[Pollinator] Bringing Back the Bees

[Ashley Minnerath]

Bringing Back the Bees
<http://blogs.usda.gov/2012/01/26/bringing-back-the-bees/> 


Posted by Renae Anderson, NRCS Wisconsin
<http://blogs.usda.gov/author/bfrank/> , on January 26, 2012 at 5:11 PM 

 

http://blogs.usda.gov/2012/01/26/bringing-back-the-bees/



Some bees are specialists that only pollinate certain plants. This squash
bee works the Cucurbita crops-squash and pumpkins. (Photo courtesy of Nancy
Adamson and the Xerces Society)

A recently awarded USDA Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG)
<http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/financial/c
ig>  will fund research into bee-friendly seed mixes.

A partnership made up of the Xerces Society <http://www.xerces.org/> ,
University of Wisconsin Center for Integrated Agriculture Systems
<http://www.cias.wisc.edu/>  and USDA's Natural Resources Conservation
Service <http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/>  in Wisconsin is working to develop and
test seed mixes that will provide the best habitat for native bees.
CIG-funded projects use innovative technologies and approaches to address
natural resources issues.

Three-fourths of the world's flowering plants depend on pollinators to
reproduce, and in the U.S., bees are the main pollinators of fruits and
vegetables. But bees, bats and other pollinators are struggling as habitat
loss, disease, parasites, and environmental contaminants have all
contributed to the decline of many species of pollinators, including the
more than 4,000 species of native bees in North America.

To ensure that bees and other pollinators don't just survive, but also
thrive, USDA programs provide funding and technical assistance for farmers
to implement pollinator-friendly practices on their lands. One important
practice is incorporating plantings that attract native bees and other
pollinators to the borders of fields and other areas and feed them a varied
diet throughout the year.

Providing healthy habitat for native bees will also help feed managed hives
of European honey bees-which are used to pollinate many commercial crops in
the U.S.-and make them heartier, as they too reap the benefits of a diverse
and healthy diet.

That's where bee-friendly seed mixes come in. Four half-acre demonstration
sites have been planted using the new seed mixes in field borders and buffer
areas: on apple and fresh vegetable farms, a cranberry operation, and a
cucumber-and-pepper farm. The first results will be seen this summer, when
scientists will observe how quickly and successfully the new plantings
establish themselves, and how quickly the bees return.

Getting the right seed mix to attract and sustain a healthy native bee
population is a challenge. Bees need flowers-but not just any flowers. They
need to be the right color and size, and bloom at the right times.

Bees are attracted to white, yellow, blue or purple flowers. Bees also need
a variety of sizes, ranging from big sturdy flowers for the bumble bees to
small delicate ones for the sweat bees. Timing is also important-for
example, bees need some flowers to be steadily in bloom from the time the
bees first crawl out of their winter nests in early spring until they go
back in late fall.

Find out more about Conservation Innovation Grants.
<http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/financial/c
ig> 

Check out more conservation stories
<http://blogs.usda.gov/category/conservation>  on the USDA blog.

Follow NRCS on Twitter. <http://www.twitter.com/usda_nrcs> 

 

****************************************************************************
****

Ashley Minnerath

Pollinator Program Assistant

 

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

1971 - 2011: Forty Years of Conservation!

 

628 NE Broadway Suite 200, Portland, OR, 97232 USA

ashley at xerces.org

Tel: (503) 232-6639, ext. 102

Toll free: 1-855-232-6639, ext. 102

Fax: (503) 233-6794

 

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation is an international
nonprofit organization that protects wildlife through the conservation of
invertebrates and their habitat.

 

To join the Society, make a contribution, or read about our work, please
visit www.xerces.org/

 

New Book Now Available:

Attracting Native Pollinators. Protecting North America
<http://www.xerces.org/announcing-the-publication-of-attracting-native-polli
nators/> 's Bees and Butterflies

 

 

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