Take a Bee-Line to the Wild Side
Take a Bee-Line to the Wild Side
Wild bees are a diverse group of bees that are important pollinators for many crops and plants. The U.S. has roughly 4,000 species of wild bees that pollinate thousands of plants, including many common foods like apples and almonds. Wild bees, along with many pollinators, are declining around the world due to land changes, human activities, pesticide use, and other threats. Despite growing concern about population declines, there are limited data about wild bees. You can help wild bees by providing nesting boxes, restoring pollinator-friendly habitats, and encouraging legislation that protects bees. In his “Take a Walk on the Wild Side” presentation, Steve Castagnoli will provide an introduction to the natural history of wild bees in the Pacific Northwest. Steve Castagnoli is an apprentice level melittologist with the Oregon Bee Atlas. The Oregon Bee Atlas Master Melittologist Program trains and equips citizen scientists to: a) create and maintain a comprehensive and publicly accessible inventory of the state’s native bees and their plant-host preferences, b) to educate Oregonians on the state’s bee biodiversity and c) to conduct an on-going survey of native bee populations in order to assess their health. Specimen records are added annually to newly digitized historic records from the Oregon State Arthropod Collection to build the first comprehensive account of the native bee fauna of Oregon.
