PolliNation Podcast

Emily Erickson talks about the role of garden plants in bee conservation and how plant breeding may be changing the attractiveness of garden plants to bees. "This [data] gives us a really cool system where we can isolate these single traits in the context of the whole flower. So we can keep everything else consistent and then ask, 'what if it was red instead of orange? Does that matter?'." - Emily...

In this episode, we hear about the City of Fife's initiative to increase the amount of blooming clover available to bees on their city properties. "Clover attracts bees and other pollinators, so it benefits the ecology of the area." - David Cantlin. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/pollinationpodcast/2018/12/10/david-cantlin/

Listen in to learn how different bees divide up the responsibilities of finding and gathering food, and why they developed this method of foraging. "I can only imagine if in my neighborhood, every couple of days the grocery store closed and popped up somewhere else. How would you deal with that?" - Dr. Chelsea Cook. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/polli...

Listen in to learn more about eco-lawns, what brought Amy into this business, and what makes eco-lawns ideal for all different kinds of home owners. "I think I've always wanted to something that helped other people, and that's turned into something that can not only help people, but animals, insects, and the environment." - Amy Cox. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oreg...

Listen in to learn more about what drew Lila to Osmia lignaria, and how she is finding the effect of these bees on their landscape, and vice versa. "[Osmia] are really easy to work with, they're easy to buy, which is rare for a native bee source, and they're really easy systems to put in different places, so it was almost easier [for me to get into] than bumblebees." - Lila Westreich. Learn more a...

Learn more about the recent research studying the effects of glyphosate on honeybees, and how glyphosate can indirectly affect their gut homogenate. "Those lactobacillus bacteria are supposed to not be sensitive to the glyphosate, so it's weird that the single dose would affect them, but when there's a double dose, there seems to be no change." - Addision DeBoer. Learn more about this episode of P...

Listen in to learn how Garth Mulkey helped develop the bee protection protocol for specialty seed growers, and why specialty seed growers need bees. "[The bees] are even more critical in our hybrid productions, because the females in this production do not produce their own pollen, so if we don't have bees, we don't harvest seed." - Garth Mulkey Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http...

Listen in to learn how the small fungus Nosema affects bee colonies, how and where it thrives, and what is being done to stop it in the research community. "Nosema is kind of a tough nut to crack. There have been many people besides ourselves that have worked on alternative treatements to Nosema over the years and have largely proved unsuccessful." - Dr. Steve Pernal Learn more about this episode...

Listen in to learn how forests are managed, how it affects pollinator habitat, and how bioassays gather essential insights into improving pollinator health. "Out West in general, and especially in places like Oregon, because so much of our land has potential pollinator habitat, and if we manage it properly, I think we could really support pollinators like wild bees." - Dr. Sara Galbraith. Learn mo...

Listen in to learn how viruses affect pollinators, how virologists study them, and which ways beekeepers can best protect their colonies from infection. "When you think about a bee colony, it's a great place for viral infections. They're really crowded, if you think of honeybees, there's over 40,000 individuals crawling all over each other." - Michelle Flenniken. Learn more about this episode of P...

Listen in to learn how Project Apis m. has accomplished sustained valuable research for both pollinators and the agriculture and beekeeping industries. "What it takes to make the change on the ground is to show and prove what is happening, and then outreach to educate on the alternatives, and change those practices." - Danielle Downey. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://bit.ly/...

Listen in to today's episode to learn how the PNW Bumble Bee Atlas is aiding in bee conservation, and how you can participate in pollinator habitat surveys. "I can tell you from the response that we've had that people are pretty excited. They've been having a really good time doing this. I love it, too, and it's good to know that other people can join you on this." - Rich Hatfield. Learn more abou...

In this episode, we learn about the life cycle of Ceratina, and its peculiar strategy of turning the firstborn female into the a nursemaid of the nest. "We like to think of [Ceratina] as a bee on the brink of sociality." - Dr. Sarah Lawson. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://bit.ly/PN-Dr-Sarah-Lawson

In this episode, we learn how to create certified monarch waystations, and how Stewart Meadows integrated the monarch waystations into their golf course. "We want to put in more of these monarch waystations and pollinator habitats. To me, that is a wonderful next step, not only for the golf course, but for all the monarchs and our entire community." - Robert Coffin. Learn more about this episode o...

Listen in as we talk about residential beekeeping, and the ways you can work with your local government to keep your local hives nuisance-free. "Residential beekeeping didn't really exist 30 or 40 years ago, so the cities have had to address it as problems have come up, so each [city] will vary each time it comes up with a problem." - Mike Rodia. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at htt...

Listen in to learn more about victory gardens, the cultural importance of bees over time, and how artists and scientists work together to educate the world. "If you want to grow food to feed yourself, you also need to feed the bees. We need to feed the bees." - Lori Weidenhammer. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://bit.ly/PN-Lori-Weidenhammer

Listen in to learn more about how to plant a garden for pollinators using non-native plants, and the complexities of pollinator research in the field. "The bigger picture I focus on is to emphasize that [we all] have a role to play in the saving of bees, and that it's not really an issue about Monsanto or chemical companies or some far off entity." - Sam Droege. Learn more about this episode of Po...

Listen in to this episode to learn how the Department of Agriculture handles suspected pesticide-related bee incidents, and what they do to prevent them. "I would like to encourage any citizens within the state of Oregon to report any suspected bee related incident. That information is valuable to the department and others involved in evaluating pollinator health." - Dale Mitchell. Learn more abou...

Listen in to today's episode to learn about the uniqueness of leafcutting bees, how they're managed, and how to keep your bees safe in using pesticides. "When you look at an alfalfa field, if it has what looks like little metal or wooden sheds in the field, that's where hundreds and hundreds of thousands of leafcutting bees are doing their jobs." - Dr. Bob Peterson. Learn more about this episode o...

Listen in to today's episode to learn about the bees that evolved in vastly different climates, and why Dr. Woodard's lab studies the way they have adapted. "In the bumblebee lineage, they have been social for so long now, that it's really difficult, in fact impossible, to definitively answer the question of why they evolved socially." - Dr. Hollis Woodard. Learn more about this episode of PolliNa...

Listen in to this special episode to learn how young students can learn about pollinator science and health, and the way education is changing young minds. "It's so cool to see so many kids out here checking out pollinators, and how sophisticated they are and how they really do know a lot about these insects already." - Nicole Sanchez. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://bit.ly/...

Listen to today's episode to find out what we can learn from bee dances, and how home gardeners can make a difference creating their own pollinator habitat. "The hypothesis would be that the hotspots the honeybees have indicated are good or bad will map very nicely with areas that either support abundant and diverse native bee communities and bumblebee colonies, or places and times that are hard f...

On today's episode, learn how to keep your bees healthy and productive, what is most important in maintaining your bees, and how to prevent varroa mites. "Close to 50% of the nectar that [honeybees] bring in around the year is from blackberries." - Dr. Ramesh Sagili. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://bit.ly/PN-Dr-Ramesh-Sagili

Listen in to learn about Mimi's work studying the pollination of watermelon, and how farmers can improve their crop through cultivating pollinator systems. "Watermelon is one of those crops that is entirely dependent on pollinators in order to set fruit." - Mimi Jenkins. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://bit.ly/PN-Mimi-Jenkins

Listen in to learn the evolution of migratory beekeepers since the 1970's, and why Ron believes that our current pollination system isn't sustainable. "We can do more with fewer acres by using the honeybees, and they're being provided by commercial beekeepers." - Ron Miksha. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://bit.ly/PN-Ron-Miksha