“An unprecedented study” by a researcher now with Ohio State has shown that “honey bees are the world’s most important single species of pollinator in natural ecosystems.”
honey bees
How honey bees get through winter; or, why don’t bees’ knees freeze?
With cold weather here, WOSU Public Media’s Phil Deoliveira looked at how Ohio beekeepers and their charges get through winter. CFAES entomologist Reed Johnson was one of the experts quoted, speaking on the importance of bees storing enough honey to eat to last through winter. “It’s not freezing to death that kills bees,” he said. “It’s running out of food and then freezing to death that kills them.” (Photo: Johnson in warmer times by Ken Chamberlain, CFAES Marketing and Communications.)
Bee there for April 4 panel discussion
CFAES bee researcher Reed Johnson, pictured, will join a panel discussion on pollinators — their value to people and ecosystems, how pesticides are affecting them, and more — from 7-9 p.m. April 4 in University Hall on Ohio State’s Columbus campus. Free admission, and free food (Chipotle) while it lasts.
It’s one in a series of sustainability-related events planned for Ohio State’s Time for Change Week, April 3-9. (Photo: Ken Chamberlain, CFAES.)
Flower-wise, bees favor farm over city
Hungry honey bees appear to favor flowers in agricultural areas over those in neighboring urban areas, says a study done by scientists with CFAES.
The discovery, the scientists said, has implications for urban beekeepers and challenges assumptions that farmland and honey bees are incompatible.
Gather more details. (Photo: Honey bee on goldenrod, iStock.)
Near Columbus: Sustainable Beekeeping Farm Tour and Workshop
Also on July 9 in the Ohio Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop Series is the Sustainable Beekeeping Farm Tour and Workshop at the Stratford Ecological Center in Delaware near Columbus. This one’s a two-parter, too: The tour is from 10 a.m. to noon, the workshop from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. The tour is free. The workshop is $10 and you have to sign up ahead of time. Get details here on pp. 10-11.
The bad, the good of honey bees and field crops
Honey bees are negatively impacted by the insecticide-coated seeds of some field crops, yet they also seem to benefit from the presence of other field crops near their hives, according to new research by CFAES scientists. Read the story.
A handy new guide to the bees in your garden
Ohio’s bees are more than honey bees. They’re bumble bees (like this one), carpenter bees, cuckoo bees and others, and you can identify more than a dozen of them — types you’re likely to see in your garden — using a new pocket card from CFAES. (Photo: David Cappaert, Bugwood.org.)
Bees exposed to ‘wide, concerning range of pesticides’: Study
Honey bees living next to corn and soybean fields are “exposed to a surprisingly wide and concerning range of pesticides,” according to a May 31 Newsweek story about research involving CFAES insect scientist Elizabeth Long, who was at Purdue University at the time of the study. There’s a video interview, too, with the story.
Beans and bees
“Dozens of species of pollinators have been found in soybean fields around the country. This project is trying to get a handle on what’s out there in Ohio fields.” Here’s how you can help.
Pollination elevation
Get the buzz on the new Ohio Pollinator Habitat Initiative — why it’s needed, what it will do, how it will help — in today’s The Outdoor Wire.