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<h1><b><font size=6 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:24.0pt'>Volunteers
busy as bees counting population<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=byline><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="mailto:jkay@sfchronicle.com">Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment
Writer</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=date><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Friday,
April 24, 2009<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/04/24/MNHJ176D4C.DTL&o=0&type=printable"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=64 height=64 id="_x0000_i1035"
src="cid:image001.gif@01C9C4EA.C075D970" vspace=1
alt="A female bumblebee feeds off a ceanothus flower at San Fr..."></span></a><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/04/24/MNHJ176D4C.DTL&o=1&type=printable"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=64 height=64 id="_x0000_i1036"
src="cid:image002.gif@01C9C4EA.C075D970" vspace=1
alt="Professor Gretchen LeBuhn observes a hive full of honeybees."></span></a><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/04/24/MNHJ176D4C.DTL&o=2&type=printable"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=64 height=64 id="_x0000_i1037"
src="cid:image003.gif@01C9C4EA.C075D970" vspace=1
alt="Kindergartners at West Portal Elementary School in San Fr..."></span></a><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/04/24/MNHJ176D4C.DTL&o=3&type=printable"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=64 height=64 id="_x0000_i1038"
src="cid:image004.gif@01C9C4EA.C075D970" vspace=1
alt="Honey bees circle around their hive near Hensill Hall at ..."></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span
id=articlebody>Thousands of volunteers are planting sunflowers in the Bay Area
this spring in an effort to fight the worldwide decline of bees by observing
the busy insects carrying pollen to and from backyard flower gardens.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>A <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">State</st1:PlaceType>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType> biology professor is
signing up the citizen researchers for the Great Sunflower Project, a program
in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> that
aims to assess the health of bee populations, some of which are collapsing.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"There
is a crisis in bees," said Professor Gretchen LeBuhn, "but there's
been no global survey, no continental survey, no national survey. We realized
that we have to pay attention."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Known to
her students as the queen bee, she began the project last year, and next week
she will oversee the mailing of the last packets of Lemon Queen sunflower seeds
to 65,000 North Americans who have signed up for the at-home research project.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Her
volunteers agree to plant one of bees' favorite flowers and record how often
the furry, black-and-yellow buzzers visit. Almost 3,000 people in the Bay Area
- most in <st1:City w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:City>, <st1:City w:st="on">Oakland</st1:City>
and <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San Jose</st1:place></st1:City> -
have answered her call.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>When the
sunflowers bloom in mid-June, volunteers will record the first five bees that
show up at a sunny time of day, observing the insects for up to 30 minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Bees need
help, scientists say, because they are suffering from a world of hurt -
diseases, parasites and pesticides, and the loss of food and nesting places.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>LeBuhn
picked the sunflower because it is an important seed and oil crop and is native
to all of the continental 48 states. The daily bee behavior that researchers
observe will offer clues on how well neighborhood populations are doing. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"Sunflowers
are the best bar in town for bees. If you're not getting visits to your
sunflowers, it really says something about the bee population in your
area," LeBuhn said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>While
researchers have looked at parks to assess what kind of habitats bees like -
including certain mixes of flowers or nearby open space - the new citizen
science will reveal the attractive qualities in various kinds of backyards.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h3><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Mapping
the population<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h3>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>LeBuhn
and her students are making maps that reflect the prevalence of the bees, which
could lead to planting more pollen-producing vegetation or the control of
pesticides. To increase the validity of the data, LeBuhn asked volunteers this
year to take photos if they can.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In the <st1:country-region
w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region>, bees pollinate about $15 billion
a year worth of crops, including about $6.5 billion in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>, said UC Davis entomologist Eric
Mussen, including nuts, fruits, vegetables and commercially sold seeds. Crop
yields increase when bees visit more often. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"Without
honeybees, fruit trees bear few fruits, berries tend to be small and misshapen,
and vine crops like melons, cucumbers, squash and pumpkins bear small fruits
that do not fill out and mature properly," Mussen said. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h3><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>European
influences<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h3>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The Great
Sunflower Project mirrors networks started in Europe, where people report the
timing of the first spring bud burst, bird migrations, nesting and snowmelt as
a way to measure how the planet's climate is changing. Some of LeBuhn's data
will go to the National Phenology Network, a record of the timing of natural
events.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>She also
works with the San Francisco Green Schoolyard Alliance, whose schoolyard
renovations include replacing concrete with plants. In addition, LeBuhn advises
science and farm groups to plant flowering legumes off-season to produce
pollen, the bees' source of protein and food for their young.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>While
scientific surveys of bee populations are spotty, limited data show that <st1:City
w:st="on">Napa</st1:City> and <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sonoma</st1:place></st1:City>
counties each have roughly 250 native species, including bumblebees.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Honeybees
- more svelte than the larger, hairier bumblebees - were imported to the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>
to help with crop pollination and honey production. The honeybee species has
been the victim of the mysterious colony collapse disorder, a phenomenon in
which adults vanish, leaving the brood to die.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>An
environmental group, the Natural Resources Defense Council, is seeking
documents from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in an effort to
determine how well the agency is assessing the safety of clothianidin, a
pesticide ingredient suspected of contributing to the collapse of millions of
colonies.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><st1:State w:st="on"><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>California</span></font></st1:State>'s richest bee
region is the <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Pinnacles</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">National Monument</st1:PlaceType> in <st1:City w:st="on">Monterey</st1:City>
and <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San Benito</st1:place></st1:City>
counties, home to 400 species of native bees. At 40 square miles, it is smaller
than <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:place></st1:City>,
which has about 100 native species. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Like
other cities worldwide, <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:place></st1:City>
is losing its bees. A century ago, the city had nine species of bumblebees. Now
scientists can find only four.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>LeBuhn
got the idea for international cooperation in bee surveys eight years ago when
she organized a meeting of a dozen native-bee researchers to set up a
consistent protocol for studying bumblebees. When she started the project last
year, she hoped to get 4,000 volunteers in the Great Sunflower Project, but was
overwhelmed by six times that many.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>School
classes, civic groups, nature museums and gardeners from cities and rural areas
planted 25,000 sunflowers. About 4,000 bee sightings were reported. In a
surprise finding, 1 of every 5 of the gardens had no visits from bees, worrying
LeBuhn that bee communities are compromised. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h3><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>'It
opened my eyes'<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h3>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>With the
monitoring cycle beginning again, Glenda and Henry Corning's two granddaughters
came to Corte Madera on Wednesday to plant 18 sunflower seeds for the season.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Glenda
Corning, a sculptor, hadn't noticed the native bees until she participated last
year. "I don't think anyone thought much of the pollinators before. It
opened my eyes to the wonders of the bee world," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The Great
Sunflower Project is "bringing a lot of consciousness to gardening and to
decisions about spraying or not spraying," she said. "Projects like
this make people conscious that even the smallest decision they make affects
the ecosystem and the community."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h3><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Why
bees like pollen <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h3>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>It's
their source of protein, and they feed it to their young. Females land on
flowers and wiggle around, gathering pollen grains on their legs and under the
abdomen. They fly back to their nests and roll the pollen into balls.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The bees
lay eggs on the pollen balls, which hatch in two or three days and turn into
larvae that eat the balls and turn into pupae. In the spring, they emerge as
new bees looking for pollen.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h3><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Why
bees are important <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h3>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>When bees
gather pollen, they deposit grains from other plants into the reproductive
parts of a flower. The result is pollination of the plant, which leads to
fertilization and the development of fruit and seeds.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Fruits
and seeds from insect-pollinated plants account for more than 30 percent of the
foods and beverages consumed in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h3><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Getting
involved <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h3>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>To get a
sunflower seed kit, go to <a href="http://www.greatsunflower.org">www.greatsunflower.org</a>
or call (415) 405-2409.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=dtlcomment><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>E-mail Jane Kay at <a href="mailto:jkay@sfchronicle.com">jkay@sfchronicle.com</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</span>
<p id=url><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/24/MNHJ176D4C.DTL<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p id=pageno><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>This
article appeared on page <strong><b><font face="Times New Roman">A - 1</font></b></strong>
of the San Francisco Chronicle<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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