Blog

Each month our Bee Informed Blog highlights current news, science, and research related to solitary bee conservation, food insecurity, and sustainability.1. Do you have a glossy green front lawn? What is this, the 1950s?Are our conceptions of gardening outdated and harming the planet? It turns out, yes, they are! So what should we do? Check out this article in The Guardian to learn how the "perfect lawn" is harming our pollinators and guidance on how you can create and maintain a pollinator-frie …

Each month our Bee Informed Blog highlights current news, science, and research related to solitary bee conservation, food insecurity, and sustainability.1. Helping trees survive the droughtTrees, both urban and rural, especially our native trees, provide habitats for birds, insects, and other animals. Trees provide food and nesting sites for many of our native bees, the shade that can reduce our energy use during extreme heat and help clean the air of pollutants. And as droughts become more int …

Global climate change already has observable effects on the environment. Glaciers have melted, extreme weather is more frequent and intense, plant and animal ranges have shifted, and plants are blooming earlier. Figuring out how something as complex as climate change affects bee populations is challenging but not impossible. Recent research has found that climate change affects our pollinators on a physiological level and alters phenology. Since animal pollinators, especially bees, are cru …

Each month our Bee Informed Blog highlights current news, science, and research related to solitary bee conservation, food insecurity, and sustainability.1. Support Saving America's Pollinators Act! During Pollinator Week 2021 in June, U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Jim McGovern (D-MA) reintroduced Saving America’s Pollinators Act (SAPA) to reverse ongoing declines in wild and managed pollinators. The bill suspends the use of neonicotinoid (neonic) insecticides and other …

The continuous blooming of native plants to provide pollen and nectar - check! Mud-rich clay source and deciduous leaves nearby for building nests - check! Bee-safe nesting materials - check! Bee hotel installed - check! If you build it, they will come, right? Well, not necessarily. "Why aren't my bees nesting?" is one of the most common questions we receive from our bee raisers. We understand how frustrating it can be to take the time to create safe nesting habitats for solitary bees onl …