[Pollinator] Fwd: Bee hotels may not be that good

[Richard Johnstone]

IVM Partners has been conducting studies on utility rights-of-way and have
found that the dead stems of herbicide treated incompatible trees and
invasive shrubs, along with bare patches of soil, provide optimum native
bee habitat.  PDF Slides attached for your review.
Rick Johnstone

On Wed, Apr 1, 2015 at 12:37 PM, Mary Jo Sutton <mjmatrix2 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Peter,
>
> Thanks for sending this article out about bee "hotels." I had sent out a
> query last year to this group about the net effects of "Bee Hotels"  and am
> excited to see some formal research being done on the topic.
>
> Last spring and last month I did visitor programs at the Oakland Museum of
> California (OMCA) where adult or family groups made small bundles of hollow
> plant tube nesting "hotels." From the research, it sounds like the hotels
> are not providing a boost to the bee population on their own. But as an
> educator, the bee hotel program is a very effective way to introduce the
> public to the existence of native bees--most people have never heard of
> such a thing, but because of CCD, the public is primed and is very curious
> about what they can do to help bees. A public lecture about native bees and
> gardens by Gordon Frankie (he authored a California native bee book
> published last year) was *standing room only* filled with gardeners to
> want to do the right thing and make a difference.
>
> The general museum and gardening public is very aware that there are
> issues for honeybees, but most are unaware that providing forage and
> non-hotel ground nesting sites are easy and valuable actions they can take.
> The hands-on activity I led was a super effective learning situation;
> through the conversation and activity people's awareness is transformed and
> they primed to learn more. They are blown away by photos of native
> bees--the beauty and diversity. People become very motivated to plant
> native plants for native bee foraging and they learn that they should not
> mulch their whole yard. The opposite of what they have been told for years.
>
> The California Academy of Sciences came last year to learn about the
> program so they could run them at their museum and this year, educators
> from the Sonoma Children's Museum came to learn too. I encourage more
> studies on private bee habitat gardens or research partnerships with
> informal science learning institutions about the value of creating bee
> habitat in private or public lands.  As most land is privately owned,
> helping the public understand about native bees and the best methods for
> helping them could collectively make a difference. In the OMCA gallery we
> have a yard sign that says "change the world, plant natives!"
> Thanks for listening.
>
> Mary Jo Sutton
> mjmatrix at gmail.com
>
> On Sun, Mar 29, 2015 at 11:22 AM, Peter Bernhardt <bernhap2 at slu.edu>
> wrote:
>
>> A colleague sent the attached this morning.  You may find this of
>> interest. In the past, I have found the research of Dr Packer very
>> dependable.
>>
>> Peter Bernhardt
>>
>> --
>> Gerardo R Camilo, Ph.D.
>> Assoc. Professor of Biology
>> Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
>>    & International Studies
>> Conservation Fellow, St. Louis Zoo
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
>
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>


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