May 26, 2020
Learn about the bees in your neighborhood and how to support them by attending this summer’s free pollinator webinar series moderated by Tom Butzler and Dr. Margarita Lopez-Uribe from Penn State Extension. Webinars will cover a broad range of topics including drivers for bee declines, introductions to bee biology and diversity, and a discussion of what we can do as citizens to support local pollinator communities. The first seminar, ‘Pollinator Health Challenges: A bee’s perspective’, will feature Dr. Margarita Lopez-Uribe on Wednesday, June 3rd at 3:00 PM (ET).
May 26, 2020
In summertime, you can’t walk down the street without squishing a lanternfly.
May 26, 2020
Even before the recent news of the season’s first confirmed spotted lanternfly hatches in the Philadelphia region, homeowners in many parts of Pennsylvania were gearing up for their annual battle with the destructive pest.
May 18, 2020
Eggs of the invasive spotted lanternfly have started hatching in Pennsylvania.
May 18, 2020
The first hatches of the spotted lanternfly have been detected in West Philadelphia, but an expert on the pest said there’s still time to stop them.
May 18, 2020
The first spotted lanternflies of 2020 have hatched in Pennsylvania, kicking off a season where we could see large populations of the bug.
May 10, 2020
Assessing the potential spread of the spotted lanternfly in the Altoona area is the focus of a study underway by scientists in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
May 7, 2020
Asian giant hornets, which are sometimes called sparrow wasps and murder hornets, are a potentially invasive wasp from eastern Asia. A colony was found on Vancouver Island in 2019 and destroyed.
May 6, 2020
Hardworking honeybees may not be your favorite houseguests, but their threatened populations and critical environmental role in pollinating crops mean you should never exterminate a thriving colony.
May 5, 2020
Can Pennsylvania roadsides become canvases for vibrant arrays of wildflowers? The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) hopes so!
May 5, 2020
Wide-scale use of insecticide-treated bed nets has led to substantial declines in global incidences of malaria in recent years. As a result, mosquitos have been shifting their biting times to earlier in the evening and later in the morning. In a new study, an international team of researchers has found that mosquitoes are most likely to transmit malaria in the early evening, when people are exposed, then at midnight, when people are protected by bed nets, or in the morning. The findings may have implications for malaria prevention initiatives.
May 1, 2020
This is another entry in our monthly updates from us here at Beescape! As always, we will use this newsletter to share Beescape updates, interesting study results, and other relevant information related to Beescape and associated projects!
April 30, 2020
Trees, shrubs and woody vines are among the top food sources for honey bees in urban environments, according to an international team of researchers. By using honey bees housed in rooftop apiaries in Philadelphia, the researchers identified the plant species from which the honey bees collected most of their food, and tracked how these food resources changed from spring to fall.
April 29, 2020
Even before the recent news of the season’s first confirmed spotted lanternfly hatches in the Philadelphia region, homeowners in many parts of Pennsylvania were gearing up for their annual battle with the destructive pest.
April 28, 2020
The spotted lanternfly is a landscape-level invasive pest, feeding on more than 70 plant species.
April 27, 2020
Honey bee colony behavior is dynamic and extremely adaptable, which allows for easy manipulation and management of these amazing social insects.
April 23, 2020
Whiteflies are among the most important agricultural pests in the world, yet they have been difficult to genetically manipulate and control, in part, because of their small size. An international team of researchers has overcome this roadblock by developing a CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing protocol that could lead to novel control methods for this devastating pest.
April 22, 2020
A common soil fungus might be enlisted as a powerful partner by corn producers to suppress pests and promote plant growth, according to Penn State researchers, who suggest promoting the fungus could be an especially valuable strategy for organic growers who struggle with insect control.
April 11, 2020
Kelli Hoover, professor of entomology in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, is the recipient of the 2019 Alex and Jessie C. Black Award for Excellence in Research.
April 6, 2020
As a way to support its customers during the coronavirus pandemic, Penn State Extension is offering its library of online courses at no cost through April.
April 6, 2020
An early spring brings warmth, daffodils and outside play. It also signals — to the chagrin of many property owners across Pennsylvania and beyond — the next generation of spotted lanternflies.
April 3, 2020
This is the eighth of our new monthly updates from us here at Beescape! As always, we will use this newsletter to share Beescape updates, interesting study results, and other relevant information related to Beescape and associated projects!
April 1, 2020
Bug of the Month is a student–run monthly post which highlights the diversity of insects found in Pennsylvania.
March 30, 2020
Greetings from the Beescape Team!
March 23, 2020
Bees balance their protein and lipids from pollen of different flowers. Our new research article analyzes a suite of plant species pollen nutritional values to discover trends in bee-flower interactions. This dataset could help growers, gardeners, and conservationists when selecting plant species to choose for pollinator habitat restoration by providing species rich and nutritionally diverse landscapes.
March 23, 2020
Pesticide-coated seeds — such as neonicotinoids, many of which are highly toxic to both pest and beneficial insects — are increasingly used in the major field crops, but are underreported, in part, because farmers often do not know what pesticides are on their seeds, according to an international team of researchers. The lack of data may complicate efforts to evaluate the value of different pest management strategies, while also protecting human health and the environment.
March 20, 2020
Honey bees are infected with many different kinds of viruses. However, most virus infections are not problematic, if the honey bee colony is healthy and does not experience chronic stress.
March 17, 2020
Researcher shows blue orchard bees improve fruit set in Washington cherries and pears.
March 12, 2020
By diversifying their crop rotations to create conditions that promote beneficial, predatory insects to combat pests, farmers can reduce their reliance on insecticides to control early-season crop pests, such as caterpillars, and still produce competitive yields of corn and soybeans.
March 11, 2020
The Pennsylvania Integrated Pest Management Program, a collaboration between Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, has developed the book, “IPM for Pennsylvania Schools and Childcares: A How-To Manual.”
