[Pollinator] [beemonitoring] Should we tell them?
Eric Mader
eric at xerces.org
Tue Apr 28 14:36:32 PDT 2015
Greetings and thank you to everyone who has weighed in on this thread. As
the national Whole Foods Market ‘Share the Buzz’ campaign partner, we’ve
been following this conversation here at Xerces, and now feel compelled to
weigh-in.
Setting-aside the merits of ‘bee hotels’ for a moment, we’d first like to
say that it is tremendously rewarding to see—for the first-time ever—a
major international grocery chain working to highlight pollinator
conservation and to increase the public’s appreciation of bees,
butterflies, and other pollinators. For all of us who have dedicated our
professional lives to understanding and protecting these fascinating
animals, this kind of unparalleled public attention offers a tremendous
opportunity. On a daily basis we interact with many of you on these
listservs, and are constantly delighted to see thriving pollinator research
programs, new policy initiatives that strengthen pollinator protection, and
significant conservation efforts that are helping to plant hundreds of
thousands of acres of wildflower-rich habitat across the United States.
While those of us who have worked on pollinators for years deserve
tremendous credit, so much of the momentum pollinator conservation now has
is the direct result of new voices, including companies which have made
this issue a cornerstone of their sustainability mission, companies such as
Whole Foods. The reach of Whole Foods (and other businesses now adding
their voice), the reach of enthusiastic retired wood-workers at farmers
markets selling bee blocks, and the reach of thousands of other “amateurs”
has catapulted the concept of pollinator conservation to the highest levels
of government and public discourse. These excited newbies deserve our
gratitude, support, encouragement, and friendship, even when we sometimes
think they don’t have the message quite right.
As to the value of bee hotels, it seems a lot of broad conclusions are
being extrapolated from the excellent MacIvor and Packer study. Working on
the applied habitat restoration side of things, I sense a bit of a straw
man argument here; while we here at Xerces sometimes highlight their use,
it’s largely in the context of public education and outreach—as a tool for
people to actually see and better understand these insects. We do not (and
to my knowledge, no other organization does as well) advocate for their
large-scale construction as a substitute for natural nesting substrates. As
a tool for stimulating public engagement, dialog, and interest in insects,
judging by this thread, they are proving to be a useful tool.
Best wishes to you all,
Eric
---
Eric Lee-Mӓder
- Pollinator Program Co-Director, The Xerces Society for Invertebrate
Conservation
- USDA-NRCS Technical Service Provider, TSP-10-6572
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
628 NE Broadway Suite 200, Portland, OR 97232, USA
Tel: (503) 232-6639
Cell: (503) 989-3649
(日本語でどうぞ)
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.
On Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 7:18 AM, Douglas Golick dgolick2 at unl.edu
[beemonitoring] <beemonitoring-noreply at yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Bee Group:
>
> This is my first post here. I have enjoyed the conversation on bee
> hotels as we have had similar discussions in our department about the M and
> P (2015) pub. We do a ton of pollinator conservation outreach in our lab
> and research on the human side of this issue. I think one of the challenges
> is getting more people doing something (hopefully more good than harm) that
> contributes to the good of the pollinator conservation cause. I am very
> happy when I walk away from these events with participants gaining
> knowledge on even one doable conservation practice. These one-off events
> are a challenge because you usually get 1-2 minutes of attention per
> person. Hopefully you get them to take a handout home with more info on
> effective pollinator conservation practices.
>
> We did 3 events at our local Whole Foods store over the last year. We
> have not had larger interactions with Share the Buzz. We just did the quick
> tube nest activity and filled our visitor’s heads with all the info we
> could in 3 minutes. We did not do the seed ball activity at these events.
> I don’t think what we did here in Lincoln informed programming at other WF
> locations - at least this was not our intent. If it did, we not provide any
> training or resources to WF on the science behind this activity.
>
> Great conversations here. I tend to lean towards the side of this
> activity doing little harm or direct good for the bees. More likely it does
> good for the people, getting them to tie their knowledge and desire to
> possible pollinator conservation practices.
>
>
> Doug
>
> Doug Golick, Assistant Professor
> Department of Entomology
> University of Nebraska-Lincoln
>
> On Apr 27, 2015, at 7:22 PM, Peter Bernhardt bernhap2 at slu.edu
> [beemonitoring] <beemonitoring-noreply at yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>
>
> Dear Ms. Lynch:
>
> Your message is enormously helpful at several levels. Now I can
> understand the whole point of the two demonstration tables two weeks ago.
> So, Whole Foods shops do work together on shared projects. You and your
> department gave them some useful information on pollinator sustainability.
>
> May I ask a favor? Would you mind sharing my previous communications on
> the St. Louis store with the people at Whole Foods who asked for
> information on pollinators? You can use my name. It's my own fault I
> rarely carry my university business cards. You are permitted to give them
> my office number (314-977-7152) but warn them they must call by May 7 if
> they want a fast reply (I'm about to do some research overseas). Perhaps
> other people who answered my query would be willing to volunteer their own
> comments and replies? That might also consider contacting Dr. Ed Spevak
> (Curator of Invertebrates) at the St. Louis Zoo. He's instituted public
> outreach programs on pollinators (especially bumblebees) that really seem
> to work.
>
> I hope you don't think I'm dumping this on your lap. You do know more
> about Whole Foods' interest in "Share the Buzz" compared to anyone who
> joined in this conversation previously, and that includes me.
>
> Sincerely, Peter Bernhardt
>
> On Mon, Apr 27, 2015 at 5:48 PM, Louise Lynch <LILynch777 at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Dr. Bernhardt - I wanted to pitch something to your question of what do
>> we do when presumably well-meaning businesses or public institutions spread
>> inaccurate information...
>>
>> Regarding Whole Foods specifically, my lab was contacted by a local
>> Whole Foods community relations representative in March of 2014 to
>> participate in their April Earth Month activities. They were searching for
>> local experts on pollinators to do programs on bees to support their Share
>> the Buzz program: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/pollinators. It is my
>> understanding that Whole Foods is quite passionate about this program. So
>> yes! I think we should tell them! In a way that will encourage them to work
>> with us. I am sure there are other such programs at various Whole Foods
>> store locations and that they would likely appreciate collaboration with
>> expertise in their community.
>>
>> We try to provide reliable information and where possible, make the
>> presentations ourselves. So in our Whole Foods case, we tried to answer the
>> need in person. Of course this is not possible for every outreach event and
>> call. But we do what we can in our community. We also try to make materials
>> (educational kits, educational materials, programming, etc.) available
>> where possible to help people (teachers, educators, etc.) better inform
>> other people. If I came across the situation you did in Whole Foods, I
>> probably would have discussed the information with them, too, as you did,
>> and leave behind my card so we could continue the conversation. I hope
>> Whole Foods will continue to reach out to us in the future so we can help
>> them get the right kind of information out to the public.
>>
>> Dr. Wen - we’ve discussed the MacIvor & Packer (2015) publication in
>> our lab, too, as we do programs that sometimes involve bee hotels. When I
>> first read the article, I’ll admit, my heart sank. I, too am interested in
>> what others have to say on this. Upon reviewing the article again, it
>> certainly provided some important considerations and clarifications on bee
>> hotels, but I don’t think it completely writes off their use.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Kind regards,
>> Louise I. Lynch
>>
>> Graduate Research Assistant
>> University of Nebraska-Lincoln
>> Department of Entomology
>> 220 Entomology Hall
>> Lincoln, Nebraska 68583-8692
>> http://entomology.unl.edu/
>> http://bumbleboosters.unl.edu
>>
>>
>> Eat today? Thank a bee!
>>
>>
>>
>> On Apr 27, 2015, at 8:42 AM, Peter Bernhardt bernhap2 at slu.edu [beemonitoring]
>> <beemonitoring-noreply at yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Dear Gord:
>>
>> Oh yes, there's a BIG gap between academics and the general public.
>> It's the reason I turned to writing popular books 25 years ago (with very
>> limited results). Steve Buchmann's upcoming book (The Reason for Flowers)
>> will fill in gaps but the information our organizations have needs to be
>> spread beyond publishing houses and Kindle. My original email on this
>> topic has been bandied about but no one has really answered the question.
>> What do we do when presumably well-meaning businesses or public
>> institutions spread inaccurate information? How should I approach Whole
>> Foods with basic information like...
>>
>> a) A bee hotel is made of hollow reeds, not mulch or garden debris,
>> and most bees aren't interested in them anyway.
>>
>> b) If you do make one keep them out of the reach of small children as
>> such hotels are almost invariably colonized by wasps.*
>>
>> c) To grow wildflowers follow the instructions on the packet. You're
>> not going to have much success overcrowding seeds in small, shallow cups
>> that lack a drainage hole.
>>
>> Ed Spevak has a big public outreach program on pollinators at the St.
>> Louis Zoo and it works at several levels because different techniques are
>> used to interest people in different age groups. I look forward to his
>> comments.
>>
>> * Jack, I correspond with Dr. Alcock and used to correspond with the
>> late Howard Ensign Evans so I know that wasps are are fascinating,
>> beautiful, economically important and some are important pollinators (see
>> my paper on Paeonia brownii). The public needs to know, though, that if
>> their gardens cater to wasps be prepared to lose some of those nice
>> butterflies and moths as their caterpillars will be converted to meat
>> pastes by diligent foragers.
>>
>> Peter
>>
>> On Sun, Apr 26, 2015 at 9:22 PM, Odo Natasaki <odonatas at uvic.ca> wrote:
>>
>>> Michael,
>>>
>>> The same applies to odonates (compared to bats), but mostly I
>>> enlighten people about odonates being "dragons" on the wing and they will
>>> even be cannibalistic given the chance.
>>>
>>> I agree that there is a lot of "mal-information" when it comes to
>>> passing information to the general public, but at least some of us are
>>> trying to do it properly. I've noted quite a disconnect between some
>>> academics and the general public. That's where I like to come in for
>>> instance.
>>>
>>> Gord Hutchings
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>> On Apr 26, 2015, at 9:56 AM, "askartie at aol.com [beemonitoring]" <
>>> beemonitoring-noreply at yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I have to agree with Dave. Sometimes misguided information can be a
>>> problem. We see this in the mosquito world a lot. I often hear of
>>> websites quoting some statistic that bats can eat 2000 mosquitoes in one
>>> night. Well, sure if they are in a room with nothing but mosquitoes (I
>>> would probably eat a bunch too if placed in such quarters), but in the real
>>> world we know that optimal foraging will have them chasing down noctuid
>>> moths and other juicer morsels - why eat a piece of popcorn when there is
>>> steak flying around? However, because of that one statistic, there are
>>> people who think the best way to eliminate mosquitoes is to put bat boxes
>>> everywhere. Ah...if only it were that simple. I love bats (and the
>>> various insects and arachnids that actually use the bat boxes since the
>>> bats rarely do in most parts of the world), and am glad that people are
>>> becoming aware of the importance of bats in nature. Unfortunately, the
>>> misguided education sometimes prevents the use of effective mosquito
>>> control methods. If there are ways to present the same information in a
>>> manner that is effective, we should encourage that instead. Dave's "Things
>>> to Do" list makes a lot more sense than sending people home with a ball of
>>> sticks and a plant that won't survive. We can do awareness AND good
>>> education at the same time. We must.
>>>
>>> Happy Spring!
>>>
>>> Mike
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Michael J. Weissmann, Ph.D., Entomologist
>>> Kallima Consultants, Inc.
>>> P.O. Box 33084
>>> Northglenn, CO 80233-0084 USA
>>> Phone: 720-872-6262
>>> E-mail: AskArtie at aol.com
>>> Website: http://kallimaconsultants.squarespace.com/consulting/
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> In a message dated 4/26/2015 9:18:01 A.M. Mountain Daylight Time,
>>> beemonitoring-noreply at yahoogroups.com writes:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I believe there is a strategic dance between awareness and misguided
>>> education.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Peter is right that Whole Foods, at this particular store, is
>>> potentially teaching poor bee management techniques. However, they are
>>> enlightening their customers that there are more bees than the one. …and
>>> if someone asks “where is the honey stored?”, the store clerks might be
>>> able to add “not all bees make honey and there are a lot of bees out in our
>>> yards that are endangered.” That’s potentially the end of their
>>> knowledge. Adding a few flowers, though possibly ineffective, provides
>>> something easy that a person can do.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The first step of actually reaching the public with this small bit of
>>> information is wonderful.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Whole Foods, from what I understand, is based on independent stores
>>> making independent decisions. Thus, I surmise that Peter found the only
>>> store in all of Whole Foods that had this one approach. The employees are
>>> empowered to make differences… I don’t think it’s a top down education
>>> program.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Two paths that my team will be taking on in the next few months.
>>>
>>> Create an infographic that could be forwarded to the various Whole Foods
>>> districts. It will have simple awareness bullets as well as simple “what
>>> you can do to help the pollinators” tips. We’ll try to have this
>>> distributed prior to Pollinator Week that pollinator.org founded.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *An example might be:*
>>>
>>> · Most of our 4,000 native bee species nests in the ground
>>>
>>> · Not all bees make honey
>>>
>>> · There are other bees that are superior pollinators than
>>> others.
>>>
>>> · Most of the bees are solitary and are gentle… less likely to
>>> sting you.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *Things to do:*
>>>
>>> · Remove a portion of your lawn and add some native flowers
>>>
>>> · Have flowers in bloom from as early as possible to late in
>>> the season as possible
>>>
>>> · Try growing some food
>>>
>>> · Try raising hole-nesting bees
>>>
>>> · Use one less chemical in your yard
>>>
>>> · Leave portions of your yard without mulch/beauty bark for
>>> ground nesting bees.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> While this infographic may not reach all stores, and all stores may not
>>> have employees that care enough to teach their customers, it will be a
>>> steady march in the right direction of public awareness to our native bees.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Peter, thanks for this string.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> If anyone would like to help, please reach out to me.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Dave Hunter
>>>
>>> <image003.png>
>>>
>>> O. 425.949.7954
>>>
>>> C. 206.851.1263
>>>
>>> www.crownbees.com
>>>
>>> Click below to hear the buzz!
>>>
>>> *<image004.jpg>* <http://www.facebook.com/CrownBees>*<image005.png>*
>>> <http://pinterest.com/crownbees>*<image006.jpg>*
>>> <http://twitter.com/#!/crownbees>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *From:* beemonitoring at yahoogroups.com [
>>> mailto:beemonitoring at yahoogroups.com <beemonitoring at yahoogroups.com>] *On
>>> Behalf Of *Jack Neff jlnatctmi at yahoo.com [beemonitoring]
>>> *Sent:* Sunday, April 26, 2015 7:36 AM
>>> *To:* Peter Bernhardt; Bee United; Pollinator List-serv; Ed Spevak
>>> *Subject:* Re: [beemonitoring] Should we tell them?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I see nothing wrong with setting out "bee hotels" as they are a step to
>>> increasing awareness. If nest sites aren't limiting in the area, they
>>> won't do much for bee populations but they won't hurt. More likely various
>>> eumenines, pompilids and sphecoids will set up shop and these are all
>>> generally considered beneficial (unless one is a big fan of caterpillars,
>>> spiders or crickets). The only wasp predators of bees (Philanthus) are
>>> ground nesters. Eventually such hotels will attract nest parasitoids and
>>> if unmanaged, become unsustainable, but this happens at reused natural
>>> nest sites as well.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> best
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Jack
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> John L. Neff
>>> Central Texas Melittological Institute
>>> 7307 Running Rope
>>> Austin,TX 78731 USA
>>> 512-345-7219
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sunday, April 26, 2015 8:51 AM, "Peter Bernhardt bernhap2 at slu.edu [beemonitoring]"
>>> <beemonitoring-noreply at yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Has anyone been to a Whole Foods store in the last couple of weeks? A
>>> week ago I went in to buy a piece of fish. When I entered the vegetable
>>> section I was greeted by two women who announced that "Pollinators are
>>> Endangered." I was invited to make a "bug hotel" to attract them to my
>>> garden. Yes, they were assembling twigs and broken stalks into balls
>>> secured by wire. I told them that the most recent publication on these bee
>>> motels is that they were not good for bees (most are ground nesters) and
>>> were more likely to attract bee predators like certain wasps. One of the
>>> Whole Food Employees was miffed. She snapped, "Good, I love wasps."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On the way out of the store more employees stood by a table offering
>>> tiny, shallow, pots the circumference of 50 cent pieces. There was dry,
>>> potting medium in the pots and they threw seeds of some composite (probably
>>> a coreopsis) on the surface."Would you like to learn how to garden with
>>> wildflowers and help our pollinators?" one asked. "I already garden with
>>> wildflowers," I replied.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Well," if you go inside they will show you how to make a bug hotel."
>>> I repeated pretty much what I'd said to the hotel makers. I also
>>> suggested they might join NAPPC and explained the acronym. It seemed best
>>> to leave and not tell them that those seeds wouldn't do very well in such a
>>> tiny, shallow pot.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Here in St. Louis, the Whole Foods employees are quite young and they
>>> are always full of advice. Would it be possible for us to offer them
>>> accurate information? Currently, the St. Louis Zoo does a very nice job
>>> educating its members about pollinators during pollinator week in June.
>>> Our lab puts up posters, exhibits boxes of specimens. We sell some of our
>>> books and photos.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Peter
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
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> Posted by: Douglas Golick <dgolick2 at unl.edu>
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