[Pollinator] SF Chronicle: Volunteers busy as bees counting population

[Jennifer Tsang]

Volunteers busy as bees counting population


Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment <mailto:jkay at sfchronicle.com>  Writer

Friday, April 24, 2009

 
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/04/24/MNHJ176D4C.D
TL&o=0&type=printable> A female bumblebee feeds off a ceanothus flower at
San Fr...
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/04/24/MNHJ176D4C.D
TL&o=1&type=printable> Professor Gretchen LeBuhn observes a hive full of
honeybees.
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/04/24/MNHJ176D4C.D
TL&o=2&type=printable> Kindergartners at West Portal Elementary School in
San Fr...
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/04/24/MNHJ176D4C.D
TL&o=3&type=printable> Honey bees circle around their hive near Hensill Hall
at ...

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.

A San Francisco State University biology professor is signing up the citizen
researchers for the Great Sunflower Project, a program in the United States
and Canada that aims to assess the health of bee populations, some of which
are collapsing.

"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."

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.

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 San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose - have answered her
call.

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.

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.

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. 

"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.

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.


Mapping the population


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.

In the United States, bees pollinate about $15 billion a year worth of
crops, including about $6.5 billion in California, said UC Davis
entomologist Eric Mussen, including nuts, fruits, vegetables and
commercially sold seeds. Crop yields increase when bees visit more often. 

"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. 


European influences


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.

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.

While scientific surveys of bee populations are spotty, limited data show
that Napa and Sonoma counties each have roughly 250 native species,
including bumblebees.

Honeybees - more svelte than the larger, hairier bumblebees - were imported
to the United States 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.

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.

California's richest bee region is the Pinnacles National Monument in
Monterey and San Benito counties, home to 400 species of native bees. At 40
square miles, it is smaller than San Francisco, which has about 100 native
species. 

Like other cities worldwide, San Francisco is losing its bees. A century
ago, the city had nine species of bumblebees. Now scientists can find only
four.

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.

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. 


'It opened my eyes'


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.

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.

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."


Why bees like pollen 


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.

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.


Why bees are important 


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.

Fruits and seeds from insect-pollinated plants account for more than 30
percent of the foods and beverages consumed in the United States.


Getting involved 


To get a sunflower seed kit, go to www.greatsunflower.org or call (415)
405-2409.

E-mail Jane Kay at jkay at sfchronicle.com.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/24/MNHJ176D4C.DTL

This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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