News

Carpenter bees are valuable pollinators—but not when they drill into your deck! Before reaching for insecticides, try these bee-friendly ways to prevent damage while keeping them around to pollinate your garden.

Each month our Bee Informed Blog highlights current news, science, and research related to solitary bee conservation, food insecurity, and sustainability. 1. The loss of insects is an apocalypse worth worrying about (Vox) Perhaps you don’t think much about the value of dung beetles. But without them crawling around farms, stables, and wild savannas today, the world would be pretty, er, shitty. What about the importance of small, mosquito-like flies called midges? Without them, there’d be no chocolate and likely no ice cream because they pollinate both cacao and the plants that feed dairy cows. “There are lots of tiny little things...

Traditionally, caring for spring Mason bees was a straightforward affair, involving three simple steps: installing the bee house, releasing the cocoons, and then enjoying the fruits of their pollinating labor. However, the emergence of the Houdini Fly, an invasive parasite targeting Mason bees, has necessitated an important addition to our care regimen.

Each month our Bee Informed Blog highlights current news, science, and research related to solitary bee conservation, food insecurity, and sustainability. 1. Hundreds of new native bees species added to Oregon database (OPB.org) The Oregon Bee Atlas just got bigger. In an update announced this month, the largest bee and plant database in the state added hundreds of new native bee species that were discovered all over Oregon. The atlas was created because of a lack of information available about the state’s bee populations. The program’s scientists collect data from each county with help from trained volunteers who collect bee specimens. In the latest...