Blog – Learn about mason bees and leafcutter bees.
It’s like sending bees to war: the dangerous journey to the California Almond orchards.
Millions of beehives are coming into California from as far away as Maine as the almond orchards get ready to bloom next month.Twenty years ago, growers were charged $20 for a beehive in their orchard. The cost is now $220.The bees are vital to pollinating the crop, but the drought and other factors are making it difficult to ensure their survival.Almond OrchardsCalifornia is home to 80% of the world’s almond supply
Nature needs us — and our gardens — to grow with wildlife in mind
YOU AND I MIGHT NOT have met in person, but our gardens connect us. And I don’t just mean our shared love for spring tulips and seasonal planting rhythms. (By the way: It’s time to get those peas in the ground.) As an organic vegetable gardener, I’ve always honored the connection between pollinators and food, but it wasn’t until I installed a mason bee shelter in my back garden that my
What is that Crackling Sound
A light crackling sound floats above a field in northern Switzerland in late summer. Its source is invisible, tucked inside a dead, dried plant stem: a dozen larval mason bees striking the inner walls of their herbaceous nest. The grub-like larvae use calluses to tap their cocoons in a curious chorus inside a plant stem. By Jake Buehler While adult bees and wasps make plenty of
Growing Lavender for Pharmaceuticals and Medical Application
Growing Lavender for Pharmaceuticals For millennia lavender essential oil was used for its pharmacological effects; anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, and antimicrobial, by the Egyptians, Hebrews Chinese, and Indian as medicine between 3000 and 2000 BC. Nowadays we use it for its fragrant aromatherapy. That’s a mistake. Ancient wisdom has become new again. Lavender EOs are a coevolutionary product of lavender plants, functioning to protect the plant from herbivore attack, moles, deer, and insects, they elicit
Flower preference in Mason Bees
Mason Bees have a preference for certain flowers and fruit blossoms. Mason Bees love fruit trees, apple, cherry, plum, pear, and blueberries, just to name a few. The problem is two-fold, Mason Bees are sometimes out and working before the fruit trees or bush in the case of blueberries began to blossom. There is a need to bridge the gap between when the Mason Bee starts to forage for pollen and nectar and when
Mason Bees and the Corona Virus | COVID-19
Mother nature keeps ticking, no matter what the state of the pandemic. Today is the first day of spring. And food production will be a priority regardless of the progress of COVID-19 – Mason Bees, Honeybees and Leafcutter bees will be busy pollinating crops. Food production is a high priority to ensure that populations can stay healthy and robust in the face of the pandemic. Mason bees