July 2, 2020
Greetings, once again, from the Beescape Team! This is another entry in our monthly updates from us here at Beescape!
June 30, 2020
“The healthiest soil is the soil that has never been disturbed.” That sentiment was made at the Pennsylvania Farm Show last January by a former state Agriculture Department official who advocates for no till practices.
June 30, 2020
A study documenting bees that are reported to occur in Pennsylvania has found the presence of 437 species, including 49 never before recorded in the state. Researchers said the resulting checklist of bees in the commonwealth also identifies species not native to North America and several native species that may be of conservation concern.
June 30, 2020
Inside this issue: Pollinator Garden of Merit, Outstanding Pollinator Plants, Protecting Pollinators and Pollinator Garden FAQs
June 30, 2020
Animal mediated pollination supports nearly 90% of plant species. Animals also gain nutritional benefits from this process. Bees collect pollen from flowering plants to feed to their offspring, and thus bee and flowering plant species have coevolved to benefit both species involved.
June 29, 2020
An innovative project is creating a buzz around Penn State’s University Park campus, especially among the many species of pollinators that call Centre County home.
June 23, 2020
Beekeepers are always looking for the best ways to improve the health and productivity of their honey bee colonies.
June 23, 2020
In this second installation of the “Penn State Pollinator Webinar Series”, Dr. Robyn Underwood, an Assistant Research Professor at Penn State, goes in depth on beekeeping and how to best care for colonies.
June 17, 2020
An eight-part webinar series developed by Penn State Extension aims to teach people all about bees, discussing topics as diverse as colony survival, queen bee rearing and transforming one’s garden into a pollinator-friendly habitat.
June 9, 2020
Bees are a highly diverse group of pollinators. There are over 20,000 species of bees worldwide, 4,500 in North America, and 437 in Pennsylvania alone. Despite this variety, when people think of bees their minds tend to go to the image of a cute little honey bee living in a huge hive. However, that is not always the case. In this webinar, Dr. Margarita López-Uribe, Assistant Professor of Entomology and an Evolutionary Ecologist dispels two big myths about bees, discusses how human activity has impacted bees throughout their life cycle and provides guidance for how to make our gardens and landscape better for bees.
June 1, 2020
This is another entry in our monthly updates from us here at Beescape! As always, we will use this email list to share Beescape updates, interesting study results, and other relevant information related to Beescape and associated projects!
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 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 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 27, 2020
Honey bee colony behavior is dynamic and extremely adaptable, which allows for easy manipulation and management of these amazing social insects.
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 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 3, 2020
Bug of the Month is a student–run monthly post which highlights the diversity of insects found in Pennsylvania.
February 26, 2020
Insect-mediated pollination provides an essential ecosystem service to wild and managed landscapes, and ensures the production of food, fuel and fiber that is vital for human survival.
February 19, 2020
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