Boston Flora

Tag: Bees

  • Thursdays, July 21 – August 25, 12:00 noon – 2:15 pm – Live Bee Hive Openings

    In July and August, The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History beekeepers, George Muhlebach and crew, open live hives for visitors. Veils provided. Reservations required due to limited space. $5/non members and $4/members. Call 508 896 3867 x 111. The Museum is located at 869 Main Street (Route 6A) in Brewster. The events will take place on Thursdays through August 25, and there are a few other days scheduled, which may be found at http://www.ccmnh.org/Events/Live-Bee-Hive-Openings-2016.  Image from www.planetbee.org.

    PLEASE NOTE:
    The first opening is at 12 noon, if that fills, a 2nd is at 12:45 and if needed a 3rd opening at 1:30. We only take reservations for Noon until that is full, then open the next time slot.

  • Sunday, July 10, 12:00 noon – 1:30 pm – Meet the Bee Keeper

    Join local bee keeper Bob Simek on Sunday, July 10 at noon to hear his story of getting into the world of bee keeping. We’ll walk into to see his hives, and have time for questions an answers afterwards. Meet in the parking lot of Rocky Woods in Medfield, Massachusetts. All ages welcome. Free. For directions visit www.thetrustees.org.

  • Saturday, June 18, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – “Bee-cology” Crowdsourcing Project

    Our native bees are under threat.  Join Dr. Robert Gegear of WPI on Saturday, June 18 from 10 – 12 at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in his “Bee-cology” Crowdsourcing Project.  We’ll begin with a short presentation on bumblebee behavior, ecology and identification, then help by identifying bumblebees at Tower Hill.  Use this information to develop a bumblebee-friendly garden in your backyard.  Free with admission, but pre-registration required at www.towerhillbg.org.

    AR-150719371

  • Monday, May 16, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm – Bee Keeping Panel

    On Monday, May 16, beginning at 6 pm in the Boston Public Library Central Library in Copley Square, 700 Boylston Street, hear a Bee Keeping Panel with Joseph Wilson and Olivia Messinger Carrill, authors of The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North America’s Bees, and Thomas Seeley, author of Following the Wild Bees: The Craft and Science of Bee Hunting.

    In The Bees in Your Backyard, Joseph Wilson and Olivia Messinger Carril provide an engaging introduction to the roughly four thousand different bee species found in the United States and Canada, dispelling common myths about bees while offering essential tips for telling them apart in the field. In Following the Wild Bees, world honeybee authority Thomas Seeley reintroduces readers to the lost pastime of bee hunting, explaining not only the “how-to” but the “how-come” of the sport. Requiring no costly equipment or prior experience, bee hunting offers anyone—whether beekeeper, naturalist, layman, adult, or child—a way to understand nature on a deeper level through an outdoor craft that many people once knew but few practice today.  Free admission.

  • Thursday, April 28, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Gardening for Bees: Their Flowers and Nests in Your Homescape

    Join The Massachusetts Horticultural Association on Thursday, April 28 at 7 pm for an evening learning how to beautifully landscape our yards to support our native bees! Tom Sullivan, founder of Pollinators Welcome, will share years of experience and get you on your way to creating an edible homescape that is both beautiful and purposeful. The program will take place in the Parkman Room of the Education Building at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley.

    Mass Hort Members $12 , Non-Members $20. Register online at http://www.masshort.org. Image from www.commonweeder.com.

  • Tuesday, December 8, 7:30 pm – Role of Floral Traits in Mediating Disease Transmission

    The next meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club will be held on Tuesday, December 8 at 7:30 PM in in room 101 of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge. Lynn S. Adler, Professor of Biology at University of Massachusetts, Amherst,  will present a talk entitled Role of Floral Traits in Mediating Disease Transmission.

    All are welcome to join us at 5:45 at the West Side Lounge for an informal pre-meeting dinner. Please note the change in location from past dinners!

    Lynn’s work addresses how floral traits can affect bee pathogen loads and disease transmission. Although many researchers now study bee pathogens due to concerns about pollinator decline, we still know remarkably little about the role of plants in mediating bee diseases. In this talk she will demonstrate how nectar chemistry and pollen can affect bee gut pathogen loads, how transmission varies across plant species and consequences of plant variation for colony-level bee disease loads. The meeting is free and open to the public.  Image from www.nationofchange.org.

  • Monday, November 2, 7:00 pm – 8:15 pm – Floral Rewards and Bee-havior

    How does learning shape behavior in bees? What roles do flowers play in influencing bee activity? Researcher Daniel Papaj, PhD, Professor and Associate Head, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, will speak at the Hunnewell Building in the Arnold Arboretum on Monday, November 2 beginning at 7 pm about floral rewards and discuss nectar guides, buzz pollination, and bee decision-making in that context. He will also share some great video of bees in action. Fee Free, but registration requested. Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

  • Wednesdays, July 22 – August 5, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Butterflies, Dragonflies and Bees – Oh My!

    Insects play an integral part in the life cycle of plants and can enhance a botanical painting with a dynamic element of scientific accuracy and pure whimsy.  Through sketches and more complete full-color works, join Kelly Radding at Wellesley College Botanic Garden on three Wednesdays, July 22, 29 and August 5, from 9:30 – 3:30, to study the form and details that will make the insect come alive in your artwork.  Learn techniques to capture the myriad textures and colors and how to integrate an insect into a botanical composition.  Advanced skill level.  Friends of Wellesley Botanic Gardens $275, non-members $325.  Call 781-283-3094 to register. Image copyright Kelly Leahy Radding.

  • Thursday, March 26, 8:00 pm – Balancing Pesticide Risk and Forage Production to Conserve Bees

    The American Beekeeping Federation will host a webinar on Thursday, March 26 beginning at 8 pm Eastern Time with Dr. Jonathan Lundren, Insect Ecologist and Research Entomologist, USDA-ARS Lab, speaking on Balancing Pesticide Risk and Forage Production to Conserve Bees In and Near Cropland.

    The simplification of agroecosystems resulting has had numerous unintended consequences, including reduced bee forage for honeybees and other pollinators. Pesticide exposures, with particular reference to neonicotinoids, are a main concern and our group is researching the need and consequences of the widespread adoption of these insecticides on non-target species and communities in general. There are numerous ways that producers can reverse this simplification in their own operations. Within cropland, diversifying crop rotations by planting fields with bee-friendly crops, using flowering cover crops during fallow periods, planting smaller fields of more crop species are all agronomically sound and economically viable solutions to diversify farmland. Outside of crop fields, field margins can be planted to bee-friendly conservation strips, and practices such as mowing, haying, or spraying field margins should be avoided. Within a landscape, the amount of cropland is positively correlated with honeybee nutritional stress, and efforts that coordinate regional set asides across a landscape will be necessary for maximum benefits of forage enhancement to be realized. It is also important to realize that diversifying agroecosystems will have important, positive effects on other ecosystem services that should be considered when evaluating the benefits of these conservation efforts.

    Dr. Lundgren is an insect ecologist and Research Entomologist at the USDA-ARS laboratory in Brookings, South Dakota. He received his PhD in Entomology from the University of Illinois in 2004. Lundgren received the Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering (the highest honor given to young scientists by the Office of the President), the Rothbart Early Career Scientist for USDA-ARS, and received the Early Career Innovation Award from the Entomological Society of America.  Lundgren has written 95 peer-review journal articles, and authored the book Relationships of Natural Enemies and Non-prey Foods (Springer Publishers). One of his priorities is to make science applicable to end-users, and he regularly interacts with the public and farmers regarding pest management and insect biology. Lundgren’s research program focuses on assessing the ecological risk of pest management strategies and developing sustainable, long-term solutions for managing pests in cropland. His ecological research focuses heavily on conserving healthy biological communities within agroecosystems by reducing disturbance and increasing biodiversity within cropland.

    The session will be conducted via the GoToWebinar online meetings platform, which means the presenter will have a visual presentation, as well as an audio presentation. Upon entering the session online, you may choose whether to listen to the presentation through your computer’s speakers or through your phone. Reserve your spot by visiting www.abfnet.org. Questions – contact Valerie Lake at valerielake@abfnet.org.

  • Tuesday, December 9, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – The Bee: A Natural History

    Bees pollinate more than 130 fruit, vegetable, and seed crops that we rely on to survive. Bees are crucial to the reproduction and diversity of flowering plants, and the economic contributions of these irreplaceable insects measure in the tens of billions of dollars each year. Yet bees are dying at an alarming rate, threatening food supplies and ecosystems around the world. In this natural history talk at the Arnold Arboretum on Tuesday, December 9, from 7 – 8:30 pm, Noah Wilson-Rich, PhD, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of The Best Bees Company, will provide a window into the vitally important role that bees play in the life of our planet. He will speak about the human–bee relationship through time; explain a bit about bee evolution, ecology, and physiology; and share his holistic approach to bee health and how you can help bee populations. His book, The Bee: A Natural History, will be available for sale and signing.  Fee $5 Arboretum member, $10 nonmember.  Register at https://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/Info.aspx?DayPlanner=1385&DayPlannerDate=12/9/2014.