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Current Pollinator News & Events
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The 4th Annual National Pollinator Week is June 21st - 27th! Find out how you can get involved by clicking here.
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NAPPC, the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign, will be held in Washington, DC on October 20-22nd, 2010. This event is by invitation only, but if you'd like know how you can attend please send an email to rsvp@pollinator.org.
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March 2010
March 10, 2010
Breezy Love, or the Sacking of the Bees
Birds do it. Bees do it. Beetles, bats and light summer breezes do it. I refer, of course, to that raunchiest of sex acts: the pollination of flowers. Bee on FlowerRuby Washington/The New York Times SEDUCTION Bee and flower meet. When it comes to sex, plants have more headaches than the rest of us. One problem is that they can’t travel about to find a mate — they are, after all, rooted to the spot — so they have to depend on intermediaries to bring egg and sperm cells together.
To read more, click here.
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March 9, 2010
Researchers seek 'super' bee cure for a deadly disorder
By Wayne Anderson SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES "I'd like to give it a tighter timeline," said Mr. Pettis. "We're working heavily on a number of fronts." Through the growing science of genomics - the science of looking at molecular information in DNA - Mr. Delaplane's science team will select a super-resistant bee that is able to naturally combat CCD and a culprit in this disorder: varroa mites.
To read more, click here.
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March 1, 2010
National Pollinator Week featured in Better Homes and Gardens! Remember Bees when Ordering Plants & Seeds
As you’re putting together your mail-order plant wish list, think about species that sustain bees. I know what you’re thinking: “Bees might ruin my picnic!” Here’s my reply to that: “Cover your beer, and plant flowers that sustain bees anyhow.” I just got a press release from the organizers of National Pollinator Week reminding us that one out of every three bites of food humans consume is dependant on bees and other animals for reproduction. Now you can see why it’s so important to protect these critters (even if they do sneak into our open cans of PBR when we’re not looking).
To read more, click here.
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February 2010
February 11, 2010
2009 Zaagkii Project #1: Michigan Teens Protecting Pollinators
(Negaunee, Michigan) – Surrounded by a swarm of 150,000 loudly buzzing bees on a hot summer day, a group of Marquette County teens turned nervous faces and trepidation into smiles and a education that they heard loud and clear – to protect rather than fear pollinators. At first only two teens wearing protective beekeeping gear entered the apiary behind the Negaunee township home of Jim and Martha Hayward. The others wearing only shorts and t-shirts soon approached when they discovered that honeybees are not aggressive.
To read more, click here. |
January 2010
January 28, 2010
Vegetable seeds could be in short supply this year
Will there be a shortage of vegetable seeds for gardeners in 2010? It is possible, says Barbara Melera, owner of the oldest seed house in the country, D. Landreth Seeds of New Freedom, Pa. "In 2009, we had the worst growing season in 50 years," she said. Rain and disease destroyed crops and with them, the seeds for next year's garden. "Onion sets. And a cucumber seed shortage," she predicted. "We are being told that the cucumber harvest was catastrophic, attacked late in the season by woolly mildew. There was fruit, but no viable seeds inside. "We are being told that many, many varieties simply won't be available." Likewise, Europe had a terrible harvest this year, and Europeans purchased much of their produce from the United States, taking with it, the seeds.
To read more, click here. |
January 26, 2010
Bees, Beetles and Butterflies
Bees, beetles and butterflies will be the focus of discussion at the Lake County Audubon Society meeting at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 1 at Libertyville Village Hall, 118 W. Cook St. Cyndi Duda, an environmental education specialist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will make a presentation on these pollinators and why we should care about them. Duda also will discuss the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign and will include handouts to help you attract and protect pollinators in your yard. The 90-minute program is free and open to the public. Call (847) 362-5134 for more information.
Network Theory
A Key to Unraveling How Nature Works In the last two decades, network theory has emerged as a way of making sense of everything from the World Wide Web to the human brain. Now, as ecologists have begun applying this theory to ecosystems, they are gaining insights into how species are interconnected and how to foster biodiversity. by carl zimmer Ecologists who want to save the world’s biodiversity could learn a lot from Kevin Bacon. One evening in 1994, three college students in Pennsylvania were watching Bacon in the eminently forgettable basketball movie The Air Up There.
To read more, click here.
Plant Switches Pollinators When Caterpillars Strike
It is not a perfect situation, the relationship between coyote tobacco and hawkmoths. Sure, the hawkmoth does a good job of pollinating the plant, Nicotiana attenuata, which grows in the Western United States and flowers at night. But the hawkmoth has this habit of leaving behind its eggs, which develop into caterpillars that like nothing better than to eat the plant. So N. attenuata strikes back in a novel way, according to scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany. As they describe in Current Biology, it shifts the time of its flowering to mornings and attracts a different pollinator, a hummingbird.
To read more, click here. |
January 22, 2010
Protecting Pollinators
The disappearance of pollinating insects around the world has prompted global action. Work is being done by scientists, companies and organizations around the world to help to curb the decline in populations of pollinating insects. AT LEAST 80% OF the world's crop plant species require pollination with an estimated one out of every three bites of food coming to us through the work of animal pollinators which includes birds, bees, butterflies, bats and beetles that transfer pollen between plants. The North American Pollinator Protection Campaign is an alliance of pollinator researchers, conservation and environmental groups, private industry and state and federal agencies. According to NAPPC, the declines in health and population of pollinators in North America and globally pose a significant...
To read more, click here.
Lemon Tree Inn of Naples, Florida is offering a Pollination Package
Conceived after the recent reopening of the Naples Botanical Garden, the Pollination Package includes three nights at the hotel including taxes, two tickets to Naples Botanical Garden, a guide on how to build your own pollinator garden, and a packet of flower seeds to help get the garden started. The Pollination Package is $399 now thru April 15, and $259 from April 15, until December 14, 2010. Rates are based on two people (double occupancy) for the three-night stay. Additional nights are available at an additional charge. “One of the best surprises about Lemon Tree Inn is our garden which has lemon trees, tropical flowering bushes and a variety of palms,” says Sid Kalmans, owner of Lemon Tree Inn, a charming tropical hotel in the heart of Old Naples, Florida. “The Pollination Package allows them to explore and learn about gardens and pollinators, all while enjoying a relaxing vacation.”
To read more, click here or visit the website at www.lemontreeinn.com |
January 21, 2010
The Garden Guardian
LAURIE DAVIES ADAMS- Executive Director of the leading nonprofit Pollinator Partnership. Imagine our world without chocolate. Well, thanks to the efforts of Hillsborough’s Laurie Davies Adams, we don’t have to. As the Executive Director of San Francisco nonprofit Pollinator Partnership (PP), she is leading an international effort to study and protect the butterflies, birds, bees, and other bugs that supply one in every three bites of food that we consume—including chocolate. Before PP was founded in 1997, with Adams as its first employee, pollinator populations had never been studied or monitored, despite threats to many populations. “Colony Collapse Disorder—the bee die-off that received a lot of attention in 2007—is just the tip of the iceberg,” says Adams. “If they don’t have places to rest and forage, they die, and it’s at our own peril. Because food is important to us, pollinators are important.”
To read more, click here. |
January 20, 2010
Vanishing of the Bees
The Honeybee Conservancy, Bee Native, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), HerFlix, Film Angels, and New Realities will be co-sponsoring a fundraiser for Vanishing of the Bees, a new documentary seeking to unravel the mystery of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). The event includes previews of the documentary, Q&A with the directors George Langworthy and Maryam Henein, a silent auction, food and drink. Date: February 4, 2010
Time: 7:00 - 10:00 pm
Location: RAMSCALE West Village Lofts, 463 West St, 13th Floor, NYC 10014
Ticket donation: $20
More details about the event, as well as a link for ticket purchases, can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/VanishingoftheBees |
January 19, 2010
Brisbane hearing on plan in butterfly habitat
The quest to build homes on San Bruno Mountain has once again stirred into action local conservationists who claim approval of a proposed development will ruin habitat for endangered butterflies.Fremont couple missing after camping trip 01.22.10 The Brisbane City Council will hold a public hearing tonight on whether to approve additional language in an environmental report that would allow 71 homes to be built on the mountain, 80 fewer than had been previously approved. Members of the conservationist group San Bruno Mountain Watch are opposed to the plan despite the reduction because they say it will cut off habitat for the endangered Callippe silverspot butterfly. "The plan does not leave a viable corridor for the butterflies, thus isolating them and preventing biological diversity," said Ken McIntire, executive director of San Bruno Mountain Watch, which has been fighting proposed developments on the mountain for years.
To read more, click here. |
January 18, 2010
Animals, Plants and Habitat
This excerpt from an Endangered Species Bulletin article sums up the problem: "Pollinating animals are critically important to the maintenance of virtually all terrestrial ecosystems, yet the population status of most pollinating species often goes unnoticed. Butterflies, moths, bats, birds, bees, beetles, flies, ants, and wasps assist almost all flowering plants in their reproduction, helping them to develop the seeds, foliage, nuts, and fruits that ensure the survival of innumerable wildlife and human populations worldwide. Sadly, many pollinator populations are declining precipitously around the world." This article, by Dr. Kim Winter, also lists examples of guilds of pollinators that are listed under the Endangered Species Act -- birds, bats, butterflies, moths, and beetles.
Honeybees are also in decline. They are suffering from what is being called Colony Collapse Disorder. Do an internet search on the phrase, and you will uncover countless articles and papers. Bumblebees are in decline too. Simply stated: our pollinators are in trouble, and if our pollinators are in trouble, so is our food supply, and so are we.
What can you do to help?
For such an important topic, we're guessing most people don't think a lot about pollination. Fortunately, groups such as the Pollinator Partnership have spent a lot of time thinking about it, and they have created or assembled a great deal of valuable information. Rather than repeat it all here, we encourage you to take a look at their web pages. Here is a list to get you started...
To read more, click here. |
News and Events Archives
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The Pollinator Partnership - 423 Washington St, 5th Floor -
San Francisco, CA 94111-2339 - (415) 362-1137 - info@pollinator.org
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