The world of beneficial arthropods (insects and their relatives) far exceeds some of the common critters that we often associate with this category. Many of them perform vital functions in our own yards, gardens, and ecosystems all over the world. A very small sliver of all arthropods are considered pests of any kind though there are certainly some pretty devastating pests in this category. Most of these other organisms are either providing benefits or maintaining important ecosystem functions.… Continue reading this article “Underrated Beneficial Arthropods Part 1: Pollinators”
Tag: pollinators
Bee Lawns: What’s all the buzz about?
A bee lawn is a way to benefit pollinators in our landscapes by providing additional floral resources, and often utilizes a mix of low-growing flowering plants in addition to turf species. Although flower gardens also provide flowering plants for pollinators, bee lawns can be multi-functional in their usability for recreational purposes with the added benefit of providing food for bees.
Habitat loss is one of the major factors implicated in the global declines of native bee species.… Continue reading this article “Bee Lawns: What’s all the buzz about?”
Update on our bare-rooted perennial garden
Two years ago I installed a pollinator garden in early July. This goes against my recommendation to install plants in the fall, when roots have longer to get established and less stress is felt on the rest of the plant. But I wanted to see what would happen if I was careful to mulch well and keep it irrigated. Oh, and did I mention I was going to root wash every one of them?… Continue reading this article “Update on our bare-rooted perennial garden”
Dear big box store: please make up your mind.
Report from the Center for Food Safety, April, 2015:
My photo from July, 2015:
Yes, sometimes folks want or need to kill bees, wasps, etc. But given the current hullabaloo, this particular sales display was too ironic for words.
Eggplants getting their buzz on
I was checking my eggplants today, and watching the bumble bees getting busy with the large purple flowers. As they flew in, buzzing away, they landed on the flower and kept buzzing — but the note changed, dropping in pitch. The bumble bee hummed away for a while, then flew off to the next flower.
I was watching buzz pollination at work. Egg plants, and a lot of other flowers, don’t leave their pollen hanging out in the open where any ant or fly that happens by could eat it.… Continue reading this article “Eggplants getting their buzz on”
Cross-pollination making you cross?
No, your cucumbers have not hybridized with your melons.
I’ve been fielding different versions of the same question a LOT lately.
Three different people have sent pictures of “cucumelons” telling me they planted cucumbers next to their melons, and now the cucumbers look strange, so they’re concerned that they have cross pollinated with the melons. One person planted what was supposed to be a red raspberry next to their yellow raspberry, but the new plant is producing yellow fruit, so they think that it must be cross pollinating with their yellow plant, causing the fruits to turn yellow.… Continue reading this article “Cross-pollination making you cross?”
Are Pretty Flowers Useful?
Yesterday I had the opportunity to listen to Marla Spivak, a very highly regarded bee scientist, talk about how bees defend themselves from disease. Very interesting stuff. I took a lot of information away from the talk, two bits of which I want to share with you.
The first is a vocabulary word — propolis – go ahead, google it (I don’t think too much inappropriate stuff will pop up) – it’s an antimicrobial “ointment” which bees create from stuff like the resins on tree buds.… Continue reading this article “Are Pretty Flowers Useful?”
Bees and Pesticides
I had the opportunity to read a disturbing post over at Garden Rant the other day about the insecticide clothianidin and how the EPA required its producer, Bayer, to run tests on the safety of using plants grown from seeds treated with clothianidin for bees. Tests which were, apparently, never carried out appropriately. This post sent me over to another site, AlterNet, which explained the problem in detail. In a nutshell what happened is that the EPA asked Bayer to run some tests on how its new pesticide might affect bees.… Continue reading this article “Bees and Pesticides”
Bee studies, blogs, and biases
My original posting last Wednesday (“Ignorance and the so-called “bogus” bee study“) has generated some vigorous discussion, which is exactly what I hoped it would do. At some point, one of our readers posted the link on the original blog site, where it generated the following response:
“The issue on CCD and these studies that point to “causes” other than pesticides comes down to a question: What came first? The pesticides or the problem.… Continue reading this article “Bee studies, blogs, and biases”
Ignorance and the so-called “bogus” bee study
I’m angry. Really, really angry. And it’s all Kenny’s fault.
Kenny S., one of our long-time blog followers, alerted me to a blog posting dismissing a new study on colony collapse disorder (CCD). The post was devoid of any evidence of bogusness, other than a link to “great reporting” by New York Magazine. Aside from the general snarkiness of this article, we’re breathlessly informed that Fortune magazine (a hotbed of scientific inquiry) uncovered an unholy connection between the lead author (Dr.… Continue reading this article “Ignorance and the so-called “bogus” bee study”