Blog
Bee Informed: Unusual Bee Species, Takeaways From California's Native Plant Conference, and An Introduction to Our Native Bees
Each month our Bee Informed Blog highlights current news, science, and research related to solitary bee conservation, food insecurity, and sustainability.1. "New unusual bee species discovered with dog-like snout"(Phys.org) A new native bee species with a dog-like "snout" has been discovered in Perth bushland though Curtin-led research that sheds new light on our most important pollinators.Published in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research, author Dr. Kit Prendergast, from the Curtin School of Mol
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Nov 9th 2022
Strange Occurrences This Harvesting Season
During the 2022 harvesting season, some mason bee raisers in the pacific northwest noticed that a few mason bees had already emerged from their cocoons. Early emergence tells us that the bees have already consumed most of their stored fats (energy), which usually doesn't occur until spring.The early emergence of mason bees is likely due to the higher-than-average, extended summer temperatures we had in the summer and fall of 2022. When we have higher-than-average summer temperatures, the speed o
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Oct 30th 2022
Bee Informed: Students Raise Mason Bees At Orcas School, Lava Hole Bees, and Showing Gratitude For Bees This Thanksgiving
Each month our Bee Informed Blog highlights current news, science, and research related to solitary bee conservation, food insecurity, and sustainability.1. "Students raising mason bees at Orcas School"(The Islands' Sounder) Orcas Master Gardeners Dray Longdon, Laura Walker, Tony Suruda and Nancy Forker visited the Orcas School Garden on Oct. 6 to help the 5th-grade students harvest cocoons of mason bees and prepare them for winter storage. Mason bees are native pollinators that nest in cavities
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Oct 25th 2022
Summer Heat Waves May Impact Your Bees!
With extreme summer temperatures sweeping North America, shipping trucks, mailboxes, sheds, and garages can quickly feel like ovens! While bees are hearty insects, extreme temps can impact their survival.Here are a few things to keep in mind this summer:
Once our bees leave our facility, we cannot regulate the temperature of the cocoons. Extreme temps and shipping delays may affect your bees. If you know your leafcutter bees are scheduled to ship during a heat wave, please consider changing you
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Jun 24th 2022
Bee Informed: Bees Change from Solitary to Social, Bees are Fish, Ecologically Friendly Alternatives to the Great American Lawn, and Ball of Mating Bees
Each month our Bee Informed Blog highlights current news, science, and research related to solitary bee conservation, food insecurity, and sustainability.1. Native Bees Climb Social Ladder(County News) A native bee which nests in tree-fern fronds is helping scientists understand how life developed to be social and altruistic — and how bees evolved to purposefully hatch sterile young, a fact which defies Darwin’s natural selection theory.The Australian bee Amphylaeus morosus only recently made th
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Jun 22nd 2022