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<DIV><FONT size=2>The February issue of the USDA-ARS's <EM>Agricultural
Research</EM> magazine includes an article about the work of the Logan bee lab.
The opening paragraphs are pasted in below as a taster</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Full article at <A
href="http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/feb08/bee0208.htm">http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/feb08/bee0208.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<H2 align=left><FONT face=Arial><STRONG>Wonderful Wild
Bees</STRONG></FONT><STRONG><BR><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
color=#006633 size=-1>How They Can Help the Harried Honey
Bee</FONT></STRONG></H2>
<P align=left>Working quietly behind the scenes, America’s wild bees help with
pollination chores. Luscious berries, crunchy almonds, and many more foods that
we enjoy each benefit when these mostly unheralded insects visit blossoms and
inadvertently—but, for us and the plant, fortuitously—place pollen where it’s
needed most.</P>
<P align=left>In fact, the work of America’s wild bees might be especially
needed in view of the blows being dealt to the nation’s No. 1 pollinator, the
“domesticated” European honey bee, <EM>Apis</EM> <EM>mellifera</EM>.</P>
<P align=left>The recent and mostly mysterious colony collapse disorder has
pummeled honey bee hives, adding another burden to the bees’ already long list
of woes: beetles, mites, and diseases like foulbrood and chalkbrood.</P>
<P align=left>Wild and native bees are also known as “non-honey bees” because
they don’t produce the sugary golden syrup. Some carry the moniker “solitary
bees” because they live the single life, perhaps making their nests near other
bees—in a somewhat gregarious fashion—but at the same time not surrendering
their independence to the communal, ultra-socialized lifestyle of a hive, for
example.</P>
<P align=left>Whatever their name, these hardworking bees have always played a
strong supporting role to hived honey bees.</P>
<P align=left>Uncovering secrets about the lives of the nation’s wild bees
commands the full attention of bee experts at a unique research facility in
Logan, Utah. It’s the <A href="http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/main.htm">ARS</A>
Bee Biology and Systematics Laboratory, North America’s only scientific
institution devoted exclusively to providing practical, science-based knowledge
on how to domesticate, that is, manage, non-honey bees such as the alfalfa
leafcutting bee, <EM>Megachile rotundata</EM>—a proficient pollinator of that
forage crop; the blue orchard or orchard mason bee, <EM>Osmia</EM>
<EM>lignaria</EM>—a winged worker of apple, cherry, and almond orchards; bumble
bees; and others.</P></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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<DIV><FONT
size=1>______________________________________________________</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><STRONG>The Xerces Society for Invertebrate
Conservation</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=1>The Xerces Society is an international
nonprofit organization that </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=1>protects wildlife through the conservation of
invertebrates and their </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=1>habitat. </FONT></FONT><FONT face=Arial><FONT
size=1>To </FONT></FONT><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=1>join the Society, make a
</FONT></FONT><FONT size=1>contribution</FONT><FONT size=1>, </FONT><FONT
size=1>or read about our </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>work, </FONT><FONT size=1>please visit </FONT><FONT size=1><A
href="http://www.xerces.org/">www.xerces.org</A>.</FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>Matthew Shepherd</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>Senior Conservation Associate</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>4828 SE Hawthorne Boulevard, Portland, OR 97215,
USA</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>Tel: 503-232 6639 Cell: 503-807 1577 Fax: 503-233
6794</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>Email: </FONT><A href="mailto:mdshepherd@xerces.org"><FONT
size=1>mdshepherd@xerces.org</FONT></A><FONT size=1> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT
size=1>______________________________________________________</FONT></FONT></DIV>
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