Because I live adjacent to a 91,650-acre state forest, I’m always interested in bees that might dwell in the woods. On hikes through the trees, I seldom see any bees except for an occasional bumble-sounding bee that circles me as I walk. Around it goes, getting louder and then receding, over and over. Its behavior […] Read more
We hear a lot about habitat loss, but what does that mean for pollinators? And what, if anything, can be done about it? Habitat loss comes in many forms, but it can be divided into three major types: habitat destruction, habitat degradation, and habitat fragmentation. Let’s look at these one by one. Three types of […] Read more
Okay, we all know that Japanese knotweed is an invasive species, prone to tearing up your driveway, cracking your foundation, and choking rivers and streams. But what’s the best thing about knotweed? That’s easy: it’s in bloom. Right now. Right at this very moment when no other plant is even thinking about it. Japanese knotweed, […] Read more
When we think of bee forage, we usually think of vegetable plots, row crops, orchards, hedgerows, flower gardens, and meadows. But some of the best bee forage in the world comes in the form of trees—not only fruit trees—but trees like maple, chestnut, willow, basswood, locust, and alder. Some species provide only pollen, some only […] Read more
Talk of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) tends to bring out two groups of extremists—the group that believes the demise of honey bees will completely destroy our ecosystem and the group that says, “Good riddance, honey bees are not native anyway.” It is true that honey bees are not native to the Americas. If all the […] Read more
If you’ve done much “bee reading” in the past few years, you’ve probably come across a fascinating history by Tammy Horn entitled Bees in America: How the Honey Bee Shaped a Nation, which was published by the University Press of Kentucky in 2005. The book was a great success that helped launch Horn’s next project. […] Read more