Blog
Hood River Middle School Robotics Team goes to State Competition with Bee Garden Project
HRMS Robotics Team in Hood River, Oregon made it to the state competition this year with a problem-solving project to help the bees. They’re going to create a bee garden along with a food forest with the help of Mr. Michael Becker, the Food And Conservation Science teacher at the school! I’m so impressed by these kids, we spent an afternoon talking about the problems bees face and within a few weeks they created a model project for other schools to follow!
Interview w/Mike Darcy ‘In the Garden’ on KXL-Planting for Honeybees 6/6/15
I had a great time talking with Mike this morning about planting for honeybees and our native bees. Every plant I mentioned receives a wide array of solitary bee visitors as well, not just honeybees. Bumbles, Sweat bees, Mining bees and Masons. I talk about the value of Elderberries and Ninebark, both native and lovely purple cultivars in the interview. The top photo is of a Ninebark, Woods’ Rose and Snowberry hedgerow planting in my own garden. Plant one or several and watch the pollinators show up in droves! Elderberry ‘Black Lace’, one of my favorite trees for small spaces because of its arching multi-stemmed habit that can be pruned back hard every few years and for it’s lovely pink flower panicles and the fact it’s a medicinal plant, great for the respiratory tract and will keep you and the bees humming along. The ‘Magic Mountain’ Basil I mention at the end of the interview is pictured in the middle, from one of my gardens in Hood River. I think it grew to more like 6′ in diameter, than the 4′ I mentioned, when not pinched back. Extraordinary. Thanks for listening and for planting flowers that make life sweeter for bees!
Join me on Facebook where I post daily photos of bees of all kinds in plants! @ https://www.facebook.com/MelissaBeesCommunity
Melissa Bees in Oregon Association of Nurseries DIGGER Magazine
Great news for bees! Check out the feature article with some of my ideas and photos, ‘Feeding the Bees’ in the June issue of Digger magazine by Kym Porkorny. Learn what you can plant for bees and other pollinators in your garden this year!
Melissa Bees Talk- Restoring Eden: How You Can Help Honeybees and Other Pollinators in Your Home Garden or Landscape- At Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Mar. 11th, 2015
Special thanks to Patty Ingraham, Green Team Leader at Underwriters Laboratories for having me for the second year as a part of their Green Expo. We had a super engaged group of about 20 employees at the talk who are looking for ways to help bees at their homes and in their community. I look forward to hearing about their work in the future!
Restoring Eden- Help Honey Bees and Pollinators in Your Home Garden or Landscape Resource List
Plants for Pollinators
Pollinator Partnership Cascade Mixed Forest Planting Guide: https://pollinator.org/PDFs/Guides/CascadeMixedrx8FINAL.pdf
Attracting Native Pollinators: Protecting North America’s Bees and Butterflies: http://www.xerces.org/announcing-the-publication-of-attracting-native-pollinators/
Pollinator ID
Attracting Native Pollinators: Protecting North America’s Bees and Butterflies: http://www.xerces.org/announcing-the-publication-of-attracting-native-pollinators/
‘Bee Smart’ Pollinator ID App: http://pollinator.org/beesmartapp.htm
Neonicotinoids
The Organic View Radio Show -June Stoyer and Thom Theobald interview international bee experts: http://www.theorganicview.com/category/bees/
Boulder Co. Beekeepers. Thom Theobald’s Corner– Thom speaks out about Clothianidin and neonics. Links to research: http://www.bouldercountybeekeepers.org/toms-corner/
Neonicotinoid Research/Publications
Systemic Pesticides: A Disaster in the Making. Dutch toxicologist Dr. Hank Tennekes discusses carcinogenic effect of neonicotinoids: http://www.disasterinthemaking.com/about_the_author.html
Sub-lethal exposure to neonicotinoids impaired honey bees winterization before proceeding to colony collapse disorder. Bulletin of Insectology: http://www.bulletinofinsectology.org/pdfarticles/vol67-2014-125-130lu.pdf
The Task Force on Systemic Pesticides: http://www.tfsp.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/WIA-MB.pdf
Interview with Dr. Alex Lu, Associate Professor of Environmental Exposure Biology at Harvard talking about his latest research on honeybees and neonicotinoids titled Sub-lethal Exposure To Neonicotinoids Impaired Honeybees Winterization Before Proceeding To Colony Collapse Disorder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KGPR2qkKmY
Local Pollinator Gardens/Organic Resources
Whitson Elementary School, Columbia High School Pollinator Gardens
Humbleroots Nursery- Native Plants: Humbleroots nursery.com
Dirt Hugger- Organic Compost: Dirthugger.com
Grow Organic- Plants, Amendments, Classes: Groworganics.org
Melissa Bees- Landscape Design/Build/Maintenance: Melissabees.com
Take Action
Pollinator Defense Council: http://pollinatorstewardship.org/?page_id=2538
Center for Food Safety: http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/take-action
Xerces Society: http://www.xerces.org/take-action-to-protect-pollinators/
City of Eugene Receives Melissa Bee Good Award
Melissa Elliott presents the Eugene City Council and Mayor Piercy with the Melissa Bee Good Award, For Making Life Sweeter for Bees. The Council voted to ban the use of neonicotinoid pesticides on City property this spring, becoming the first municipality in the United States to do so. Eugene has set the gold standard for land stewardship and honeybee and pollinator protection. May cities and towns across the United States and world follow their example!