Gardens offer a steady and reliable source of nectar all year round, helping to keep pollinators fed when farmland sources are limited, researchers have discovered.
Tag: Pollinators
Impact of pollutants on pollinators, and how neural circuits adapt to temperature changes
The Kavli Foundation and the U.S. National Science Foundation are collaborating to accelerate research in the emerging field of neurobiology in changing ecosystems. Awardees of the first Kavli-NSF grants will study the impact of atmospheric pollutants on the sense of smell in pollinators, and how neural circuits adapt to changes in temperature.
New Research Identifies a Biotechnology Approach to Improve Hybrid Breeding of Soybean
Cross-pollinated soybeans offer potential for researchers to introduce new crop improvements, improve farmer’s harvests and provide forage for pollinators.
Shell game: Researchers find an uncommon wild bee thriving by nesting in a localized bonanza of old snail shells
Biologists at McMaster University studying the local abundance of a typically uncommon wild native bee have found a clear link between the unusual population spike and the concentration of a non-native snail in the same area.
How Insects Track Odors by Navigating Microscale Winds
Insects use odor plumes — which travel like smoke and form when the wind blows odor molecules from their source — to track down sources such as flowers or pheromones. But wind tunnels are typically unable to replicate realistic outdoor wind conditions. In Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing, University of Nevada at Reno researchers decided to explore microscale wind conditions in various outdoor environments to better understand what flying insects might experience while tracking odor plumes.
Identifying the bee’s knees of bumble bee diets
A new study has identified the bee’s knees of bumble bee dietary options in Ohio and the Upper Midwest. Researchers found these bees don’t settle for the most abundant flowers in their foraging area – suggesting they have more discerning dietary preferences than one might expect.
Pollinators are attracted to humidity, not just scent
Humidity is as important as scent in attracting pollinators to a plant, new Cornell-led research finds, advancing basic biology and opening new avenues to support agriculture.
Lured by bright colors: Wild bee queens face death in commercial hives
While testing how well commercial bumblebees pollinate early spring crops, Cornell University researchers made a surprising discovery: dead wild bumblebee queens in the hives, an average of 10 per nest box.
It’s Not the Heat, It’s the Humidity: Water Loss Hurts Bees Most in the Desert
Digger bees lose large amounts of water during flight, which compromises their activity period and survival in the desert heat. Researchers from Arizona State University will present their work this week at the American Physiological Society (APS) Intersociety Meeting in Comparative Physiology: From Organism to Omics in an Uncertain World conference in San Diego.
Microbe protects honey bees from poor nutrition, a significant cause of colony loss
Researchers have identified a specific bacterial microbe that, when fed to honey bee larvae, can reduce the effects of nutritional stress on developing bees.
City-living bees benefit most from specific types of urban ‘greening’
Converting vacant urban lots into greenspaces can reduce blight and improve neighborhoods, and new research shows that certain types of such post-industrial reclamation efforts offer the added bonus of benefiting bees.
Step Inside the Danforth Center Prairie: Plants, Pollinators, and Birds
Whether you are driving by or visiting the Danforth Center, one of the first things you’ll notice is the six acres of reconstructed Missouri tallgrass prairie in front of our building.
Sustainable Agronomy Conference expands virtual format
Fourth annual conference offers free registration for the 6-week series.
Pollen-sized technology protects bees from deadly insecticides
A Cornell University-developed technology provides beekeepers, consumers and farmers with an antidote for deadly pesticides, which kill wild bees and cause beekeepers to lose around a third of their hives every year on average.
New beehives to train veterinary students
The University of Georgia has joined the fight to save the bees by building a set of hives on campus. The new program will give residents and senior veterinary students in clinical training experience caring for these insects.
For urban conservation, local resident involvement is key
Conservation projects in cities are most likely to succeed when nearby residents are part of the planning and design process and feel ownership over the projects, researchers who spent seven years studying conservation in Cleveland say.
Decline of Bees, Other Pollinators Threatens U.S. Crop Yields
Crop yields for apples, cherries and blueberries across the United States are being reduced by a lack of pollinators, according to Rutgers-led research, the most comprehensive study of its kind to date. Most of the world’s crops depend on honeybees and wild bees for pollination, so declines in both managed and wild bee populations raise concerns about food security, notes the study in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
Study identifies spread of bee disease via flowers
One in 11 flowers carries disease-causing parasites known to contribute to bee declines, according to a Cornell University study that identifies how flowers act as hubs for transmitting diseases to bees and other pollinators.
Rutgers Expert Can Discuss Creating Wildlife Habitat in Your Yard
New Brunswick, N.J. (June 15, 2020) – Kathleen Kerwin, a wildlife expert at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, is available for interviews on how to create wildlife habitat in your yard. “Creating backyard habitat for wildlife is a relatively easy way homeowners…
Rutgers Expert Can Discuss Invasive Plants in N.J. and Alternatives
New Brunswick, N.J. (June 10, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick Professor Michele Bakacs is available for interviews on invasive exotic plants in New Jersey that are growing out of control, overrunning forests and other natural areas. She can discuss why this…
Cornell research traces how farmlands affect bee disease spread
A new Cornell University study on bees, plants and landscapes in upstate New York sheds light on how bee pathogens spread, offering possible clues for what farmers could do to improve bee health.