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<DIV>Critical buzz on bees to be captured by SF State <!-- InstanceEndEditable -->
<P class=intro><!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="Dateline" --><EM><SPAN
class=date>March 18, 2008</SPAN><!-- InstanceEndEditable --></EM> -- <!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="Intro Paragraph" -->In her effort to shed light
on the health of native pollinating bees, Associate Professor of Biology
Gretchen LeBuhn is soliciting the help of thousands of "citizen scientists"
nationwide. The "Great Sunflower Project," the first coast-to-coast study of bee
pollination, will store and analyze the data at San Francisco State University.<!-- InstanceEndEditable --></P><!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="EditRegion6" -->
<P><IMG height=313 alt="A color photo of a bee pollinating a yellow sunflower"
src="http://www.sfsu.edu/~news/2008/spring/images/27.jpg" width=350></P><!-- InstanceEndEditable --><!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="Body" -->
<P>"Our project is going to use data collected by the general public to produce
the first real map of the state of bees in the continental United States,"
LeBuhnsaid. "We'll do this by giving out sunflower seeds to as many people as we
can and have them keep records of the numbers and kinds of bees attracted to
their sunflowers. The commitment of time is no more than 30 minutes, twice a
month. We will be like sunflower thermometers measuring the temperature of
pollination." </P>
<P>Buzz about the project has already attracted interest from Alaska to Florida
through word-of-mouth and podcasts. LeBuhn wants to involve citizen scientists
of all ages who live in a variety of urban, suburban and rural environments. She
urges gardening clubs, civic groups, nature museums and public school classrooms
to get involved. SF State biologists will observe sunflowers planted on campus.
</P>
<P>"We need to know where bees are doing well and how parks, gardens, natural
areas and all sorts of habitats affect our bees," LeBuhn said. "Once we get a
good picture of where bees are pollinating poorly, we can start to design ways
to help them." </P>
<P>LeBuhn said that the non-native species known as the "honeybee" has
historically been the pollinator of choice for commercial growers because they
are easy to cultivate in hives. But this species recently suffered a decline,
which prompted scientists to identify where bees in general were doing poorly.
The data collected for the Great Sunflower Project, however, will be much more
specific. </P>
<P>"It might sound a little strange, but the most important data we collect may
be the locations where no bees visit the sunflowers," LeBuhn said. She hopes to
capture information from areas devoted to farming, manufacturing and energy
production to city streets and suburban and rural gardens. "It will be
interesting to see what environmental factors may affect native bee
populations," LeBuhn said. </P>
<P>LeBuhn plans to collect three years of data that will contribute to new
theories about bee pollination, behavior and survival. She believes the
capability of native bees is underestimated. </P>
<P>Everyone who signs up for the project will receive a kit containing data
forms for reporting the observed bees, a guide to gardening for pollinators,
educational materials about bee species and a special packet of sunflower seeds.
Kits are available in English, Spanish and Mandarin. </P>
<P>Initial funding for the Great Sunflower Project was provided with a $4,000
grant from SF State. LeBuhn is seeking more funding to produce more sunflower
kits and fund postage. Ten thousand kits are ready to send out to participants
in time for the plants to flower by National Pollinators Week scheduled for June
23 to 28. </P>
<P>"Having healthy pollinators is important for both natural systems and our
food supply," LeBuhn said. "We can thank bees for every third bite of food we
take." </P>
<P>To participate in this study visit <A href="http://www.greatsunflower.org/"
target=_blank><FONT color=#666600>www.greatsunflower.org</FONT></A> or call
(415) 847-1716. </P><!-- InstanceEndEditable -->
<P>-- <!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="Byline with e-mail" --><A
href="mailto:denize@sfsu.edu" target=_blank><FONT color=#666600>Denize Springer
</FONT></A></P></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 face="Gill Sans MT" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10">Laurie
Davies Adams<BR>Executive Director<BR><B>Pollinator Partnership </B><BR>423
Washington Street, 5th floor<BR>San Francisco, CA
94111<BR>415-362-1137</FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#000000
FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0 face="Gill Sans MT"
color=#0000ff size=4 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="14"><B><A
href="http://www.pollinator.org/">www.pollinator.org</A></B></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"></B><BR><A
href="http://www.nappc.org/">www.nappc.org</A><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#000000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="12"><B><I>National Pollinator Week is June 22-28, 2008. <BR>Beecome
involved at <A
href="http://www.pollinator.org/">www.pollinator.org</A></I></FONT></B></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. <A title="http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15?ncid=aolhom00030000000001" href="http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15?ncid=aolhom00030000000001" target="_blank">Watch the video on AOL Home</A>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>