News

Messing with the microbes within their hive-stored pollen hurts bumblebees Of the 20,000+ bee species on Earth, only about a dozen are used by farmers in commercial agriculture, and these crucial populations of managed bees have been declining at an alarming rate. Several factors, including increased use of pesticides, habitat fragmentation, emerging diseases, and reduced genetic diversity may be responsible for such bee losses. In response to this pollinator crisis, recent conservation efforts have led to stricter regulations on insecticide use. However, other agrochemicals such as herbicides and fungicides that do not directly target insects (such as bees) continue to...

Dr. Jason Graham is the lead researcher developing conservation for the endangered Hawaiian yellow-faced bees in the Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences Department at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. Seven species of Hawaii's yellow-faced bees were placed on the endangered species list in October 2016, these are the first species of bees to be protected and labeled as endangered. Dr. Graham has designed and is testing an artificial nest system that has helped him to study the ecology, development and nest architecture of the Hawaiian yellow-faced bees. Collaborating with State and Federal agencies as well as local community and school groups, Dr....

As a new Crown Bees employee, one of the first organizations I connected with was the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, which oversees the P-Patch Community Garden Program. As part of a group project in college, I learned that P-Patch community gardens provide a vital space to grow culturally significant food not easily found in grocery aisles. I wanted the P-Patch gardens to be aware that they qualify for our Community Garden program which provides public and educational gardens with the pollination they need while teaching the public about our native hole-nesting bees.   Bonnie Hedman has been the lead gardener at the UpGarden,...