is that crop pollination by managed honey bees “should not be considered an ecosystem service” because those services “are delivered by an agricultural animal and not the local ecosystems”.

This highlights a common misinterpretation of what ecosystem services is all about. Services are delivered by interactions between species (including Homo sapiens) and their environments at multiple scales, not individual organisms or natural ecosystems.

View original post 319 more words

National Pollinator Week: Shrews and Mongooses, too. – by Bad Beekeeping Blog

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beekeeping, pollination

National Pollinator Week is June 19 – June 25, but summer is an odd time of year to celebrate pollinators. The big honey bee migration to California’s almonds ended in March. Bees, birds, bats, and butterflies have finished their work on spring fruit trees. Sure, zucchini buds beckon, but even Dipteran pollinators (flies) slacken visits to […]

Read more here: National Pollinator Week: Shrews and Mongooses, too. — Bad Beekeeping Blog