Doing good for bumble bees takes finding out what’s bad for them.
Sarah Scott, a CFAES entomology doctoral student, is studying how the fuzzy, buzzy, black-and-yellow pollinators get exposed to heavy metals in their environment—and what it can mean to their survival.
Scott, at CFAES’ Waterman Agricultural and Natural Resources Laboratory, poses near hives housing bumble bees’ domesticated cousins. (Photo: Ken Chamberlain, CFAES.)
Learn about the importance of pollinators and about threats to them in a workshop at the Mahoning County office of OSU Extension, CFAES’s outreach arm. It’s tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 23, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Registration is $10. Find out more. (Photo: Getty Images.)
Pumpkin and squash pollination has officially begun w/ the arrival of the Squash bees. 7 in this blossom alone! #glveg #cfaes pic.twitter.com/bmJJ91ZEvt
— JJski (@OSU_IPM) July 3, 2018
The 2018 webinar series by CFAES’s Bee Lab continues at 9 a.m. Wednesday, June 20, with a talk called “Ethics in Beekeeping.” Speaking will be Kim Flottum, the editor of Medina-based Bee Culture magazine and the author of The Backyard Beekeeper and Better Beekeeping, among others.
It’s free to watch; use the “Guest Login” at 8:55 a.m.
Learn more. (Photo: iStock.)
CFAES scientist Reed Johnson presents “Where Are Honey Bees Foraging in Ohio?” from 9-10 a.m. May 16 as part of a webinar series hosted by the college’s Bee Lab. Watching the webinar is free; use the “Guest Login” at 8:55 a.m. Gather more information (scroll down). (Photo: iStock.)
Elizabeth Long, assistant professor in CFAES’s Department of Entomology, presents “Death by Dust? The Case of the Disappearing Bee” at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 5, in the Wooster Science Café series. Long was a co-author of a 2017 Journal of Applied Ecology study that reported that neonicotinoid insectides, when used to protect corn seeds after planting, pose risks for honey bees.
“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.”
Continue reading Study: Here are the world’s No. 1 pollinators
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.)
The Ecolab project on Ohio State’s Mansfield campus hosts its Power of Pollinators Open House from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12, at 1760 University Drive. Admission is free and includes snacks, plants and seed packets.
Populations of pollinators — bees, butterflies and others — have seen significant drops in recent years, and the event will look at ways to help them. Talks will cover “Native Bees in Your Backyard,” “Pollinators Need Woodlands, Too!” and “Native Plant ID and Seed Collection.”
Participants should meet at the Monarch Right-of-Way demonstration plots in front of Ovalwood Hall.
For details, call CFAES wildlife program specialist Marne Titchenell, one of the event’s speakers, at 614-292-0402.