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Healthy bees start with quality ingredients, and we at Mann Lake ensure that your bees receive only the best. Put your bees on track to overall vitality and well-being by using our premium products such as Ultra Bee Pollen Substitute, Pro Health Feeding Supplement and ProDFM Direct Fed Microbials. Accept nothing less for your bees. MANN LAKE 800-880-7694 WE KNOW BEES www.mannlakeltd.com Hackensack, MN • Wilkes-Barre, PA • Woodland, CA • Marshall, TX • Winter Haven, FL *Free shipping applies to most orders over $100 sent standard ground service within the lower 48 states. See website for details. In This Issue
HIGH COUNTRY POLLINATORS by Jake Mosher 6 $SKRWRJUDSKHUJRHVLQVHDUFKRIZLOGÁRZHUVLQWKH5RFN\0RXQWDLQVRI0RQWDQD
THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF CELLOPHANE BEES by Nicholas Dorian 17 7KHZDUPWKRIVSULQJPDUNVWKHDUULYDORIWKHVHJUHJDULRXVEHHV
BEYOND THE HIVE: BEES AND THEIR BAGGAGE by Rusty Burlew 19 $QH[SORUDWLRQRIKRZEHHVFDUU\WKHLUSROOHQ
EYES ON THE SKY by Jennifer Ball 28 $EXWWHUÁ\HFRORJLVW·VPLVVLRQWRVDYHDVSHFLHV
GRASSLANDS, BIRDS, MONARCHS & MORE by Chip Taylor 31 7KHIRXQGHURI0RQDUFK:DWFKH[SORUHVZKDWELUGORVVHVPHDQIRUSROOLQDWRUV
OPOSSUMS AS POLLINATORS IN BRAZIL by Sheryl Normandeau 35 7KHULJKWWRROVIRUWKHMRE
BEES VS. ROBOTS by Dave Goulson 39 &DQZHUHSODFHSROOLQDWRUVZLWKPLQLURERWV"6KRXOGZH"
PRECISION POLLINATION by Kim Flottum 43 $GYDQFHVLQVPDUWDJULFXOWXUHDQGSROOLQDWLRQVHUYLFHV
ROOM FOR DEBATE by Kirsten Traynor 48 0LOOLRQ%ORVVRPVLVDSODWIRUPWRGHEDWHLPSRUWDQWTXHVWLRQVUHJDUGLQJSROOLQDWLRQ
RESTORING THE BEAUTIFUL by Greta Burroughs 49 7KH86UHOHDVHVWZRQHZTXDUWHUVWKDWFRPPHPRUDWHSROOLQDWRUV
ALL THAT JAZZ by Stephanie Bouchard 57 %HHVLQVSLUHDEDQGWKDWSHUIRUPVIRUFKLOGUHQ
MEAT LOVING “VULTURE BEES” by Nicholas Dorian & Rachael Bonoan 59 ,QWKHWURSLFVEHHVFROOHFWPLQHUDOVIURPFDUULRQ
WHAT’S BUGGING by Rusty Burlew 61 0HHWWKH3DLQWHG/DGLHV In This Issue
CHASING SPRING: TIMING IS EVERYTHING by Ryan Burnett 64 7ZRSKRWRJUDSKHUVWHDPXSZLWKDVFLHQWLVWWRH[SORUHKRZFOLPDWHFKDQJHLPSDFWVRXUHQYLURQPHQW
HAWAII’S ENDANGERED BEES by Shannon Brown 74 5LVLQJVHDOHYHOVWKUHDWHQFULWLFDOKDELWDWIRUHQGDQJHUHGEHHV
THE DISCOVERED SECRET OF NATURE by Hans-Ulrich Thomas 77 +RZ&KULVWLDQ.RQUDG6SUHQJHOHOXFLGDWHGPXFKRISROOLQDWLRQHFRORJ \LQ
FOR LOVE OF NATURE by Bill Johnson 83 $SKRWRHVVD\RQWKHGLYHUVLW\RISROOLQDWRUV
BUTTERFLY PAVILION by Jodi Torpey 91 +RZDQLQVWLWXWLRQGHLFNLÀHVLQYHUWHEUDWHVDQGHQJDJHVWKHSXEOLF
BEES AS SEEDS by Katherine Mast 95 0HODQLH.LUE\H[SORUHV6SDLQLQVHDUFKRIVZHHWFRQVLOLHQFH
PRESSED PLANTS by Elizabeth Thompson 98 $JOLPSVHLQWRRXUFKDQJLQJFOLPDWH
The views expressed in the magazine are those of the contributors and not necessarily the editor. This magazine is published by Protect our Pollinators, LLC, a private limited company. 2 Million Blossoms neither endorses nor accepts any responsibility for the content of the advertisements featured in the mag- azine. Published by Protect our Pollinators, LLC, Copyright © 2020. All rights SUBSCRIPTIONS reserved. Annual Digital Subscription $20 ISSN: 2689-5889 (print) US Annual Print Subscription $35 2689-5897 (online) Canadian Print Subscription $55 Our Po ct ll International Print Subscription $60 e in t a o t r o P r To order visit us online at: s 2MillionBlossoms.com/subscribe
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Editor 2 Million Blossoms is printed by Modern Litho Dr. Kirsten S. Traynor using vegetable-based inks onto paper which has [email protected] been sourced from well-managed and sustainable Social Media ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ŝțȱ ȱ ęȱ facebook.com/2MBlossoms Printer and holds renewable resource FSC® and instagram.com/2MillionBlossoms ȱȬȬ¢țȱęǯȱȱ- twitter.com/2MBlossoms zine was printed using wind powered electricity. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR A Brief Word Editorial
’ve just returned home to Phoenix, AZ after a whirl- It wasn’t until after I had graduated with a BA in English wind tour of Michigan, where I was supposed to speak DQG,ZRQP\ÀUVWKLYHLQDUDIÁHWKDW,HQWHUHGWKHZRUOGRI at two state conferences and six local clubs. During my science through the back door of a hobby that turned into a travels Covid-19 swept through Europe, putting Italy career. I’ve certainly had an unconventional career path, but Iand Spain on lock down. I successfully completed most of it has taught me a lot. I think it has forced me to keep an my speaking tour, presenting at the Michigan State Beekeep- open mind and always pursue knowledge. ers Association and all of the local clubs, but the SEMBA In light of that mindset, I am very excited to print two conference in South East Michigan was canceled, as they different viewpoints on the role of robotics in pollination. were expecting a large crowd. Given what we know of the 7KHÀUVWLVE\EXPEOHEHHVFLHQWLVW'U'DYH*RXOVRQZKR contagious nature of the virus, I think this was the smart is concerned about the environmental impact of reproduc- and safe decision. I was saddened nonetheless, as the con- ing nature’s perfect biological pollinators out of whirling ference featured a wonderful lineup of female scientists and parts and plastic. What is the lifespan of such machines? beekeepers. How do we dispose of them when they break down? Even :KHQ,ÀUVWVWDUWHGNHHSLQJEHHVEDFNLQWKHUHZHUH if we bring the price down to a few pennies per unit, what is not a lot of women in the industry. The last decade has seen WKHFRVWRI ODUJHURERVZDUPVFRPSDUHGWRKLJKO\HIÀFLHQW a dramatic shift with many more women and young families honey bees and bumble bees? becoming stewards of honey bee hives. It’s a change that I Kim Flottum of the podcast Beekeeping Today offers am proud to have witnessed. I am even more thrilled to be a different view of how technology has always shifted how a part of this shifting demographic, as I feel part of a sis- we farm. The growers would be foolish not to embrace tech- WHUKRRG,WPDNHVPHSURXGWRVHHWKHPDQ\\RXQJÀHUFH QRORJLFDODGYDQFHVLI WKH\LPSURYHFURSTXDOLW\DQGTXDQWLW\ women taking on the challenge of wrangling bees, educating he argues. He delves into some of the companies striving to others, becoming club leaders, and doing great science. meet the demands of the market with smart ag technology. I spent a large portion of my formative years in Europe, $QVZHUV WR FRPSOLFDWHG TXHVWLRQV DUH UDUHO\ EODFN DQG where I didn’t have a lot of female role models in the maths white. Rather we need to embrace diverse viewpoints and and sciences. In school I was good at both, but part of me understand the nuances that often color reality in shades of LQWHUQDOL]HGWKDWYRLGRI ZRPHQLQWKRVHÀHOGV6RZKLOH, gray. I think this is an important topic and we should stay was never discouraged from sticking with the sciences, the abreast of the challenges and successes along the way. I’ve humanities and pursuit of different languages felt like a more thus written a follow-up column called Room for Debate, DSSURSULDWHÀWIRUP\VNLOOVHW$QGVR,SXUVXHGDQ(QJOLVK ZKHUH,SRVHVRPHSRWHQWLDOGLVFXVVLRQTXHVWLRQV PDMRULQFROOHJHIXOÀOOLQJMXVWWKHEDUHUHTXLUHPHQWVLQVFL- My goal for 2 Million Blossoms is that it will serve as a ence. platform for discussion. I hope some of our readers consider
3 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS
debating the pros and cons with other pollinator enthusiasts. Á\EDFNZDUGVXSVLGHGRZQDQGKRYHUEXWODFNWKHDELOLW\WR To encourage this conversation, I have made the two arti- ZDONRUKRSWKRXJKWKH\FDQVKXIÁH7KHVHIDVWÁLHUVVXEVLVW FOHVDQGWKHGLVFXVVLRQTXHVWLRQVDYDLODEOHDVDIUHHGRZQORDG predominantly on a diet of insect protein and plant nectar. from our website. As I wrote in the inaugural issue: we hope to be a place for discussion, where contentious ideas can be A Walk Through History expressed—not to be shot down—but to open ourselves to Two articles in this issue reach back through time to trea- different viewpoints and exchanges. VXUHVRI RXUSDVW7KHÀUVWZDVVXEPLWWHGE\+DQV8OULFK Thomas, a subscriber in Switzerland who combines his fas- In a Cloud Forest cination of bees with a love of history. He introduces us 2XU FRYHU SKRWR ZDV D VHUHQGLSLWRXV ÀQG 0\ SDUHQWV to Christian Konrad Sprengel, a naturalist who discovered were recently traveling in Costa Rica and met a wonderful WKDWLQVHFWVZHUHRIWHQUHTXLUHGIRUVHHGVHWLQPDQ\SODQWV guide and avid photographer Jorge Marin. He captured the He laid the groundwork of our understanding of pollina- stunning Green-crowned Brilliant male hummingbird grac- tion syndromes—how particular pollinators and plants co- ing our April issue’s cover (Heliodoxa jacula) while photo- evolved over time. His meticulous work was much ridiculed graphing in the Cloud Forest of Monteverde. DWWKHWLPHKHSXEOLVKHGKLVÀUVWERRNRQSODQWVDQGKLVVHF- The Green-crowned Brilliant has the most northerly ond work on bees, though Darwin later helped lift his work range of the nine hummingbird species in its genus. This out of obscurity. In a modern twist, science and nature writer large, robust species is native to the cloud forests from Costa 1RUPDQGHDXFRYHUVDZRQGHUIXOH[DPSOHRI DXQLTXHSROOL- Rica to western Ecuador living at an elevation range of 2,300 nation syndrome in Brazil that involves a long hypothesized to 6,600 ft. For more information on their nesting habits, opossum. read the open access paper in Ornitologia Neotropical (https://tinyurl.com/suou9u7). Hummingbirds play a very important role in pollination in Costa Rica, pollinating almost 10% of plant species. In the Cloud Forests the weather is often very rough for most LQVHFWSROOLQDWRUVVXFKDVEHHVEXWWHUÁLHVDQGZDVSVZLWKORWV of wind and rain. Hummingbirds are endemic to the new world, exhibiting a range from Alaska to Patagonia. They can
Three of the many historical goldenrod records kept in the U.S. National Herbarium used to measure how rising
atmospheric CO2 has impacted protein in pollen. For more details visit: https://insider.si.edu/2016/06/pollen/
,QWKHLVVXH·VÀQDODUWLFOH(OL]DEHWK7KRPSVRQWDNHV us deep into the bowels of the Smithsonian and other herbariums around the country, investigating how careful- ly preserved plant specimens that date back centuries are bringing us new details on the changing face of our plan- et. Careful analysis of long curated plant specimens reveal how rising carbon dioxide levels interfere with protein pro- duction in plant pollen. Botany has been in decline nation- wide and with falling interest many of our longterm plant collections are relegated to dank and dusty basements. But modern technological advances allow many small reposito- ries to become connected online, exchanging information and permitting exploration of new connections and the discovery of new plant species from historic records. I enjoyed putting our second issue together and would welcome your feedback. Let me know what you think.
Warmest wishes for a delightful spring, Kirsten S. Traynor 4 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Letters to the Editor
:RZ7KLVÀUVWLVVXHKDVH[FHHGHGDOORI P\YHU\KLJK expectations! As a devoted gardener I was fascinated about your Kickstarter campaign and told my garden club friends about it. In fact I had just heard about various initiatives that communities around the country are taking to establish pol- linator corridors connecting large numbers of small commu- nities. Much like a well organized hive we can all make small differences that have a huge impact. My milkweed patch that went to seed while we were on vacation reminded me of the VWHDOWKVRZHURI ÁRZHUVHHGLQSXEOLFVSDFHVWKDWWKHDUWLFOH about ethical beekeeping described. My neighbors’ gardens Tall grass prairie and ZLOO KRSHIXOO\ DWWUDFW PDQ\ RI WKH PRQDUFK EXWWHUÁLHV ZH strawberry patch had last summer. But the real reason I write is to congratulate you on as- Congratulations! I thoroughly enjoyed your new maga- VHPEOLQJ D EURDG DUUD\ RI VFLHQWLÀF DQG OD\ DUWLFOHV RQ DOO zine. Wonderful informative articles and fantastic photogra- varieties of pollinators. Mark Winston’s guest editorial says phy. Looking forward to Spring when I can get in the garden it all: we all have a stake in this race to support our environ- and search for some of those mentioned pollinators. ment and the wider the outreach and understanding among Also, maybe one day I can send an article for publication. groups who advocate for one or another important species +RSHIXOO\LWZLOOEHRI EHQHÀWWRWKHUHDGHUVDQGHYHQWXDOO\ the better will be the outcome. all pollinators. I’ve included some photos from my garden. Pollinatorsby Jake Mosher In the deep shade of three Engelmann spruce I still spot frost. Summers are short here at this high elevation in the Rocky Mountains of Montana. 6 CAMERA IN HAND © Jake Mosher © Jake I wonder if leaving my sweatshirt hanging from the limb of a pine a few miles back on my hike to these alpine meadows this July morning was a wise decision. 7 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS Bee fly on showy aster © Jake Mosher © Jake The first breeze of the day touches my face, a gentle breath of warmth from the south. I doubt that I’ll freeze, and so I pick up my pace. I’m on beauty of our world and the tiny creatures that call it home. I my annual pilgrimage to one of my favorite places on earth. SLFNDUHDVRQDEO\ÁDWKXQNRI JUDQLWHDUFLQJIURPWKLQVRLOWR I want to spend as much of the day as possible there, sitting sit on, set my camera with its macro lens on my tripod, reach LQDOLWHUDORFHDQRI ZLOGÁRZHUVZDWFKLQJWKHIUDQWLFDFWLYLW\ for my bottle of water inside my backpack, and take a long of insects as they take advantage of this country’s shortest GULQN$EHHÁ\DWP\IHHWGRHVWKHVDPHSURELQJDVKRZ\ season. aster for nectar. Half an hour later I crest a narrow ridge and drop into Around me in every direction there is something to see. A an open basin ringed by mountains split between rock and long-tailed tiger swallowtail fans its wings on lupine. Bumble snow. Before me lies acres of blooming paintbrush, asters, bees land on yellow, false dandelion, slender stems bowing prickly lettuce, wild lupines, and, along a seasonal stream of XQGHUWKHLUZHLJKW&KHFNHUVSRWEXWWHUÁLHVDUJXHLQWKHDLU snowmelt, a line of blue iris. I break into a wide, uncontrolla- whirling cyclones of wings vying for position on the choicest ble smile. It’s a palette of color that pulls at a primal part of cotton grass blooms. me, bringing me back year after year to celebrate the natural 8 CAMERA IN HAND Northern blues on wheatgrass Mosher © Jake 9 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS Amy’s Backyard where catepillars munch con- tentedly on milkweed Common fly on aster © Jake Mosher © Jake $VWKHPRUQLQJZDUPVWKHLQVHFWDFWLYLW\LQFUHDVHV,ÀQG P\PHDOLQDÀQHUHVWDXUDQW,·GVKRRKLPDZD\LQGLVJXVW LWGLIÀFXOWWRFKRRVHZKLFKSKRWRWRSXUVXH$SDLQWHGODG\ Here, in macro detail, he is beautiful. EXWWHUÁ\ODQGVIRUDPRPHQWLQWKHFHQWHURI DQDWXUDOERX- Later, when my body insists that I rise and stretch, I no- TXHWDQGDVIDVWDV,FOLFNRSHQP\VKXWWHU,QRWLFHDJUHDW tice a jet and its contrail cutting the blue sky above me neatly spangled fritillary drinking from a lone aster. I capture it in in half. I doubt any of the passengers thirty-thousand feet VLGHSURÀOH,WVVSRWWHGH\HVHHPVWRORRNLQWRP\RZQDQG RYHUKHDGZLOOHYHUVHHWKLVPHDGRZ:KLOHDVHOÀVKSDUWRI ZHEHKROGHDFKRWKHUZLWKHTXDODVWRQLVKPHQW me rejoices that I have this place to myself, I’m saddened by I track the day’s progression by the stiffness of my neck, how much of nature goes unseen. We don’t need to stray far bent forward to see through my camera. Apart from this off the beaten path to realize our world contains unimag- JURZLQJDFKHDOOPHDVXUHRI WLPHLVORVWWRPH,ÀQGP\- inable wonder, but I worry, now more than ever. We seem self thinking about the intricate relationships between these consumed by what trends on social media and have become KLJKPRXQWDLQSROOLQDWRUVDQGWKHLUÁRZHUVDQGKRZLQWKLV a society polarized by politics. Our lives hurtle through our microcosm of beauty there is such a vivacious rush to sur- own synthetic environments and it’s too easy to overlook too vive. So much must happen in so little time. many things. $EOXHERWWOHÁ\ODQGVDWWKHYHU\QHDUOLPLWVRI P\IRFXV Between where I stand and the fast-moving jet, the tree I watch him clean pollen from his eyes with his feet, wiping line of these mountains is marked by dead white bark pine, away bits of yellow, then laugh out loud. Were he to land on recent victims of climate change. While I understand how 10 CAMERA IN HAND Sphinx moth on common lettuce © Jake Mosher © Jake © Jake Mosher © Jake Long tailed tiger Swallowtail on lupine 11 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS © Rachael Bonoan Tiny bee on plantago, too small to differentiate between a sweat bee and a mining bee without a more up-close photo. 12 CAMERA IN HAND © Jake Mosher © Jake 13 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS Blue bottle fly © Jake Mosher © Jake HDV\LWLVWRPLVVWKHÁ\DQGEHH VKDULQJ DQ DVWHU WKH UDSLG ÁLJKW of a sphinx moth, or the double ZLQJEXWWHUÁ\WKDWVLWVIRUDVHF- ond on red clover, I’m more trou- bled by how we can turn a blind eye to millions of dead, Montana WUHHV-XVWWZHQW\ÀYH\HDUVDJR, watched black bears foraging for pine nuts on these very slopes in the fall. Today, looking up at gray trunks devoid of all bark, I’m struck by the passage of time, the forces of change, and the delicate balance within nature. These dis- concerting thoughts don’t entirely evaporate as I sit back down, look through my camera and recom- mence taking pictures. And then, before it seems pos- Silvery blue on aster sible, this meadow falls into shade © Jake Mosher © Jake just as I’m framing a jumping spi- 14 CAMERA IN HAND Painted lady on Jerusalem artichoke © Jake Mosher © Jake A fly and a bee share an aster. The bee is a male Megachile Mosher © Jake 15 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS Checkerspot on cotton grass © Jake Mosher © Jake der peeking from the petals of an arrowleaf balsamroot. The sun disappears below craggy peaks to the west. It’s time for me to leave. Reluctantly I pack my gear. There is a trail, and at some point I need to hit it so I can collect my sweatshirt, but for a time I follow the small stream instead. I follow the water’s meandering path which heads in the general direction I must go. Steps turn into yards, and yards become miles. In the short twilight of a VXPPHUHYHQLQJ,VSRWDSDLURI QRUWKHUQEOXHEXWWHUÁLHV on either side of a stalk of wheatgrass. They allow me a ÀQDOSKRWRRI WKHGD\DQLPDJH,FDUU\ZLWKPHDOOWKHZD\ Checkerspot on arrowleaf balsamroot WR P\ WUXFN ZKLFK , GRQ·W UHDFK XQWLO WKH ÀUVW stars are visible. Sitting on my tailgate, I look up at the sky, points of light winking through the celestial dome. They remind me of the tiny spots of blue and silver on wings that I continue to see,, even hours later when I close my eyes to sleep. Jake Mosher grew up in Northern Vermont and has lived in Montana for 25 years. The author of two novels, he has worked as a journalist, substitute schoolteacher, prize-fighter, and ex- plosives engineer. In the fall of 2017, Jake left corporate Amer- ica to pursue his passion for photography full-time. Convinced there is nothing ordinary in nature, he believes that the world, especially off the beaten path, is still a wonderful thing to see. © Jake Mosher © Jake 16 GOING NATIVE The brief, wondrous life of CELLOPHANE BEES by Nicholas Dorian IT IS LATE WINTER IN THE PINE BARRENS OF CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE. WILLOW BATONS ADORN A VACANT GRASSLAND. SHRILL CALLS OF AMERICAN KESTRELS PIERCE THE WIND. © Nicholas Dorian © Nicholas he sea of little bluestem is still brown and sweet- By mid-April, the aggregation bustles around the clock. IHUQKDVQRW\HWDFTXLUHGLWVQDPHVDNHIUDJUDQFH The underground nest of each female consists of a central Left: Nests of cellophane bees usually extend between one- and two-feet underground. Each nest is built by a single female and will contain between five and seven offspring. This generation of offspring won’t emerge until one year after they are laid. (The author coated the tunnel with talcum power for easier visualization.) Right: A female cellophane bee (Colletes inaequalis) guards her nest from parasites. With the structure of the cell complete and the sun above But this life can be fraught with danger. Although she is the pines, she begins to forage for provisions. She drinks nec- well protected with a stinger, her nest is vulnerable while she WDUIURPUHGPDSOHÁRZHUVDQGSDFNVGU\SROOHQLQWRDEUXVK LV RII IRUDJLQJ 3DUDVLWLF EHH ÁLHV DQG PHORLG EHHWOHV VWDON of hairs on her legs. With her groceries in tow, she returns the aggregation. Their aim is to sneak young into the va- to the cell, scrapes off pollen, regurgitates nectar, and mixes FDQWEURRGFHOOVEHIRUHWKHIHPDOHUHWXUQV%HHÁLHVDUHDJLOH the ingredients to form a nutritious, microbe-rich soup. And aviators, and they hover in front of the nest entrance until then she’s off again. She will make several trips per day, all WKH\KDYHDFOHDQOLQHWRÁLFNDQHJJGRZQWKHRSHQWXQQHO to provide a single offspring with enough food for its life Meloid beetles are more conniving. Female beetles lay eggs underground. in the sandy aggregation. Eggs hatch into small larvae that By early afternoon, she’s ready. She’ll suspend an egg clamber on to the backs of unsuspecting female bees. As DERYH WKH SURYLVLRQV DQG ÀQLVK WKH FHOO E\ VHDOLQJ LW ZLWK female bees continue their daily routine, they carry the par- cellophane. She may continue to build cells for another week asites down into the nest, dooming some of their own off- RU VR³ÀYH WR VHYHQ FHOOV LQ DOO³DQG LI WKH WUHHV DUH VWLOO spring. In both cases, the predatory larvae kill the developing EORRPLQJZKHQVKHFRPSOHWHVKHUÀUVWQHVWVKHPLJKWHYHQ bees, then chow down on the ample provisions that remain. build another. This is the adult life of a cellophane bee: dig, But a vacant nest is not always unprotected. The presence forage, lay an egg, repeat. of neighboring bees can ward off parasites, and in that way, a cellophane bee gets by with a little help from her friends. Come May, the landscape vibrates with insects, yet cello- SKDQHEHHVKDYHÀQLVKHGQHVWLQJ7KHDGXOWVKDYHDOOGLHG Next year’s generation waits underground. As the spring turns to summer, the larvae develop on the cell provisions and pupate into adults. Holed up in their cellophane cham- bers, they’re adept at patience. They survive the winter, wait- © Max McCarthy © Max ing for the sun to warm the ground. And when it does, they’ll emerge, carrying spring on their wings. Nicholas Dorian is a PhD student at Tufts University studying the ecology of cellophane bees. He is curious about what they eat, how far they fly, and why some offspring take longer to develop Cellophane bee (Colletes inaequalis) brood cell, excavated than others. He is an avid naturalist and from a nest in Montague, Massachusetts. The cell contains photographer, and likes to share what yellow provisions consisting mainly of red maple pollen and he knows about birds and bees to any- nectar. one willing to listen. 18 BEYOND THE HIVE Beyond The Hive byy Rustyy Burlew Bees and their Baggage how to carry a load of pollen +RZ\RXFDUU\\RXUVWXII VD\VDORWDERXW When other folks see your luggage, they assign you to a group. Subconsciously, they see a student, a homeless man, \RX:KHQ\RXOHDYHKRPHIRUWKHGD\\RX or an aging boomer. At the market, a rag-tag rucksack puts you in a different category than a neatly pressed canvas tote, PLJKWÀOODEULHIFDVHSXUVHPHVVHQJHUEDJ HYHQLI WKH\ERWKFRQWDLQDTXDUWRI PLONDQGDORDI RI EUHDG RUVLPSO\OLQH\RXUSRFNHWV6KRSSHUVFDU Categorizing is a well-developed human trait, sometimes helpful but sometimes deceiving. U\JURFHULHVLQSDSHUEDJVSODVWLFVDFNVRU On the positive side, bees too can be categorized by how they carry their possessions. In fact, the pollen-carrying UHXVDEOHWRWHV 19 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS A scanning electron micrograph of false colored Passiflora (passionvine), Spathiphyllum (peace lily), and Aster (daisy) pollen showing intraspecific pattern stability and interspecif- ic pattern variation 20 BEYOND THE HIVE In the inexorable style of natural selection, the original pollen-eating wasps evolved into a large group of fundamen- tally homogeneous bees, even though individual species are radically different from each other. Their pollen-collecting HTXLSPHQW YDULHV GHSHQGLQJ RQ ZKHUH WKH\ OLYH DQG ZKDW plants they forage, so even though all bees use pollen, they JDWKHULWXVLQJXQLTXHWRROVDQGWHFKQLTXHV Bees have Branching Hairs 2QH RI WKH ÀUVW PRUSKRORJLFDO FKDQJHV ZH VHH LQ WKH fossil record is an alteration in the structure and number of hairs on a bee’s body. Unlike the straight hairs of a wasp, the hairs on a bee are branched like a tree. Although not all bee hairs are branched, some are, and that is an important key to © Rusty Burlew © Rusty identity. This male western leafcutter (Megachile perihirta) has The branches, often looking like small feathers, are de- plenty of hair, even though he doesn’t collect pollen signed to capture pollen. Pollen grains become wedged between the many forks, or between the hairs themselves, A Non-Combative Protein Source making them easy to transport. As bee species became more Way back in evolutionary history, the bees split from the specialized, the number and types of pollen-carrying tools hunting wasps based on food preferences. Some ingenious EHFDPHPRUHGLYHUVH8QLTXHEXQGOHVRI KDLUEHJDQWRGH- wasp moms realized that it was a lot safer to feed their young velop on various parts of a bee’s anatomy, evolving in length, SROOHQUDWKHUWKDQPHDW/LYHPHDWKDVDQDVW\KDELWRI ÀJKW- number of branches, and density of hairs to accommodate ing back, whereas pollen is docile, plentiful, and often served the type of pollen the bee preferred. with a sweet drink. Although the word “hair” is convenient and descriptive, a bee hair is unlike a mammal hair. Technically, a bee hair is a At first glance these bees appear similar, but the honey bee on the left (Apis mellifera) has a tibial corbicula, while the leafcutter (Megachile) has an abdominal scopa © Rusty Burlew © Rusty 21 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS seta, a chitinous outgrowth of the cuticle, or skin. The setae may carry pollen. Even more confusing, the pollen-carrying are long and thin, often hollow, and emerge from a socket. structures on any particular segment differ among species: They may be simple, lightly branched, or feathery depending what one carries on her femur another carries on her tro- on their function. One bee may sport multiple styles of setae. chanter, the segment preceding the femur. All of these variations on pollen toting, including the Getting a Charge Out of Pollen location of the pollen-carrying structures, the density and )RUWKHLUSDUWHDUO\ÁRZHULQJSODQWVIRXQGDGYDQWDJHVLQ length of the hairs, and the number of branches, are im- animal-assisted pollen transport. Giddy for even more help, portant clues to a bee’s identity. Although pollen-carrying plants evolved a suite of features to help the helpers, includ- VWUXFWXUHVDORQHFDQQRWWDNH\RXULGHQWLÀFDWLRQWRWKHVSHFLHV ing sticky, colorful, and aromatic pollen grains with negative level, they can provide many clues, just like the bags a strang- electrostatic charges that adhere like glue to a bee’s positively er carries onto a train can be deciphered by Sherlock Holmes. charged body. Friction with the air electrostatically charges Let’s look at some of the variations, beginning with the WKHEHH·VERG\DVVKHÁLHVVRVKHDUULYHVDWWKHQH[WÁRZHU XELTXLWRXVKRQH\EHHDQGKHUFRUELFXODWHUHODWLRQV like a little magnet, effortlessly attracting pollen grains. Tricky pollen collection, especially where the pollen-laden The Corbiculate Bees anthers are buried deep in a bloom, led to nifty adaptations. When most of us think of pollen-carrying structures, we Some bees have hooked and curvy hairs on their faces, so think of colorful pollen baskets called corbiculae. Although when they nuzzle among the petals, the pollen clings to the the number of bee species having true corbiculae is restrict- hooks as if they were ed to about a thousand, Velcro. they come to mind Because of the elec- TXLFNO\ EHFDXVH ERWK trostatic charges and honey bees and bumble hooked hairs, bees often bees have them.1 Car- get pollen all over them- toons and drawings fol- selves until they look like low suit, often depict- tramps, disheveled and ing generic bees with unkempt. Messy bees plump, brightly-colored take a break from forag- pellets adhering to their ing in order to scrape to- legs like barnacles. gether the miscellaneous A typical corbicula pollen grains and trans- appears on the outside fer them to one of the of the hind tibia as pollen-collection areas a glossy surface sur- on their bodies. rounded by a fringe They begin by swip- of long, stiff hairs. In ing their faces and Latin corbicula means drawing their antennae little basket—a perfect through specially de- description. Sometimes, signed pollen cleaners as in the western hon- on their front legs. Then, ey bee, a rigid central in a serious of light- hair acts like an anchor QLQJTXLFNPRYHVDEHH point. The pollen car- scrapes her body, her ried in these structures OHJV ÁDLOLQJ LQ DOO GLUHF- is moistened with nec- tions, shoving pollen to- tar and compressed to ZDUGVWKHUHDUDQGVWXIÀQJLWLQWRSDWFKHVRI KDLU form a cohesive pellet that is easy for the bees to transport and simple to deposit inside the nest—just kick it free and Types of Pollen-Collecting Structures you’re done. Conventional wisdom tells us that bees carry pollen on Of the roughly 20,000 extant bee species, only four tribes their legs—probably because most people only recognize comprise the group known as the corbiculate bees. The cor- honey bees and bumble bees as bees—a refrain that is only biculate taxa range from some of the solitary orchid bees partially true. Some bees carry pollen on their thorax, the (Euglossini) through the primitively eusocial bumble bees underside of their abdomen, along the sides of the abdo- (Bombini) to the highly eusocial honey bees (Apini) and men, or internally in a crop. Furthermore, a bee’s leg com- stingless bees (Meliponini), all of which are in the Apidae prises distinct segments, any of which—or none of which— family. 22 BEYOND THE HIVE © Tom Barnes © Tom The two fluffy pillows behind the thorax of this Andrena (Cnemidandrena) arise from the propodial scopae. If you look carefully, you can also see the floccus on the right trochanter as well as the tibial scopa © Rusty Burlew © Rusty A thick, long-haired scopa on this long-horn bee (Melissodes) carries a large load of loosely packed pollen A leg labeled with the terminology of the major parts of the bee’s anatomy 23 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS If you are north of the Mexican border and looking at a may still see references to femoral or propodeal corbiculae, bee with a hard, shiny pellet on her rear tibia, you are most especially in older papers.2 likely seeing a honey bee or bumble bee. Although a few sightings of stingless bees have occurred in southern Cali- The Scopa Option fornia, they are not common. If you are in Florida, however, The vast majority of bees do not have true corbiculae. the introduced orchid bee Euglossa dilemma, is also corbic- Instead, they have dense patches or brushes of hair used for ulate and is easy to spot due to its iridescent green body and pollen collection. Scopal patches are found in various loca- impossibly long tongue. tions on the bee’s body, typically appearing on the legs, ab- domen, or propodeum in sizes and designs that help each The Not-Quite Corbicula species collect its favorite pollen. The word scopa comes A few species outside of the four corbiculate tribes have from the Latin meaning broom or brush, another perfect similar structures found on either the undersurface of the descriptor. hind femur or on the propodeum, an area at the back of %HJLQQHUV DW EHH LGHQWLÀFDWLRQ DUH RIWHQ FRQIXVHG EH- the thorax facing the abdomen. These structures are similar tween a rear leg scopa and a rear leg corbicula. The thing to to true corbiculae because they are shiny, hairless areas sur- UHPHPEHULVDVFRSDFDUULHVGU\DQGÁXII\SROOHQZKHUHDV rounded by fringes of long hair. pollen in a corbicula has been dampened with nectar and However, the pollen in these structures is never moist- VTXHH]HGLQWRDSDVWHUHPLQLVFHQWRI PDVKHGSRWDWRHV&RU- ened with nectar as in a true corbicula. Instead it is packed in bicular pellets appear wet. They are smooth, deeply colored, GU\DQGUHPDLQVÁXII\5HFHQWOLWHUDWXUHRIWHQUHIHUVWRWKHVH and hold their shape even when dislodged from the bee. structures as scopae, either femoral or propodeal, but you This Nomada cuckoo bee was patrolling a congregation of Andrena nests. Cuckoo bees are often brilliantly colored with few hairs. © Rusty Burlew © Rusty 24 BEYOND THE HIVE The pollen collected in a true corbicula is unavailable for pollination. Since the grains are glued together with nectar, WKH\DUHQRWIUHHWRODQGRQDÁRZHUVWLJPDDQGLQLWLDWHDSRO- len tube. In contrast, pollen carried loosely on a bee’s body may fall off anywhere and remains viable. Pollination by cor- biculate bees is a result of the many loosely held grains on the bee’s body; they’re not really very good at taming those bad hair days, so pollen often drops off when they land on DQHZÁRZHU What Hairy Legs You Have, My Dear! Bees have a wide variety of leg hairs designed for pollen collection. Some species carry pollen on all six legs, while others use only the last two or four. In addition to the hairs clustered into a scopa, other hairs can be found nearly any- where on a bee’s legs. Burlew © Rusty Hairs spaced far apart are ideal for large pollen grains, Bees in the genera Halictus and Lasioglossom have a ZKHUHDVGHQVHÀQDOO\EUDQFKHGKDLUVDUHEHVWIRUVPDOOSRZ- fringe of hair around the edge of the abdomen that can be mistaken for an abdominal scopa. GHU\JUDLQV,QWUXWKVFRSDOKDLUVDUHLQÀQLWHO\FRPSOH[7KH\ PD\EHZDY\RUVWUDLJKWDQGRXWÀWWHGZLWKJURRYHVULGJHV and scoops, depending on the preferred forage.3 of an English setter, a regal-looking dog with undulating leg For example, bees like Diadasia that forage on cactus IXUWKDWVHHPVWRÁRDWRQWKHZLQGOLNHWKHORFNVRI DIDVKLRQ ÁRZHUVRUPtilothrixWKDWORYHKLELVFXVÁRZHUVKDYHZLGHO\ model. spaced scopal hairs to accommodate the large pollen grains. Other bees, like small sweat bees in the genus Lasioglos- On the other hand, bees like Caupolicana that collect small som, seem to have most of their pollen-collecting hairs on pollen grains have dense feathery hairs with multiple branch- the underside of the rear femur. This contrasts with bees like es. Of course, some bees collect a wide range of pollen types Perdita, where the scopa seems to hang off one side of the and they tend to have hairs that fall in the middle, all-purpose tibia. tools for an all-purpose job. And the genus Andrena has long, curled pollen-collecting The size and position of hairs on a bee’s body can vary KDLUVFDOOHGDÁRFFXVRQWKHXQGHUVLGHRI HDFKUHDUWURFKDQ- dramatically between species. Some bees in my favorite ge- ter. In addition, Andrena carry pollen on the hind femur, the nus, ExomalopsisKDYHORQJÁRZLQJOHJKDLUVWKDWUHPLQGPH tibia, and the back of the thorax. To me, an Andrena tibia Some bees have a scopa that is largely on one side of the leg, as demonstrated by this Perdita, while other bees have scopae that more or less surround the legs © Royal Tyler © Royal 25 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS looks like a bottle brush with parallel hairs that spike from a FHQWUDOVWHPDQRQVFLHQWLÀFGHVFULSWLRQWKDWKHOSVPHLGHQ- tify them. Teddy Bear Abdomens All female non-cuckoo bees in the family Megachilidae carry pollen on the underside of their abdomens. Included in this family are the leafcutting bees, mason bees, and resin bees. For the most part, they are cavity-dwelling species that XVHVHOIFROOHFWHGPDWHULDOVVXFKDVOHDYHVSHWDOVUHVLQÀEHUV and mud to line their nests and build partitions. The abdominal scopa is composed of a series of tufts DWWDFKHGWRWKHVWHUQDOVHJPHQWVLQSDUDOOHOURZV$WDTXLFN glance, the hairs may appear to form a solid covering, or they PD\DSSHDUWREHLQURZVOLNHDÁRRUEUXVK6RPHEHHVLQWKH Burlew © Rusty genus Megachile PDNH WKH SROOHQÀOOHGVFRSDH HDV\WR VHH Bees in the genus Hylaeus have few hairs because the because of the way they hold their abdomen in the air as they females carry their pollen internally in a crop. IRUDJHLQWKHÁRZHUV0DQ\QHVWLQDERYHJURXQGFDYLWLHV such as tubes or holes, which can also give you a good view Bees that Don’t Bother Collecting RI WKHSROOHQÀOOHGVFRSDDVWKH\QRVHWKHLUZD\LQWRWKHQHVW Of course, not all bees collect pollen. Males, for example, do not move pollen in a deliberate way, so they do not need Propodial Scopae the same pollen-carrying structures as females. In spite of the 0RUSKRORJLFDOO\ WKH SURSRGHXP LV D SDUW RI WKH ÀUVW missing collection points, many male bees are excellent pol- abdominal segment, the section that connects the abdomen OLQDWRUVLQDGYHUWHQWO\PRYLQJSROOHQIURPÁRZHUWRÁRZHU to the thorax and morphs into the “wasp waist” that joins while they sip nectar and hunt for mates. When considering the two. Some genera have pollen-collecting hairs that grow the activity of male bees, do not compare them to honey bee from each side of the propodium and along the bottom edge. drones. While it is unusual to see a honey bee drone among These are especially apparent in the Andrena. the blooms, most male bees spend much of their lives there. Bees in the genus Andrena DUH VRPH RI WKH ÀUVW EHHV Other non-collectors are the cleptoparasites. These bees, beginners learn to identify. Commonly called mining bees, commonly known as cuckoo bees, don’t bother collecting Andrena females have several characteristics that distinguish pollen to feed their young. Instead, they wait for other bees them. As mentioned above, they have hairy trochanters and to build and provision a nest. Once an egg chamber is com- WLELDHEXWWKH\DOVRKDYHVWULNLQJKDLUÀOOHGIDFLDOIRYHDDQG plete or nearly so, the cuckoo darts in and deposits an egg on XQLTXHSURSRGLDOVFRSDHWKDWFDQREVFXUHWKHVSDFHEHWZHHQ thorax and abdomen under a drift of pollen. The Sneaky Ones Swallow It A major groups of surreptitious pollen-collectors are found in the subfamilies Euryglossinae and Hylaeinae. Small and wasp-like with few visible body hairs, these bees swallow both pollen and nectar and carry it in a crop, similar to the way honey bees carry nectar. Since they don’t need external pollen carriers, these bees have very few body hairs and are easily confused with wasps. Still, if you were to examine them FORVHO\XQGHUDPLFURVFRSH\RXZRXOGÀQGVRPHEUDQFKHG hairs somewhere on their bodies, proving their beehood. Here in North America, you are most likely to meet one in the form of a masked bee in the genus Hylaeus. Although many bees in these two subfamilies carry pollen solely in their crops, other species may carry some of their pollen in a crop and the rest in external scopae. Pollen-carri- ers appear in many combinations and permutations through- out the bee genera, making more sense to the bees than to the taxonomists who try to pigeonhole them. 26 BEYOND THE HIVE the fresh provision, a strategy that saves many hours of labor. In other cases, the cuckoo waits until the egg chamber is sealed then uses her long ovipositor to inject an egg right through the chamber wall. With the egg safely placed, the cuckoo hightails it to safety and begins searching for the next unguard- ed pollen cache. After the egg hatches, the cuckoo’s larva may eat the pol- len before the host young has a chance, or in some cases, the cuckoo larva kills the host lar- va. With the competition out of the way, the cuckoo larva can eat in leisure, lapping up every luscious morsel. Anthidium porterae female. Collected in Hildalgo County, NM with an abdomen full of Suits of Armor pollen. &OHSWRSDUDVLWLVP LV TXLWH FRP- hint of nectar, some dilute it into a soup and seal it in water- mon in the bee world, making up roughly thirteen percent proof sacks. Bees are nothing if not creative. of all species. While cleptoparasites do not aspire to pol- len collection, they do a small amount of pollination in a Start with the Pollen Load fashion similar to male bees. That is, while they sip nectar, So next time you see a bee powdered in pollen, take a mate, and groom, a small amount of pollen is inadvertently closer look. Where is the pollen concentrated? Is the load PRYHGIURPÁRZHUWRÁRZHU6LQFHWKH\DUHQHDUO\KDLUOHVV wet or dry? Are the hairs long or short? Are the grains large with no pollen-carrying structures, cleptoparasites are often or small? Believe it or not, with that much scrutiny, you are confused with wasps. RQ\RXUZD\WRLGHQWLI\LQJ\RXUYHU\ÀUVWEHH Instead of furry coats, cleptoparasites wear suits of ar- mor. They can often be recognized by their thick and heavi- References O\GLPSOHGLQWHJXPHQWVDQGKXPSVKDSHGWKRUDFHVRXWÀWWHG 'HODSODQH .6 7KH &RQVHTXHQWLDO &RUELFXOXP $PHULFDQ %HH with spines, ridges, and sharp edges. When you lead a life Journal 158: 463-465. of guile and deceit, when you practice home invasion on a 2. Michener, CD. 1999. The corbiculae of bees. Apidologie 30: 67-74. daily basis with murder on your mind, you must be ready for WKHFRQVHTXHQFHV7RJXDUGDJDLQVWVWLQJVDQGELWHVIURPDQ 3. Houston, T. 2018. A Guide to Native Bees of Australia. Victoria, Aus- angry homeowner, reinforced body parts are the order of tralia. CSIRO Publishing. the day. You can often see cleptoparasites loitering near the nests Acknowledgement A special thanks to Tom Barnes of California and Royal Tyler of Louisiana RI SROOHQFROOHFWLQJ EHHV Á\LQJ ORZ WR WKH JURXQG ZDLW- for the use of their excellent photographs. ing for an opportunity to usurp a nest. Most are specialists, pestering only one or several closely-related species. Oddly, PDQ\DUHTXLWHEHDXWLIXORUQDWHO\GHFRUDWHGLQUHGVDQG\HO- Rusty Burlew is a master beekeeper in lows or patches of white. Washington State. She has been fascinated by honey bees since childhood and, in recent How the Pollen is Stored at Home years, has become enthralled with the native bees that share pollination duty with honey Bees that carry pollen return to the nest to off-load their bees. She has an undergraduate degree in treasure. Honey bees center their rear legs over a pollen cell agronomic crops and a master’s degree in and scrape the pollen ball into the hole. Cavity nesters return environmental studies with an emphasis in WRWKHLUTXDUWHUVKHDGÀUVWUHDG\WKHVSDFHWKHQEDFNRXW pollination ecology. Besides writing for her website, HoneyBeeSuite.com, Rusty has pub- turn around, and back in again for unloading. Ground nest- lished in many magazines, frequently speaks HUVPD\SLOHWKHSURYLVLRQRQWKHÁRRUVWLFNLWWRWKHZDOORU about bee conservation, and has served as hang it from the ceiling. While most bees mix pollen with a an expert witness in bee sting litigation. 27 Eyes2 MILLION BLOSSOMS on the Sky by Jennifer Ball A Butterfly Ecologist’s Mission to Save a Species Chip Taylor grew up chasing things on his grandmother’s Taylor said. He saved his money, and shortly after his next expansive Minnesota property, 80 acres of forest with a river birthday he had enough to buy a hive. He even sold honey UXQQLQJWKURXJKLWIXOORI PLQQRZVJDPHÀVKWXUWOHVFUD\- DQGUDLVHGEXWWHUÁLHVULJKWWKURXJKFROOHJHKHOSLQJWRIXQG ÀVKDQGPXGSXSSLHV(QRXJKWRNHHSDFXULRXVVHYHQ\HDU his education. old busy. Life in the river fascinated him, a trait he inherited But Taylor wasn’t always sure he could make a living from his grandmother. studying nature. He studied accounting after his high school Not only the river held his attention. Chip loved insects, graduation, but the topic did not hold his interest. When HVSHFLDOO\EHHVDQGEXWWHUÁLHV%\DJHKHKDGUHDGHYHU\ he switched to biology, his grades improved, and it just felt book about honey bees he could get his hands on. “I read right. He started his studies in the 1960s and had earned his every book about honey bees at the St. Paul library, and the 3K'LQ VWXG\LQJVXOIXUEXWWHUÁLHV Colias species) as a when I was done with those, I went over to Minneapolis,” student of Dr. James Slater. Chip Taylor’s research into the PDWLQJKDELWVRI VXOIXUEXWWHUÁLHVHDUQHGKLPDQH[FHOOHQW UHSXWDWLRQDVDEXWWHUÁ\HFRORJLVW )URP%XWWHUÁLHVWR%HHVDQG%DFN$JDLQ Taylor is currently best known for founding the organi- zation Monarch Watch, but his professional life started with the cheery lemon yellow clouded sulfur (Colias philodice) and the orange sulfur (Colias eurytheme EXWWHUÁLHV+HFRQ- WLQXHGVWXG\LQJVXOIXUEXWWHUÁLHVDIWHUFRPSOHWLQJKLV3K' His research deduced their mating biology, how reproductive LVRODWLRQLQÁXHQFHGSRSXODWLRQVDQGWKHUROHRI XOWUDYLROHW markings in mating strategies. Unfortunately, he developed VHYHUH DOOHUJLHV WR WKH VXOIXU EXWWHUÁ\·V FXWLFOH DQG KDG WR TXLWUHLQYHQWLQJKLPVHOIDVDKRQH\EHHELRORJLVW 2828 TAKING WING Taylor won a large USDA grant to use his ecological train- ing to study how Africanized “killer bees” were spreading rapidly through South America in the mid-1970s and early 80s. His selection to lead this large research program ticked off some established bee scientists, as Chip had zero track record in bee research, even though he had managed hives since childhood. “Chip is one of the best and most underappreciated ecol- ogists in the United States,” according to his former PhD student Mark Winston, author of Bee Time: Lessons from the Hive. He won the Killer Bee grant because of his exten- sive training as an ecologist, making him perfectly suited to explore the range expansion of Africanized bees. During his time studying Africanized bees, Taylor mentored a slew of now well-known bee scientists, including Gard Otis, Mark The Killer Bee Statue of Hildago, Texas, a nod to a historical moment in October 1990 when the first known swarm of Winston, Marla Spivak, Dave Roubik and Jose Villa. The Kill- these “Africanized” bees was documented to have crossed er Bee Team, as they called themselves, produced a copious into the United States from Mexico and into this little Rio body of research revealing many behavioral and ecological Grande River community in far-south Texas. Rather than adaptations consistent with the bees’ extraordinary success, downplay this event as a smear on its reputation, Hildalgo but the relentless spread of Africanized bees heading north spent $20,000 to erect a statue to the event and to even promote itself as the “Killer Bee Capital,” not just of America to the US border also whipped up a media frenzy. Taylor but of the world! The statue, built largely of styrofoam was recalls sitting for 70 interviews a year over much of that time. used as a float. It traveled all over Texas, attending parades In the early 1990s Taylor noticed that research funds were and promoting Hidalgo, before settling down in Hidalgo as a being funneled toward molecular genetics. He was teaching fixed tourist attraction. It was sculpted by Jerome Vettrus. JUDGXDWH VWXGHQWV DW DQ H[SHULPHQWDO ÀHOG ELRORJ\ VWDWLRQ ULFKLQPRQDUFKEXWWHUÁLHV$WWKDWWLPHWKH1RUWK$PHULFDQ the sprayed farms. This change in planting practices caused population was healthy and robust, estimated at about one the disappearance of large swaths of milkweed, the exclusive ELOOLRQEXWWHUÁLHV7D\ORUEHFDPHLQWHUHVWHGLQWKHPRQDUFKV food source of monarch caterpillars. Land development for and their migration patterns, so he founded Monarch Watch new housing and business also consumes more than one mil- in 1992 as a citizen science project to provide more eyes on lion acres of monarch habitat each year. Taylor noticed this the skies. He and thousands of volunteers tracked the bril- change, and realized he had to act. He reinvented himself liant orange and black winged beauties as they migrated to DJDLQKLVÀQDODQGIRXUWKFDUHHUDVDUHVWRUDWLRQHFRORJLVW Mexico. To date, Monarch Watch has tagged over two mil- In this role, he educates people about conservation and pro- OLRQEXWWHUÁLHVLQWKH8QLWHG6WDWHVDQG&DQDGDDQGUHFRY- vides free milkweed plants to schools and educational non- ered 20,000 along the migratory route. SURÀWV Monarch populations were in free fall by the early 2000s, Digging through all the tracking data he’s collected since due in large part to habitat loss. The switch to Roundup 1992, Taylor realized that monarch migration was not hap- Ready corn and soybean, which are resistant to the herbi- KD]DUG EXW IROORZHG D VSHFLÀF SDWWHUQ ´7KH RWKHU WKLQJ cide glyphosate, meant that no other plants could survive on right now is we are trying to come up with a model of how The monarch migration map for 2019 available as an interactive map from monarchjointventure.org 29 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS the population interacts with time of year,” Tay- Conservation for the Rest of Us lor said. His goal is to be able to predict when Taylor is deeply concerned for the environment. The changing cli- the population will increase or decrease based on mate motivates his work. Even when talking about the weather, spe- natural environmental factors. Once they can sort FLÀFDOO\WKHGHOD\HGZLQWHULQWKH0LGZHVWKHH[SODLQHGWKDWZLQWHULV population changes due to natural shifts in envi- being pushed later and later due to warmer temperatures. ronmental factors, they can dig deeper to under- While it’s hard for individuals to have an impact on climate change, stand the real impacts of human factors, such as we can help restore habitat. Planting milkweed is one of the best ways herbicide-resistant crops and land development. we can aid monarch conservation efforts. Taylor was proud to note that 27,000 monarch waystations have been registered with their or- ganization, not counting those who have planted habitat for the mon- archs, but not registered (https://monarchwatch.org/waystations/). We can all add to that number. It doesn’t take much land to establish a monarch waystation, and adding milkweed and diverse nectar-pro- ducing plants to an existing home garden is enough to have a positive impact. If you don’t have property, Taylor suggested contacting a local school, church, or library to see if they could create a waystation. You FDQZRUNZLWK0RQDUFK:DWFKRQDFTXLULQJWKHSODQWV+LVRUJDQL]D- tion is the largest distributor of milkweeds for monarch conservation in the country. The website, www.monarchwatch.org, includes milk- weed planting guides and additional resources for the different parts of the country. “Things are changing faster than virtually all the models predict- HGµ 7D\ORU DGYLVHG /RVLQJ PRQDUFK EXWWHUÁ\ SRSXODWLRQV LPSDFWV SODQWOLIHDVWKHORQJPLJUDWRU\URXWHPHDQVWKDWWKHEXWWHUÁLHVKHOS spread genetic diversity along their entire route, picking up pollen when stopping for nectar. The pollen grains are sometimes trans- ported long distances over their migratory route, helping to spread SODQWJHQHWLFV$OWKRXJKWKHDGXOWEXWWHUÁLHVDUHWR[LFWRPRVWSUHGD- tors, black-backed orioles and black-headed grosbeaks consume large numbers at the overwintering sites. Feeding on milkweed means that WKHODUYDHVHTXHVWHUSRLVRQRXVFRPSRXQGVFDOOHGFDUGHQROLGHVZKLFK makes them unappealing to most predators. But ants, spiders, and wasps still attack monarch larvae, who constitute an important ele- ment in the food chain. Due to their beauty and sensitivity to changes in habitat, monarchs have become iconic emblems of a broken ecosystem. Taylor empha- sizes how many players interact to keep our environment whole, and that removing one creates a domino cascade of losses. “We have to do this to maintain connections that support the ecosystem,” Taylor explained. Luckily, you don’t need to be a formally trained restoration ecolo- gist like Taylor to have an impact, just a patch of soil, some patience, and a willingness to care about the monarch’s plight. Plant some milk- weed. Become involved. Help share the monarch’s story. Jennifer Ball is a graduate student in the science writing program at Johns Hopkins University. She thrives on breaking down complexity into simplicity. 30 Grasslands, TAKING WING Birds, Monarchs, and More by Chip Taylor he world has been changing rapidly, but the chang- the numbers are not what they were before West Nile, and es are such that most of us aren’t aware of what now they may be declining for other reasons. has changed or what is missing. As an ecologist, What about other birds? Did you catch the headlines last I’m alert to change but, like most people, I often September announcing the results of a study of bird popula- missT the indicators. tion numbers in the United States over the last 50 years? The Crows are down. The numbers aren’t what they used to numbers have declined by 29%; we’re down 2.9 billion birds! be. Did you notice? I did, but well after I should have. Crows The biggest losses, a whopping 53% reduction, which is a and other corvids declined due to their susceptibility to West loss of more than 700 million birds, occurred in 31 grassland Nile Virus. I anticipated that the numbers would recover species. Wow! That’s simply staggering, and these results give once the virus had run its course. They did, somewhat, but ULVHWRPDQ\TXHVWLRQV • Why were the losses highest across the vast grasslands that dominate areas east of the Rockies in the United States and Canada? • What factors contribute to these losses? Probable causes include loss of habitat, fragmentation, neonicotinoid insecticides, herbicides and mowing. We have UREXVWGDWDRQKDELWDWORVVGXHWRWKHLQWHQVLÀFDWLRQRI ODQG use in agriculture and the continuous march of development. ,WLVOLNHO\WKDWWKHRWKHUIDFWRUVFRQWULEXWHVLJQLÀFDQWO\WR KDELWDWORVVDQGORVVHVRI VSHFLÀFVSHFLHV%XWDWWKLVWLPH LW·VQRW\HWSRVVLEOHWRDWWDFKVSHFLÀFQXPEHUVRUHYHQDVVHVV which factor is having the greatest impact. Land use changes have been hard to track, often result- ing in long lags in reporting. Recently, the urgency to know what is happening in real time has resulted in more rapid 31 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS updates, providing us with a better measure of land conver- The bottom line from these reports is that grasslands are sion rates each year. The impact of the Renewable Fuel Stan- being lost at an average rate of more than a million acres dard (RFS) on land use was a shocker. The publication of a per year. What is less clear is how much habitat is concom- report in 2012 entitled “Plowed Under: how crop subsidies itantly lost to development from areas that were grasslands. contribute to massive habitat losses” indicated that nearly 24 It’s probable that these losses to urbanization are also in the million acres, an area nearly the size of Indiana, had been range of a million acres a year. Further, we may be underesti- FRQYHUWHGIURPRQHODQGXVHFODVVLÀFDWLRQWRDQRWKHUIURP mating losses of land. In many areas in the Midwest, growers 2008 through 2011. KDYHUHGXFHGWKHGLVWDQFHIURPWKHHGJHRI WKHÀHOGWRWKH The subsequent paper “Cropland expansion outpaces ag- HGJHRI WKHURDGOHDYLQJRQO\ORZGLYHUVLW\JUDVVÀOOHGPDU- ricultural and biofuel policies in the United States” published gins. by Lark and his team in 2015 showed that 77.7% of that There is no doubt that the grasslands are in decline and acreage was converted from grassland to cropland. Another we are losing birds, but does it matter? It does. The loss of report from the Lark team in 2018 indicated that over 10 grasslands signals that we are not only losing birds, but also million acres of grassland had been converted to crops from SROOLQDWRUVPRQDUFKEXWWHUÁLHVVPDOOPDPPDOVDQGWKHUDS- 2008-2016. The Plowprint Report by the World Wildlife tors and other predators that feed on them. Without the pol- Fund in 2018 indicated that another 1.7 million acres were linators, we will lose both plant and insect diversity, further converted to cropland in 2017. eroding the connections that sustain these ecosystems. 32 TAKING WING Do we want to live in a world without birds and polli- nators? The larger question may be, can we? These ecosys- tems support us. We are dependent on the richness of these environments. The soil is alive. It’s a matrix that supports a complex web of life and the organisms within it are often connected intimately with the health and well-being of the plant and animal life above. These connections are destroyed RUPRGLÀHGWKURXJKFKDQJHVLQODQGXVHDQGWKHDGGLWLRQ of chemicals in the form of fertilizers, short and long-lived insecticides and herbicides. It’s fair to ask if, collectively, we know what we are doing. What will be the cost of our quest to extract everything we can from grasslands? Is there anoth- er dust bowl in our future? To counter our destructive tendencies, there is a strong PRYHPHQWWRUHVWRUHKDELWDWVERWKEURDGO\DQGIRUVSHFLÀF species. The bird study shows that, in contrast to the gener- al decline, waterfowl numbers have increased over the last 50 years. So have eagles, peregrine falcons and a few other species. These successes are due to habitat restoration and protection. There are also attempts to restore grasslands. The chal- lenge is massive. To keep pace with the annual rate of loss, we need to restore more than a million grassland acres a year. That requires dollars, seeds, locations, boots on the ground and more. Can we maintain or even increase that rate of resto- ration? Surely, we can. Will we, is the question. I deal with this issue on a regular basis. Monarch numbers have declined by about 80% over the last two decades, and the crash in the population during the winter of 2013-2014 led to a petition to the Department of the Interior to declare the monarch a threatened species. At Monarch Watch, we have made it our mission to do what we can to sustain the monarch migration. This mission involves getting people, businesses, states and federal agen- cies to plant milkweeds, the host plants of monarch cater- pillars. The task is immense. A major study indicated that 1.4 billion milkweed stems need to be planted, mostly in the Upper Midwest, to restore monarch numbers to a level suf- ÀFLHQWHQRXJKWREXIIHUWKHSRSXODWLRQLQWKHHYHQWRI H[- treme losses due to winter storms and other weather events. We have made a small dent in this number. To date, over 27,000 Monarch Waystations, generally small gardens or res- toration sites containing milkweeds and nectar sources, have been created and registered. Working with nurseries, we have facilitated the production and distribution of a million milk- weed plugs (small plants) for restoration projects throughout much of the United States. 33 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS Monarchs are a gateway species. They have charisma and are known to the public, and the public is strongly interest- ed in monarch conservation. By saving the monarch migra- tion through the restoration of grasslands we will save many other species. It’s our mission, but all can contribute. Plant milkweed! Chip Taylor is founder of Monarch Watch. Read his profile in the preceding article. Help Monarch Watch continue its mission to restore habitats for monarchs and native pollinators. Our Free Milkweeds for Restoration Projects and Free Milkweeds for 6FKRROVDQG1RQSURÀWVSURJUDPVQHHG\RXUVXSSRUW 0RQDUFK:DWFKLVDQRQSURÀWHGXFDWLRQFRQVHUYDWLRQ and research program based at the University of Kansas. De- clining monarch numbers, due to massive habitat losses asso- ciated with changes in agriculture and development, have led us to focus on monarch conservation. In an effort to address these losses, Monarch Watch has distributed 1 million native milkweed plants across the U.S. in the last 6 years. This ef- fort has been funded through grants and contributions. Your help is needed to extend and expand these programs. Our milkweed distribution programs and outreach are nationwide and are unmatched by other organizations. Dr. Chip Taylor holding a monarch butterfly 34 Opossums as Pollinators in Brazil © Cristofer Martins, Wikimedia Martins, © Cristofer The Right Tools for the Job by Sheryl Normandeau team of researchers in Brazil have recently obtained proof that the primary pollinator of an unusual Wikimedia © Scott, plant is perfectly suited for the task. Not all plants provide easy access. An unusual parasitic root plant inA Brazil depends on opossums. 1 According to the hypothesis of pollinator syndrome, plants PD\ SRVVHVV VSHFLÀF ÁRUDO WUDLWV VXFK DV FRORU QHFWDU JXLGHV QHFWDU SROOHQ RGRU DQG ÁRZHU VKDSHV VXLWHG WR D SDUWLFXODU SROOLQDWRU7KHVHÁRUDOWUDLWVDORQJZLWKWKHXQLTXHFKDUDFWHU- istics of the pollinators that are attracted to the plants, have FRHYROYHGRYHUWLPHDQGDUHLQWHJUDOWRDULFKEHQHÀFLDOUHOD- WLRQVKLSEHWZHHQVSHFLÀFSODQWVDQGSROOLQDWRUV2 An example of this is the coligallo palm (Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana), which Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami, FL. Flowers smell of onions and garlic. In the wild, they are pollinated by bats. VSRUWVJDUOLFVFHQWHGÁRZHUVWKDWDWWUDFWLWVSULPDU\SROOL- QDWRUEDWVDWQLJKW0DQ\SDOPÁRZHUVDUHSURWHFWHGE\ a specialized covering: a leaf sheath, bracts, or a prophyll XVXDOO\FRPSULVHGRI DUXGLPHQWDU\RUPRGLÀHGOHDI GH- pending on the plant.3 Due to the particular way they feed RQWKHQHFWDURI WKHÁRZHUVEDWVFDQUHPRYHWKHVKHDWK and assist with pollen transfer.4 35 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS Left: A map showing the presumed range of the big eared opossum (Didelphis aurita). Right: A Brazilian forest, with char- acteristic mammalia from “The Geographical Distribution of Animals, Vol. II” written by Alfred Russel Wallace and illustrat- ed by Johann Baptist Zwecker (1814–1876). The two animals hanging from the tree on the right are opposums. A rarely-seen member of the Balanophoraceae family to complete its life cycle.5 The plant’s scalelike foliage lacks that resembles a fungus, Scybalium fungiforme is indigenous FKORURSK\OODQGLVLQVLJQLÀFDQW WKHSODQWLVQ·WWUXO\QRWLFH- to forested areas in west-central and southeastern Brazil. It DEOHXQWLOWKHEUDFWFRYHUHGLQÁRUHVFHQFHVDSSHDUDERYHWKH is a root parasite, using a system of tuberous rhizomes and soil level. haustoria to attach itself to the roots of host trees in order When a patch of S. fungiforme was found in the ear- ly 1990s, it was posited by some Violet-capped Woodnymph (Thalurania glaucopis) members of the Brazilian re- on a branch in Campo Limpo Paulista, search team that it would take São Paulo state, Brazil a certain kind of pollinator to get past the plate-like bracts and UHDFKWKHLQÁRUHVFHQFHV3ROOLQD- tor syndrome narrowed the list: it was likely that the pollinator was nocturnal, since S. fungiforme produces more nectar at night than during the day. Nocturnal Á\LQJ SROOLQDWRUV W\SLFDOO\ SUH- IHU SDOH FRORUHG ÁRZHUV ZKLFK S. fungiforme does not have, so it was predicted that its pollina- WRUGLGQRWÁ\0RVWLPSRUWDQWO\ the pollinator had to be able to SHHO RSHQ WKRVH GLIÀFXOW EUDFWV Opossums have opposable thumbs on their rear feet, which ZRXOG GHÀQLWHO\ FRPH LQ KDQG\ for just such a job. Therophilly—pollination of plants by small mammals such as rodents and marsupials— isn’t completely uncommon, and some plants, such as certain members of the Proteaceae fam- 6 © Leon-bojarczuk, Wikimedia © Leon-bojarczuk, ily and Banksia spp., rely on it. 36 The team suspected that the common opossum was the primary pollinator of S. fungiforme, but catching an RSRVVXP LQ DFWLRQ SURYHG GLIÀFXOW Two and a half decades later, in May of 2019, the researchers made anoth- er attempt, setting up infrared camer- as at a site 50 kilometers away from the original location. Over four nights, they recorded a total of 14 visits by a big eared opossum (Didelphis auri- ta) to the plants. The opossum easily RSHQHGWKHEUDFWVH[SRVLQJWKHLQÁR- rescences to feed on the nectar. 2QFHWKHÁRZHUVZHUHXQSURWHFW- ed, secondary pollinators took advan- tage of the resource: several species of bees and wasps visited, which was to be expected. More surprisingly, a vio- let capped woodnymph hummingbird (Thalurania glaucopis) and a montane grass mouse (Akodon montensis) also came to dine. The scientists now want to com- SDUHWKHHIÀFLHQF\RI PDPPDOSROOL- nators to birds and hymenopterans. How well do opossums actually per- form as pollinators of S. fungiforme? They’ll monitor eventual fruit set and also plan to analyze the chemical com- pounds found in the nectar and fra- grance of S. fungiforme. Such chem- ical insight may yield answers about WKHUHODWLRQVKLSEHWZHHQWKHVHÁRZHU WUDLWVDQGVSHFLÀFSROOLQDWRUV References Big-eared opossum in 1. Amorim, F. W., Ballarin, C. S., Mariano, Pedra Azul, Espírito Santo, G., Lacerda-Barbosa, P. A., Costa, J. G., Ha- Southeast of Brazil chuy-Filho, L., ... & Morellato, L. P. C. (2020). Good heavens what animal can pollinate it? A fungus-like holoparasitic plant potentially pol- 6. Candeias, Matt. “Rodents as Pollinators.” In Defense of Plants (website). Sep- linated by opossums. Ecology, e03001. tember 25, 2018. http://www.indefenseofplants.com/blog/2018/9/24/ro dents-as-pollinators 2. U.S. Forest Service. “Pollinator Syndromes.” Accessed February 15, 2020. KWWSV ZZZIVIHGXVZLOGÁRZHUVSROOLQDWRUV:KDWBLVB3ROOLQDWLRQV\Q dromes.shtml %DUIRG$QGHUV60HODQLH+DXJHQDQG)LQQ%RUFKVHQLXV´7ZHQW\ÀYH years of progress in understanding pollination mechanisms in palms (Are- caceae).” Annals of Botany. August 9, 2011. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/pmc/articles/PMC3219497/ Sheryl Normandeau is a Cal- &DQGHLDV0DWW´$3DOPZLWKD8QLTXH3ROOLQDWLRQ6\QGURPHµ,Q'H- gary-based writer and regular fense of Plants (website). May 20, 2019. http://www.indefenseofplants. contributor to several interna- FRPEORJ DSDOPZLWKDXQLTXHSROOLQDWLRQV\QGURPH tional publications. She is the co-author of a new series of 5. Nickrent, Daniel L. and Lytton J. Musselman, “Introduction to Parasitic books about Prairie gardening Flowering Plants.” The American Phytopatholgocial Society. 2016. from TouchWood Editions. 37 Experience the joy of beekeeping… with the extra benefits of a Flow Hive FLOW HIVE – 5 YEARS STRONG Improve pollination and experience the AND STILL INNOVATING! unique flavors of raw unprocessed honey, harvested without disturbing the bees. For our 5th birthday, we’re Introducing the new release Flow Hive 2 Cedar 7 frame – perfect for all climates. Flow Hive makes harvesting honey so much easier for With all the features of our best-selling premium hive the beekeeper and so much gentler on the bees; and plus extra space for collecting even more delicious with harvest labor reduced by up to 95%, you have honey. 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Plus we’re donating 50% discover more on honeyflow.com funds for important projects. of profits to support pollinators! or facebook.com/flowhive GOOD DESIGN AWARD D&AD IMPACT FAST COMPANY APIMONDIA PRODUCT OF THE WHITE PENCIL WORLD CHANGING IDEAS SILVER MEDAL WORLD YEAR 2016 URBAN LIVING 2016 AWARD 2017 WINNER BEEKEEPING AWARDS CONSUMER PRODUCTS 2015 & 2017 SMART AG Bees versus Robots by Dave Goulson The decline of bees has attracted media headlines and widespread public concern in recent decades 39 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS nd rightly so. Imagine a world without tomatoes, This beautiful bumble bee eagerly foraging strawberries, coffee or chocolate to name just a for nectar is a Bombus distinguendus few of the many crops that rely upon them. We simply could not feed the growing human popu- lationA without pollinators. 2I FRXUVHLWLVQRWMXVWFURSVWKDWUHTXLUHSROOLQDWLRQ³ overall, about 87% of all plant species on Earth need some sort of animal pollinator—that is pretty much all of them aside from the wind-pollinated grasses (including cereal grains), and conifers. Without pollinators there would be QRZLOGÁRZHUVDQGWKHZRUOGZRXOGEHDQLQÀQLWHO\SRRUHU place. Hence humankind should be deeply troubled by the ongoing declines in wild bee populations and by rising mor- tality of domestic honey bee colonies. Some bee species have undergone massive range declines; for example the rusty patched bumble bee (%RPEXVDIÀQLV) has vanished from 90% of its North American range in the last 25 years, while in the UK species such as the great yellow bumble bee (Bombus distinguendus DQGWKHSRWWHUÁRZHU bee (Anthophora retusa) are now found at only a handful of sites when once they were widespread. A few have gone entirely extinct; for example Franklin’s bumble bee (Bombus franklini), a native of California and Oregon, has not been seen since 2006 and is almost certainly gone forever. The UK has had three bumble bee species go extinct, the apple bum- ble bee (Bombus pomorum), Cullum’s bumble bee (Bombus cullumanus), and the short-haired bumble bee (Bombus sub- terraneus). Farming needs bees, but paradoxically it is one of the main contributors to their decline; industrial farming in- volving large monocultures of crops treated with perhaps twenty different pesticides per year has turned vast tracts of the globe into a hostile environment for wildlife of all sorts. 7KHUHDUHIHZÁRZHUVLQPRGHUQIDUPODQGDVLGHIURPWKH ÁRZHULQJFURSVWKHPVHOYHVDQGZKDWHYHUÁRZHUVGRPDQDJH to bloom are likely to be contaminated with mixtures of pes- WLFLGHV)UHTXHQWWLOODJHRUGLVNLQJDOVRGHVWUR\VQHVWLQJVLWHV © Dave Goulson Dave © Bees and other pollinators also face problems with non-na- tive diseases that we have carelessly spread around the planet, and they are beginning to suffer from the effects of climate change. All in all, we have made life very hard for our poor pollinators. However, we may not have to worry about the bees for much longer; help is at hand. They could soon be redundant, for there are plans to replace them—with robots. Teams of VFLHQWLVWVIURPIDUÁXQJSODFHVIURP-DSDQWR,QGRQHVLDWR the UK and United States are working on it as I write. There KDYHEHHQDQXPEHURI VFLHQWLÀFSDSHUVSXEOLVKHGGLVFXVVLQJ WKHSRVVLELOLW\RI EXLOGLQJPLQLDWXUHÁ\LQJURERWVWRUHSODFH bees and pollinate our crops for us. Clumsy robobee pro- totypes have already been built and some seem to crudely work, although most still rely on a human to control them from a remote handset, while others seem more likely to FKRSÁRZHUVWRSLHFHVZLWKWKHLUWLQ\URWRUEODGHVWKDQWR pollinate them. 40 SMART AG Regardless of these shortcomings, it seems likely that And how long would they last? Some would malfunc- the technological hurdles may one day be overcome, and we tion, some would get caught out in the rain or get lost, some might well be able to build bee replacements. Media coverage would be damaged by wind or spiders’ webs or curious has already heralded the imminent retirement of ‘the bee’ bee-eaters. If we very optimistically calculate the lifespan of and a brave new world in which tiny metal and plastic drones a robot bee at one year, that means spending $32 billion ev- EX]]IURPÁRZHUWRÁRZHU,I FURSVFRXOGEHSROOLQDWHGWKLV ery year (and continually littering the environment with tril- way, farmers wouldn’t have to wor- lions of tiny robots, unless they ry about harming bees with their could be made of biodegradable insecticides. With wild bee popula- materials). What about the envi- tions in decline, perhaps these tiny ronmental costs of manufacture automatons are the answer? “ and distribution? What resourc- While I can understand the in- Real bees avoid all HV ZRXOG WKH\ UHTXLUH ZKDW FDU- tellectual interest and challenge for bon footprint would they have, a robotics engineer of trying to of these issues. what energy source would power create robotic bees, I would argue them? What would happen when that it is exceedingly unlikely that They are self-replicating, terrorists or the Russians hacked we could ever produce something self-powering, essentially into the robobee control system as cheap (i.e. free) or as effective and turned them against us? Real as bees themselves. Bees and other carbon neutral, and bees avoid all of these issues; they pollinators have been around and are self-replicating, self-powering, SROOLQDWLQJ ÁRZHUV IRU PRUH WKDQ unlikely to be subject essentially carbon neutral, and un- 100 million years; they have be- to mind control by likely to be subject to mind con- come exceedingly good at it. It is trol by Vladimir Putin any time remarkable hubris to think that we Vladimir Putin soon. can replicate or improve on them. Thus far I have glossed over a Consider just the numbers; vital further point. Pollination is there are roughly 80 million hon- ” not all done by honey bees. Nu- ey bee hives in the world, each merous other insects pollinate containing perhaps 40,000 bees FURSV DQG ZLOGÁRZHUV LQFOXGLQJ through the spring and summer. EXWWHUÁLHV EHHWOHV PRWKV ÁLHV That adds up to 3.2 trillion bees, give or take. They feed ZDVSVVDZÁLHVDQGPDQ\PRUH,QPRUHH[RWLFFOLPHVKXP- themselves for free, breed for free, and even give us honey mingbirds, parrots and bats help out, and even occasional- as a bonus. What would be the cost of replacing honey bees ly lizards and marsupial mice. These pollinators come in all with robots? Even if the robots could be built, complete VRUWVRI GLIIHUHQWVKDSHVDQGVL]HVVXLWHGWRGLIIHUHQWÁRZHUV with charged power pack and control devices, for one cent For example, honey bees are no good at pollinating toma- each (which seems absurdly optimistic) it would cost $32 bil- WRHVWKHÁRZHUVRI ZKLFKQHHGWREHYLEUDWHGWRH[WUDFWWKH lion to build them. pollen. Bumble bees and some solitary bees are adept at this. 41 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS A bumble bee queen (Bombus subterraneus) foraging on clover © Nikki Gammans © Nikki Chocolate is pollinated by tiny midges, barely visible to the Why do we have to always look for a technical solution naked eye. Broad and runner beans are pollinated by long- to the problems that we create, when a simple, natural solu- tongued bumble bees. Overall, it has been calculated that WLRQLVVWDULQJXVLQWKHIDFH":HKDYHZRQGHUIXOO\HIÀFLHQW honey bees contribute at best one third of crop pollination pollinators already.y Let’s look after them better, not plan for in the UK, averaged across crops, and that we have in the their demise. region of 4,000 other species of pollinator. So we wouldn’t Dave Goulson is Professor of Bi- just need to replace the 3.2 trillion honey bees. We’d also ology at University of Sussex, spe- need to replace countless trillions of other pollinators. All to cializing in bee ecology. He has substitute creatures that currently deliver pollination for free. published more than 300 scientific Declines of bees are symptomatic of larger issues. It is articles on the ecology and conser- not just bees that are declining; almost all wildlife is declining vation of bumble bees and other insects. He is the author of Bumble- in the face of massive habitat loss and pollution across the bees; Their Behaviour, Ecology and globe. Even supposing we could create robot bees cheaply Conservation, published in 2010 by enough for it to be viable, should we? If farmers no longer Oxford University Press, and of the need to worry about harming bees, they could perhaps spray Sunday Times bestseller A Sting in the Tale, a popular science book PRUHSHVWLFLGHV7KHUHDUHPDQ\RWKHUEHQHÀFLDOFUHDWXUHV about bumble bees. He has written that live in farmland that would then be harmed; ladybugs, several other popular books since KRYHUÁLHV DQG ZDVSV WKDW DWWDFN FURS SHVWV ZRUPV GXQJ then. Goulson founded the Bumble- beetles and millipedes that help recycle nutrients and keep bee Conservation Trust in 2006, a the soil healthy, and many more. Are we going to make ro- charity which has grown to 12,000 members. He was the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council’s Social Innovator of the Year in 2010, botic worms and ladybugs too? What kind of world would was given the Zoological Society of London’s Marsh Award for Conservation we end up with? Is this really the world that we wish to leave Biology in 2013, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in for our children 2013, and given the British Ecological Society Public Engagement Award in 2014. In 2015 he was named number 8 in BBC Wildlife Magazine’s list of the top 50 most influential people in conservation. Find him on YouTube or Twitter @DaveGoulson. 42 SMART AG Precision Pollination SMART AG ADVANCES by Kim Flottum Bees certainly aren’t going away, but the agriculture community is constantly looking for ways to save money, reduce labor, increase both their efficiency and the quality of the products they harvest 43 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS ’m certainly not the most sought-after spokesperson do? Bumble bees and bats occasionally are brought up by by the media when it comes to discussing what’s go- those who have done some research. Native bees are some- ing on in the world of honey bees. However, in the times mentioned. Often they ask about that photo of folks last decade I have had a few interviews with newspa- in China, pollinating fruit trees with paintbrushes, because all Ipers, magazines and radio shows from San Francisco to New of their bees have been killed off. York, Minneapolis to Austin. They all want to know basically Rarely, but just often enough to get my attention, some- the same thing—why are honey bees in trouble, and what can one asks about those robobees they heard about. Will those we do about it? work, do you think? I’m asked, but they’re never really in- My standard answer is always the same, and pretty much WHUHVWHGLQP\DQVZHU0D\EHWKH\MXVWZDQWWRDIÀUPWKDW the same as everybody else’s that they’ve already asked—the technology will solve the problem. 4 P’s (pesticides, pests, predators and poor nutrition). One of I try and show all sides when answering. The bees aren’t WKHTXHVWLRQVWKDWDOZD\VDOZD\VJHWVDVNHGLVZKDWKDSSHQV GLVDSSHDULQJELUGVEDWVDQGEXWWHUÁLHVDOOKDYHDUROHDQGDUH when the bees are gone? How will the plants they pollinate still making ends meet, and the robobees you heard about are get pollinated? Will we starve? still, mostly, in the experimental stage. 0\DQVZHUWRWKDWVWDQGDUGTXHVWLRQLVSUHWW\VWDQGDUG We need to look harder at those 4 P’s that were men- too. “Well,” I try to reassure them, “the bees actually aren’t tioned rather than jump ahead into technological possibil- disappearing. When you look at the data, the number of ities that aren’t yet reality. I want to keep stories about bee hives in the US is actually increasing every year. Not rapidly losses focused on the pressing issues the bees face. Mostly but the curve is up, not down. Beekeepers are working hard WKHUHSRUWHUVOLVWHQDQGWKHULJKWZRUGVÀQGWKHLUZD\RQWR to get the numbers up because they need enough healthy the page. colonies to stay in business. And the business is pollination, But I have to admit, some of those mechanical pollinators primarily almonds, actually.” out there deserve our attention. They’re playing a growing 7KDWVRPHWLPHVOHDGVWRPRUHTXHVWLRQVDERXWDOPRQGV role in our food production system. Bees certainly aren’t go- or pollination, or honey bee health. But sometimes I’m asked ing away, but the agriculture community is constantly looking about alternatives. If the bees disappear—obviously they for ways to save money, reduce labor, increase pollination didn’t hear, or didn’t want to hear my answer—what will we HIÀFLHQF\DQGWKHTXDOLW\RI WKHFURSVWKH\KDUYHVW A pollen spray boom developed by Washington State University The BrambleBee robot developed at West Virginia State University not have heard the latest about mechanized smart agriculture SROOHQRQWRUHFHSWLYHÁRZHUV7KH\·YHEHHQVXFFHVVIXOZLWK unless you spend a lot of time reading fruit, nut or vegetable apples, cherries, pears, blueberries, plums, cotton, rapeseed, magazines. VXQÁRZHUV DQG DOPRQGV 1H[W It’s not only the pollinator peo- season they will be working with ple who are wondering what the the 7% of almond growers that future holds, but those on the re- control half of the almond acres ceiving end of getting crops polli- “ grown. The units can work day nated that are watching. If growers It’s not only the pollinator or night, in less than favorable can get pollination cheaper, faster, weather, showing a 10% - 20% or better than by putting hundreds people who are wondering yield increase in most crops, or thousands of hives in their or- most times. chards, they would be foolish to what the future holds, but At Washington State Univer- overlook it. One hopes that they’re those on the receiving end sity researchers blast a slurry in interested in technological advanc- an air sprayer to connect pollen es, because that’s the way they’ve of getting crops pollinated ZLWK ÁRZHUV 7KH\ FROODERUDWH always improved their farm man- that are watching with the successful Firman Pol- agement. But change doesn’t hap- len Co., suspending pollen in a pen too often down on the farm. solution, so it moves through So what’s out there? Lots, ac- the spray nozzles and sticks to tually. The Israeli agritech Edete ” ÁRZHU VWLJPDV 5LJKW QRZ WKLV Precesion mass harvests pollen system supplements the efforts for mechanical pollination. This of honey bees and causes no FRPSDQ\ÀJXUHGRXWDZD\WRPH- harm when bees are sprayed. chanically harvest pollen and store it for up to a year. This Firman harvests about 2 million grams (2.2 tons) of pollen pollen is then mechanically distributed using precision algo- DVHDVRQIRUWKHLURSHUDWLRQV7RHQVXUHDGHTXDWHPDVVSRO- rithmic calculations of each tree’s contour. The sprayer blows len availability regular pollen orchards will soon pop up. Of course these trees will be op- timized for pollen produc- tion, producing many more ÁRZHUV DQG PXFK VPDOOHU fruit. The trees will need to be trimmed and trellised dif- ferently, but tons of pollen will go a long way in easing any real, or perceived bee shortage. At West Virginia Uni- versity, researchers have developed a robot used in 45 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS Tiny RoboBees with a penny for size comparison The DropCopter green houses to pollinate brambles. Called BrambleBee, this in patents on a type of robobee, a small, winged robot that JURXQGEDVHGURERWÀUVWPDSVWKHJUHHQKRXVHWKHQZRUNV SROOLQDWHVLQGLYLGXDOÁRZHUV7KHGHYLFHH[LVWVEXWZKHWKHU RXWWKHPRVWHIÀFLHQWURXWHORFDWHVWKHÁRZHUVQHHGLQJDW- Walmart is continuing to pursue advances is currently un- tention, then using small brushes on a robot arm carries out NQRZQ+RZHYHUWKLVOLWWOHÁ\LQJEXJDOVRPRQLWRUVFURSV the pollination process. Primarily used so far as a supplement for pests and diseases with more precision and much faster to bee pollination, the future looks bright for this sort of than humans, so perhaps pollination isn’t at the top of the innovation in many greenhouse crops. list of this huge organic produce seller. Time and necessity Probably the most attention getting operation so far is will tell. the DropCopter. This is a smart drone, loaded with pollen Other players include drones that mimic animals—the WKDWFDQEHSURJUDPPHGWRÁ\GHÀQLWHURXWHVLQDQRUFKDUG Bat Bot for instance. It’s being developed to function like day or night, and when in position drops a load of pollen bats that feed on the nectar of night blooming plants. It has directly over the tree canopy. Currently it is used with apples wings like a bat, hovers and uses brushes to transfer pollen to pollinate the early blooming king blossoms, which pro- IURPDQGLQWRÁRZHUV1RWFRPPHUFLDOO\DYDLODEOH\HWLWPD\ duce the biggest fruit. With no other additional pollinators in be soon. A research team in Poland developed a robotic bee, the orchard, additional fruit set is limited, reducing the labor DPLQLDWXUL]HGGURQHWKDWFDQÀQGDÁRZHUFROOHFWLWVSROOHQ UHTXLUHGIRUWKLQQLQJDQGLQFUHDVLQJWKHVL]HDQGYDOXHRI DQGWUDQVIHULWIURPRQHÁRZHUWRWKHQH[W,WLVSURJUDPHG those premium apples. The DropCopter has also been used WRZRUNGHÀQLWHDUHDV7KHUHDUHDHULDODQGJURXQGPRGHOV for almonds and cherries, two crops that bloom early when with the ground models sporting larger battery packs that let the weather doesn’t always cooperate, keeping pollinators at them cover more territory. These robots can also transport home. The drone can pollinate 40 acres per hour, resulting fertilizers or insecticides very, very precisely. This last skill in about a 60% increase in pollination set. It can work day or could be extremely useful in insecticide applications that are QLJKWDQGRQO\UHTXLUHVDSUHZULWWHQPLVVLRQURXWHWRRSHU- UHTXLUHGGXULQJEORRPPLQLPL]LQJGULIWDQGLPSDFWVRQRXU DWHZKLFKLQFUHDVHVVSHHGHIÀFLHQF\DQGSROOLQDWHGEORRPV beloved pollinators. (YHQ:DOPDUWKDVGLSSHGLWVÀQJHUVLQWRSROOLQDWLRQUR- I think the biggest game changer for the industry will be botics. If you’ve been paying attention, you may have no- driverless trucks, coming very soon to a freeway near you. WLFHGWKDW:DOPDUWVWRUHVSURYLGHÀUVWFODVVSURGXFH7KH\ Granted this isn’t as exciting as the DropCopter or a tiny sell more organic fruits and vegetables than any other retail robot bee, but it will solve a lot of issues for the home team, RSHUDWLRQPHHWLQJWRSTXDOLW\GHPDQGV7KH\·UHSOD\LQJWKH who are struggling with increased regulation of driver time ORQJUDQJHJDPHDQGGRQ·WZDQWWKHTXDOLW\RI WKHLUSURGXFH sheets and enforced breaks. Imagine a beekeeping operation to change if pollinators keep dwindling. They’ve invested that does not have to pay drivers to move bees from say Flor- ida to California. Instead the beekeeper hops in right at the end and drives the last miles to his destination to help coordi- nate unloading. Think of the money that individual beekeep- er will save with a driverless truck that can just keep hauling. Such a reduction in operation costs might trickle into their pollination fees, reducing the necessity of the grower to even go looking for a drone or robobee. We’re all bargain hunters at heart. 46 SMART AG I recently attended the 2019 Apimondia Conference in And perhaps that change is not such a bad thing. We Montreal, Canada. Although I soaked in the latest informa- currently subject honey bees to the rigors of cross country tion in the lecture halls, I must admit I was more fascinated transportation, exposure to bazillions of other bees that may with the vendor areas. What happens in the lecture halls is be infected with viruses, diseases and pests and predators, of- how our industry looks today. What happens in the vendor IHUWKHPOHVVWKDQDGHTXDWHQXWULWLRQLQWKHODQGVFDSHZKHUH area is what lies ahead. These businesses are betting on the we keep them, and then do it all over again for another crop. future, and it was inspiring to talk with them. To me this seems like less than ethical animal husbandry, a The future of the crop pollination will not be the way poor way to keep bees. Perhaps the only comparison I can we’ve always done it. It will, and must change, with or with- PDNHLVZKHQIDUPHUVÀQDOO\FRQYHUWHGWRWUDFWRUVIRUWKH RXWKRQH\EHHV(IÀFLHQF\FRVWDQGWLPHDUHQRWRQWKHVLGH heavy lifting, plowing and harvesting, putting their mules and of hauling millions of hives of honey bees to California each horses out to pasture. That’s not really a good comparison, spring, then hauling them back home again. This mass con- but at least the animals were no longer used for drudgery. gregation of colonies and then dispersion throughout the ,·P SUREDEO\ WKH ODVW SHUVRQ WR TXHVWLRQ WKH HWKLFV RI country helps us share and distribute every malady honey what we do to work animals. I have worked multiple farms bees have with all the rest of the bees. This massive concen- in my time. Farms that housed thousands of caged chickens, tration is not one bit practical. But, for the moment, it is what hundreds of cows and pigs. I’ve raised animals for products LWLV,H[SHFWLWWREHPRGLÀHGWREHGRQHDZD\ZLWKWREH and food. I ate. They died. With bees, we can all eat, and yes, changed. And change is hard. they die. So it goes. For now. We want the best for our bees What the beekeeping industry and industrial pollination and perhaps technology can change what we demand from will change to, is as of yet unknown, at least by me. But the these hard-working pollinators. people who are dealing with DropCopters and other tech- nological advances see a need, have a vision and are chasing answers. Change will happen. Kim Flottum is the retired Editor of Bee Culture maga- zine, author of several bee- keeping books including The Backyard Beekeeper, Better Bee Keeping, and In Business with Bees, covering basic beginner to running a bee- keeping business. He keeps a keen eye on the beekeeping industry and hosts the podcast Beekeeping Today. 47 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS Room for Debate What Role Should Technology Play in Pollination? Dave Goulson & Kim Flottum have presented two different viewpoints on the use of technological advances for pollination. I’ve purposefully published the two articles side-by-side, because I want this magazine to serve as a plat- form for discussion. Both of their perspectives hit on some critical points and I enjoyed reading them together, as it provides a more nuanced view of what changes in technology mean for our society. 2XUEHHVDUHSHUIHFWO\DGDSWHGWRSROOLQDWLRQDQGGRDÀQHMRERI PRYLQJSROOHQEH- tween plants. However, they are increasingly under threat, needing our intervention to pro- tect their remaining habitat. Modern agriculture can be tough on our bees. Do we pour our efforts into improving the landscape conditions for our bees in the harsh environment of RUFKDUGVDQGFURSÀHOGV"2UDUHZHEHWWHURII SXUVXLQJWHFKQRORJLFDODGYDQFHVLQPRGHUQ agriculture, so we eliminate the need for insects to survive in inhospitable environments? Is it best to pursue both pathways simultaneously, using smart agricultural advances when they reduce exposure for our pollinators? Or is it environmental folly? • How will technology allow us to • Can we integrate advances in smart technology advance our agricultural farming? into modern agriculture to relieve the pressure on our pollinators, while simultaneously increasing • Is the use of robotic pollinators sustainable? the habitat and viability of our pollinators? How do we evaluate the environmental impacts of that technology? • How likely are we to invent precision robots WKDWFDQSROOLQDWHWKHWLQ\ÁRZHUVRIFURSV • Should technology attempt to recreate current like canola and rapeseed? Or the 50 to 200 pollinators? Or do we invent a new system for VWDPHQVRIVWUDZEHUU\ÁRZHUVWKDWW\SLFDOO\ pollination, adapted to technological advances? UHTXLUHEHWZHHQDQGVHSDUDWHYLVLWVIURP • If we eventually achieve robotic pollination, honey bees to produce uniform fruit? freeing ourselves from our dependence • Is the debate over robotic pollination on their services, will we stop caring similar to the decisions we will face about protecting our pollinators? about gene editing of humans? • What will it mean for our environment, if we • Please consider discussing these two no longer need to keep our insects alive? articles at a future club meeting. Feel free • Do you want to see us achieve robotic to share your thoughts in a letter to the pollinators? Why or why not? editor: [email protected] 48 ARTS & CULTURE © Tom Gross – The Nature ConservancyNature – The Gross © Tom Restoring the Beautiful Money can’t buy happiness. But we all use coins. by Greta Burroughs Two new quarters shine attention on endangered pollinators, courtesy of the US government. 49 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS American Samoa National Park spans three islands with diverse habitats ational Parks preserve our nation’s ecologi- The conservation efforts of the US National Park Ser- cal treasures. Spending a few days roaming vice are driving revitalization, a rebirth of what once was. By through a national park transports you back in protecting and preserving ecosystems with natural land man- time, when civilization didn’t encroach on ev- agement, our parks allow the reduced vegetation to expand. Nerything. Surrounded by nature, your senses soften, attune to As our prairies and parklands regenerate, they provide critical QDWXUH·VTXLHWVRQJ7KHFUDFNOLQJVQDSRI WZLJVDVDVTXLUUHO resources for dependent pollinators. scurries through the underbrush looking for buried treasure. Bird song greets the morning’s light, promising a day of ad- America the Beautiful Quarters® Program venture trekking through lush prairie grass or up a steep ra- The former Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner vine of a cloud forest. compiled a list of 56 national sites to be commemorated on To commemorate the work of our WKH$PHULFDWKH%HDXWLIXOTXDUWHUVHULHV park rangers, the US Mint will issue two EDFN LQ (DFK TXDUWHU KLJKOLJKWV QHZ $PHULFD WKH %HDXWLIXO TXDUWHUV WKLV the heritage of the site through a dis- year that feature pollinators: the National tinctive design chosen by the site’s rep- Park of American Samoa depicts a fruit resentatives and incorporated on the bat and the Tallgrass Prairie National Pre- EDFNRI WKHTXDUWHU´7KH0LQWZRUNV serve showcases the prairie grasses and closely with each host jurisdiction to D EXWWHUÁ\ IURP WKH )OLQW +LOOV RI .DQ- honor the design chosen as emblematic sas. Our national parks preserve a large of the selected national site,” said Mint tract of our wilderness. Yet those rich Spokesman Michael White. land holdings are often under threat from Fruit Bat of American Samoa commercial interests who want access for A fruit bat mother hangs in a tree logging, mining and development. The with her pup clutched against her The National Park of American Samoa ÁRUDJUDVVODQGVDQGFUHDWXUHVLQKDELWLQJ chest. This striking image was chosen this world are hanging on as their habitat Quarter was released on Feb 3, 2020. It depicts a Samoan Fruit Bat mother by American Samoa to represent their shrinks. hanging in a tree with her pup. national park. It depicts the remarkable 50 ARTS & CULTURE care and energy the threatened bat Pteropus samoensis (pe’a Men from his village would seek advice from his uncle, a vao) puts into rearing its offspring. The Samoan fruit bat highly respected elder. As Tuaua grew into a young man, he plays a vital role in the ecosystem of the tropical rainforest EHFDPHDVNLOOHGKXQWHUDQGÀVKHU´,ZDVIRUWXQDWHWRKDYH as both a pollinator and seed disperser. Found only in Samoa grown up learning these skills from my uncle. This is why I and Fiji, their numbers plummeted due to habitat loss and love my job as a park ranger. I can share my knowledge and commercial hunting. give back to the younger generation all that I learned from my elders.” Tallgrass Praire He never tires of introducing his homeland to the na- $VN\ZDUGYLHZRI D5HJDO)ULWLOODU\EXWWHUÁ\DJDLQVWD tional park’s visitors. “American Samoa backdrop of big bluestem and Indian National Park includes sections of three grasses grace the reverse side of the Tall- islands and covers approximately 13,000 JUDVV 3UDLULH 1DWLRQDO 3UHVHUYH TXDUWHU acres, 4,000 of which are underwater.” Regal Fritillaries (Speyeria idalia) rely sole- The warm, transparent tropical waters O\RQWKHOXVKSUDLULHJUDVVHVDQGÁRZHUV shelter a vast selection of coral reefs and for food, shelter and reproduction. These support the largest marine biodiversity EXWWHUÁLHVDUHGHSHQGHQWRQWKHSUDLULH·V in the United States. Divers encounter resources, limiting their existence outside PRUHWKDQQDWLYHÀVKDQGFRUDO of the grasslands. species underwater. $PHULFD WKH %HDXWLIXO TXDUWHUV WHOO D Ringed with pristine sandy beaches, story. These two new images remind us the Samoan volcanic islands jut into sce- to appreciate the natural world and how nic mountaintops. A walk through the our actions directly affect it. The coins dense forest surrounds you with bird- encourage us to explore the history of The Tallgrass Prairie National Pre- song. Secluded villages dot the land- these parks and the endangered pollina- serve Quarter will be released on scape, home to the local islanders. Rare tors inhabiting the protected lands. Nov. 16, 2020. The design depicts a skyward view of a Regal Fritillary plants and animals make their homes Paradise Lost butterfly against a backdrop of Big among the lush jungle vegetation, which Rainforests disappear at a rate of Bluestem and Indian grasses, iconic changes dramatically as you hike up- to Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. 6,000 acres every hour. In American land to the cloud forests summiting the Samoa, the National Park Service is de- IWPRXQWDLQV)RUHVWELUGVÁ\LQJ WHUPLQHGWRSURWHFWWKHÁRUDDQGIDXQDSRSXODWLQJWKHRQO\ foxes, fruit bats, rodents, reptiles and paleotropical rainforest located in the United States. Samoa amphibians thrive in the hot, humid climate. An estimated means sacred earth. The park protects the land and helps pre- VSHFLHVRIÁRZHULQJSODQWVPDNHXSWKLVGLYHUVHKDELWDW serve the customs, beliefs and traditions of the 3,000-year- Devastating weather and illegal hunting threaten the del- old Samoan culture. icate ecosystem. The endangered Samoan fruit bat almost Park Ranger Pua Tuaua, Jr. was born and raised in the Sa- ceased to exist. “Conservation of these bats started in the moan islands. He grew up playing at his uncle’s feet, a master early 1980s when there was a decline in population due to ÀVKHUPDQDQGJUHDWKXQWHU+HZDVHQWKUDOOHGE\KLVXQFOH·V over hunting,” said Adam Miles, chief wildlife biologist at tales of using his paopao FDQRH WRÀVKDQGKLVDELOLW\WR American Samoa National Park. The high bounty the bats stalk wild pigs and lupe (wild pigeons) in the forest. brought on the black market tempted hunters, who sold them illegally. Matafao Peak is one of five great masses of volcanic rocks which created Tutuila island A white-tailed tropicbird soars above the thick foliage of the rainforest at the American Samoa National Park © Amy Yarger © Amy 51 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS “The largest non-human threat to the bats is cyclones,” Miles explained. “Even a relatively weak cyclone can have large impacts on their populations.” Two catastrophic hur- ricanes smashed into the Samoan Islands in 1990 and 1991, almost wiping out the population of pe’a vao. Their numbers plummeted to near extinction. The Samoan government enacted a strict hunting ban to preserve the stragglers that still hung from the trees. “The ban on hunting fruit bats began in 1991 and continues to this day,” said National Park Ranger Tuaua. “Our role is to protect the habitat by not cutting trees and reporting any illegal activities.” It seems to be working. “The population has recovered and is healthy today,” according to Adam Miles. “We have been lucky not to have had any major cyclones in years. Once that happens,” he warns, “the populations will decline. Our goal is to keep the bat populations as healthy as possible, so WKH\FDQUHFRYHUTXLFNO\ZKHQDPDMRUF\FORQHKDSSHQVµ The Samoan fruit bats are only found in Samoa and Fiji. These magnificent creatures play a major role in the health of the rainforest as pollinators and seed Biodiversity Bats dispersers. Samoan fruit bats soar over the rainforest canopy both day and night. With a wing span up to 3 feet wide, they block Bats don’t have the wing strength to generate lift. Their a much larger part of the sky than the common bats we see tiny legs prevent them from building up speed in a running ÁLWWLQJRXWIURPXQGHUEULGJHVDWQLJKWKXQWLQJIRUSUH\,Q WDNHRII7KH\URRVWXSVLGHGRZQVRWKH\FDQTXLFNO\OHWJR American Samoa you can spot pe’a vao cruising the air cur- RI WKHLUSHUFKDQGIDOOLQWRÁLJKW2QFHLQWKHDLUWKH\VSUHDG UHQWVÁ\LQJIHHGLQJRUMXVWKDQJLQJRXWXSVLGHGRZQLQWKH WKHLUZLQJVDQGVRDUDZD\7KH\ÁRDWXSRQZDUPFXUUHQWV trees. RI DLUFDOOHGWKHUPDOVGULIWLQJVN\ZDUGZLWKRXWHYHUÁDSSLQJ their wings. “You can also see them in colonies close to the road sides. They are not shy of humans,” said Tuaua. The males prefer to hang from exposed or dead branches of trees along the ridge tops when resting, while females roost in more covered positions on forest slopes. The bats pair off to raise their families. Fruit bats invest a great deal of time and energy into their young, who remain either cradled in mom’s wings or very close by until they’re weaned. Sometimes the offspring stay close until fully matured. Fruit bats lack echolocation and instead navigate by their excellent eyesight and an incredibly sensitive nose, which lets WKHPÀQGIRRGVRXUFHV´ With a wing span up to 3 feet wide and active both day and night, the Samoan fruit bat can be seen flying, soaring, feed- ing or just hanging out in the trees. 52 ARTS & CULTURE Trails through the Tallgrass Prairie National Park bring you up close and personal with the flora, pollinators and other creatures inhabiting the park © Greg Kramos © Greg Diminishing Prairie Grasslands A Unique Joint Partnership :DJRQ WUDLQV ÀOOHG ZLWK DGYHQWXURXV SLRQHHUV SXVKHG The primary landowner of the preserve is not the gov- west across the great plains, traveling along the Oregon HUQPHQWEXWUDWKHUWKH1DWXUH&RQVHUYDQF\7KLVQRQSURÀW and Santa Fe Trails. Bison roaming the grasslands paid little works in conjunction with the National Park Service, who heed to the caravans as the newcomers trampled through operates TPNP. It’s a one-of-a-kind private owner/federal the waving amber grains. These early settlers had an imper- government partnership. The Nature Conservancy dedicates ceptible impact. Acres and acres of the vegetation remained its energy to protecting the ecosystems and maintaining the undamaged as the covered wagons trundled westward, leav- biodiversity of the grasslands, leaving the day to day opera- ing plenty of grasses to satisfy the hunger of the grazing tions to the park service. beasts. The Nature Conservancy nurtures 500+ species of grass- Over time humans claimed more of the land and in- es and plants such as big and little bluestem, Indian grass and troduced cattle to the abundant pastureland. Farmers tilled VZLWFKJUDVVDORQJZLWKDGLYHUVHVHOHFWLRQRI ZLOGÁRZHUVWKDW the rich soil, growing crops to feed the families settling into provide food and shelter for large grazing animals, insects, the region. Within a generation, the 170 million acres of reptiles and amphibians inhabiting the park. Brian Obermey- tallgrass prairie covering North America fell victim to civi- er, Director of Land Protection & Stewardship emphasized lization. Today, less than four percent of the original prairie that the Nature Conservancy’s goal is to maintain and en- remains, predominantly around the rocky, non-tillable land hance the biodiversity of the property. They’ve instituted ro- in the Flint Hills region of Kansas and Oklahoma. tational burns and permit select grazing by cattle and bison. The nearly 11,000 acres of the Tallgrass Prairie Nation- This brings the ecosystem back into balance and allows the al Preserve (TPNP) protect this remnant of the once vast UHVLGXDOSUDLULHWRÁRXULVK prairie. Small pockets of grassland dot the landscape across the United Up to 60 million bison once roamed the States, but the Flint Hills region hous- Great Plains before they were hunted es the largest unbroken tract. down to less than 1,000. Through the “It’s the last of its kind,” remarked conservation efforts at TPNP, the Eric Patterson, a national park ranger bison are now making a comeback at TPNP. “It’s bittersweet. The lives we live today were paid for by the lives and livelihoods of other plants, animals and people.” Tallgrass Prairie LV WKH ÀUVW QDWLRQDO SDUN VSHFLÀFDO- ly set up to protect grasslands. “The preserve tells the story of grass and its history,” says Patterson, “and pro- Prendergast © Kit vides a place for people to explore.” These 11,000 acres make just a small dent in protecting grassland habitat, “but hopefully our efforts act as a role model to others around us to conserve.” © Greg Kramos © Greg 53 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS Regal Fritillary on a milkweed plant. © Peter Helfrich © Peter © Kim Bailey © Kim © Greg Kramos © Greg The prairie offers a place for all to enjoy Catclaw sensitive briar (Mimosa quadrivalvis) © Kim Bailey © Kim Monarch laying eggs on milkweed © Tom Gross – The Nature Conservancy © Ryan Donnell - The Nature ConservancyNature - The Donnell © Ryan 54 ARTS & CULTURE The praire can take on a wide variety of colors, depending on the season © Greg Kramos © Greg Before settlers nature took care of itself. Lightening ignit- HGWKHGU\JUDVVHVDQGWKHHQVXLQJÀUHVFOHDUHGRXWWKHROG growth to make way for the new. “We follow the same pat- tern,” said Obermeyer. “If we didn’t burn, it would be bad. If we burn too much, that would be bad as well.” Up to 60 million bison once roamed the Great Plains. Hunters and trappers reduced the herds down to less than 1,000 beasts. The large herds mowed the grass with their ap- petite. They trampled on to greener pastures when they had browsed enough, a natural system of rotation through mi- gration that allowed the plants time to regenerate. The bison have made a comeback through the conser- YDWLRQHIIRUWVDW73137KHPDJQLÀFHQWEHDVWVZHUHUHLQ- Caterpillar on Baldwin’s troduced to the preserve in 2009 and “have adapted very ironweed at TPNP TXLFNO\µ2EHUPH\HUQRWHG7KHJUDVVODQGVZHUHWKHLUDQFHV- Conservancy Nature Rose© Laura Clawson-The tral home and hosting the large herds guarantees the bison’s genetic diversity over the long term. The Regal Fritillaries depend on a type of violet only Cattle are a curse and a blessing. The domesticated ani- found in the grasslands. Monarchs like milkweed, while myr- mals decimated many acres of the prairie grass by overgraz- iad other pollinators have different personal preferences. ing. Now they coexist with the bison and ranchers routinely “We try to maximize the diversity of native plants to support UHORFDWHWKHLUKHUGVWRQHZÀHOGVEHIRUHWKHSDVWXUHODQGLV them all. We’re friendly to all biodiversity.” depleted. Wide open spaces at TPNP transport visitors back to a “Variability is very important,” stressed Obermeyer. The landscape integral to this part of the world 200 years ago. 5HJDO)ULWLOODU\IHDWXUHGRQWKH$PHULFDWKH%HDXWLIXOTXDUWHU “It’s like being in a time machine,” said Obermeyer. “With a LVMXVWRQHRI VSHFLHVRI EXWWHUÁLHVGRFXPHQWHGRQWKH little imagination you can see and feel what it was like pre-set- property. tlement. It’ll knock your socks off!” 55 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS America the Beautiful Quarters 7KHSUDLULHLVDTXLHWVFHQHWKDWVWUHWFKHVHQGOHVVO\1RQHRI WKH rugged mountains and breathtaking vistas we associate with our na- tional parks exist here. But the prairie pops with different shades of green, especially after a burn when vibrant hues of new growth dot the landscape from horizon to horizon. The prairie sneaks in subtle diversity and charm. “The more you listen and tune in, the more you pick up on it. The night sounds on the prairie are amazing.” ,Q HDUO\ VSULQJ LW H[SORGHV LQ ZLOGÁRZHUV 2YHU LGHQWLÀHG ZLOGÁRZHUVSDLQWWKHJUDVVODQGVLQDGD]]OLQJDUUD\RI FRORUV$VWKH • The process of making a new quarter season progress through summer and into the cooler months, the takes time ZLOGÁRZHUVDUHUHSODFHGZLWKIDOOIROLDJHLQVKDGHVRI WKHVHWWLQJVXQ • First an artist draws a picture of the reds, purples, yellows and golds wink with the fading warmth. Purple design, large enough to include all the dominates in late blooming prairie plants. “Every day, the autumn fine details. foliage in the grass seems to change a little,” Obermeyer confessed. The park rangers are greeted by a different vista each morning. • A clay model is then sculpted and a 2EHUPH\HU JUHZ XS LQ WKH )OLQW +LOOV +H ORYHV WKH TXLHW DQG plaster mold is cast from the model. solitude. In the more remote areas, “There is no sign of man—no • After the details are cleaned and power lines, no highways—it’s as it was 200 years ago. You can stand refined, the plaster cast is scanned into a on your tip-toes and still not see beyond the grass surrounding you.” computer. A Reminder in Your Pocket • The computer drives cutting tools to mill :HDOOWRVVTXDUWHUVLQWRRXUSRFNHWVDQGRXUZDOOHWV%HDXWLIXO the design onto a blank hub and create a designs catch our attention. These two new additions raise awareness dye of the coin. for these pollinators, highlighting the National Park Service’s efforts WRSUHVHUYHRXUELRGLYHUVLW\´7KHUHOHDVHRI WKHTXDUWHUVZLOOEULQJ • Large rolls of metal are feed through more awareness to the public at large,” said Pua Tuaua. Most of us presses to cut round blank disks into the were unfamiliar with the Samoan fruit bat or the Regal Fritillary and proper size to make the quarters. One the habitat they need to survive. When you hold one of the com- roll makes 325,000 blanks. memorative coins in your hand, you’ll be transported to the fruitt bbat’s FORXGIRUHVWDQGVWUROODPRQJDEXWWHUÁ\·VWDOOJUDVVSUDLULH • The blanks are softened in a furnace, then washed and dried. • The prepped blanks are then sent to a machine that raises the rim and stamps in the familiar ridges (reeding) along the edge of the coin Greta Burroughs has worked as a free- lance writer since 2005. You can usually • From there, it goes into the coinage press find her typing madly away at her home where the images of the designs and in South Carolina, where she resides with inscriptions are stamped onto the brand her husband and two dogs. new America the Beautiful quarter. 56 All That Jazz Bees Inform the Music of Bee Parks and the Hornets by Stephanie Bouchard aine-based musician and theater maker Britta- ny Parker was running random ideas through her head looking for a creative way to enter- tain young people. As often happens when Myou let your mind wander, a kernel of an idea popped into her consciousness. Bees blossomed into a way to teach kids life lessons and educate them about pollinators. Parker didn’t have a bee obsession as a kid. Even as an adult, she didn’t really know much about them. But as ideas FRDOHVFHG DURXQG KHU QHZ SURMHFW VKH EHJDQ ULIÀQJ RQ D nickname she had as a kid—Bee Parks. She had a lot of horn-playing musician friends. Bees and hornets. As we all do when stumped and eager to learn more, she found herself hitting the internet. “The more that I re- searched about bees as an insect, I was like, wow,” she said. “The way that bees populate the hive—they’re like micro- cosms for wonderful little societies we can all learn so much from.” 57 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS Bee Parks and the Hornets sprung to life two years ago, They also use some songs to teach about social concepts. a rock band of six rotating musicians plus Parker. The group Songs like “Swarm Power” highlight the democratic process performs a range of musical styles for kids ages two to 10. RI EHHVZRUNLQJWRJHWKHUWRÀQGDQHZKRPH7KHLUVRQJ The band uses songs, dance and puppets to dazzle kids, help- ´3RLVRQµVWULNHVDÀHUFHUWRQHWKDQDOOWKHLURWKHUVGHVFULE- ing them be their best selves. The songs encourage listeners ing the different toxins that harm bees and alternatives to to be responsible, thoughtful and caring members of a world use. that encompasses far more than just human beings. Band members were a bit worried that “Poison” might ´%HH Stephanie Bouchard is a writer and editor based on the coast of Maine. Find her at www.stephaniebouchard. net 58 A stingless bee (Trigona fuscipennis) packs meat from our chicken baits Meat Loving into her pollen baskets “ VULTURE BEES ” Collect Minerals from Carrion by Nicholas Dorian & Rachael Bonoan © Rachael Bonoan ost bees are vegetarian. They get their protein wasp-like behavior, feeding their offspring meat instead of from pollen and carbohydrates from nectar, SROOHQ%HIRUHÁHVKHDWLQJEHHVFUHHSLQWR\RXUQLJKWPDUHV GLQLQJ H[FOXVLYHO\ RII ÁRZHUV %XW ÁRZHUV realize that these scavenging “vulture bees” play an import- GRQ·WDOZD\VIXOÀOODEHH·VQXWULWLRQDOS\UDPLG ant role in decomposition. Mthey can lack key nutrients like sodium and potassium. Bees 7KHGLVFRYHU\RI YXOWXUHEHHVLQWKH VFDXVHGTXLWH know what they need and accordingly seek out supplemental the stir. Bees that don’t eat pollen? How can they digest meat? QRQÁRUDO UHVRXUFHV (YHU KDG D WLQ\ PHWDOOLF EHH ODQG RQ 'RWKH\DOVRYLVLWÁRZHUV"$QVZHUVDUHVWLOOHPHUJLQJEXWZH your arm to drink salty sweat in the heat of summer? You now know that vulture bees dissolve meat on site with special were just the mineral she was missing. VDOLYDU\HQ]\PHV7KHQWKH\VOXUSXSWKHUHVXOWLQJOLTXLGDQG Nutrients are especially scarce in the tropics, and sting- carry it back to the nest. Back home, the bees regurgitate the less bees that live there exhibit some extreme behaviors to SURWHLQDFHRXVOLTXLGDQGPL[LWZLWKVZHHWMXLFHWKH\FROOHFW survive. These tropical, social bees visit rotting fruit, mud IURPIUXLW WKH\QHYHUYLVLWÁRZHUV LQVSHFLDOPHDWKRQH\ puddles, aphid honeydew, ash, urine, feces, blood and even SRWV%HQHÀFLDOPLFUREHVKHOSIXUWKHUEUHDNGRZQDQGSUH- carrion. Dead animals are a soup of nutrients, and some serve this food before it is fed to developing bees. stingless bees like carrion so much that they’ve reverted to The vulture diet is rare among stingless bees. Only three species are known to be obligate meat foragers, getting all their protein from carrion. Lots of other bees, though, are Neotropical stingless bees supplement their floral IDFXOWDWLYHVFDYHQJHUVZKLFKPHDQVWKH\YLVLWERWKÁRZHUV diets by visiting fresh fruit and carrion for nutrition. But are these less-picky bees vis- iting carrion for protein to complement their pollen diets? Or are they looking for something else? Since adaptations are necessary to digest meat, perhaps facultative vulture bees © Nicholas Dorian © Nicholas YLVLWFDUULRQIRUPLQHUDOVDEVHQWIURPWKHLUÁRUDOGLHW Carrion in Costa Rica 2QDUHFHQWWULSWR&RVWD5LFDZHGHFLGHGWRÀQGRXW,Q the Caribbean lowlands, two hours northeast of San José, at La Selva Biological Station, we set up our experiment. We cut FKLFNHQEUHDVWIURPWKHORFDOVXSHUPDUNHWLQWRHTXDOO\VL]HG pieces. Then, we “marinated” them in four different salt solutions: sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. We 59 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS soaked other pieces in water, and left some unsoaked, both as exper- Stingless bees (Trigona silvestriana) visit our sodium-soaked chicken baits for minerals imental controls. That evening we deployed our chicken baits around the research station and waited pa- WLHQWO\IRUWKHEHHVWRÀQGWKHP When we checked our baits the next morning, we instantly spotted facultative vulture bees! Trigona fuscipennisZHUHÀUVWRQWKHVFHQH These tiny black stingless bees got right to work on our sodium baits, licking, but not chewing the meat. Next to show up was a larger spe- cies, Trigona silvestriana. Dozens of foragers swarmed our sodium baits, feasting on the mineral-rich OLTXLG © Rachael Bonoan As we kept watch, other ani- mals (many of them pollinators) visited our baits. Flesh and stilt- OHJJHG ÁLHV DUULYHG WR OD\ WKHLU eggs in the putrefying meat. Paper wasps carved up our baits into BB- sized balls of meat for their young. 6NLSSHUDQGQ\PSKDOLGEXWWHUÁLHV stopped to sip the fetid juice. Even two black vultures (the birds, not the bees) tore down an entire set of our baits, forcing us to exclude those data from our study. Soon, bees also started collect- ing meat. Three species cut away morsels of meat and packed them into their pollen baskets. Off they Many tropical insects visit carrion, including Nymphalid butterflies ZHQW SUHVXPDEO\ Á\LQJ EDFN © Rachael Bonoan to the colony from our pop-up butcher shop, just as they would Nicholas Dorian is a PhD student IURPDIUHVKO\RSHQHGÁRZHU at Tufts University studying the ecol- After three days, we had our answer: facultative vul- ogy of cellophane bees. He is cu- ture bees do visit carrion for minerals! Bees visited sodi- rious about what they eat, how far um-soaked chicken baits as often as unsoaked baits, but they fly, and why some offspring clearly avoided baits soaked in other minerals. Thus, vul- take longer to develop than others. He is an avid naturalist and photog- ture bees are picky when it comes to minerals and only rapher, and likes to share what he seek out certain ones. knows about birds and bees to any- Our study provided a fascinating glimpse into the di- one willing to listen. YHUVHGLHWVRI WURSLFDO EHHV,WDOVRLQVSLUHG QHZTXHV- Rachael Bonoan is a biologist at tions. For example, we don’t know what happens to the Tufts and Washington State Univer- meat morsels collected by the bees. Do they function as sity studying how climate change protein for the colony, representing the early stages of may affect a threatened butterfly a transition to the obligate vulture diet, or as crude nest in the Pacific Northwest. Rachael building materials? We’ll just have to return to Costa Rica teaches an undergraduate-level class on insect pollinators at Tufts WRÀQGRXW University, has given a TEDx talk on engaging children in science by encouraging curiosity, and is past-President of the Boston Area Beekeepers Association. 60 What’s Bugging by Rusty Burlew Painted Lady Butterfly hen it comes to long-distance migrations dunes, and even wetlands. They revel in bright and sunny and impressive gatherings, monarch butter- ÁRZHUÀOOHGORFDWLRQVDQGWDNHFRYHULQVKHOWHUHGVSRWVQHDU ÁLHVJHWDOOWKHSUHVV,QWUXWKRYHUPXFKRI the ground during overcast or rainy days. North America, monarchs share the airspace Mating occurs during migration and continues through- withW the colorful and dramatic painted lady, Vanessa cardui. out the season. Males set up a territory and wait for passing The painted lady is the most widespread but- WHUÁ\LQWKHZRUOGLQKDELWLQJDOOFRQWLQHQWVH[FHSW Antarctica and South America. Legions of painted The painted ladies were drawn to the liatris in my ladies leave the dry areas of northern Mexico and garden last summer, head north, expanding across the continent. Some- a plant in the times they darken the sky with millions of two-to- Asteraceae family three-inch wingspans. At other times the annual migrations are small and barely noticeable. Envi- ronmental conditions dictate whether the annual migrations will be small or spectacular. Large and erratic population explosions are known as biological irruptions, from the French noun meaning to enter in force or en masse. The population of painted ladies explodes in years with plentiful rainfall in the overwintering region, VSDZQLQJ SUROLÀF KRVW SODQWV :LWK PRUH SODQWV more eggs are laid, and the resulting caterpillars eat heartily and thrive. Long Distance Migrations Migrations begin in spring, as soon as nec- tar plants are available. The painted ladies prefer RSHQÀHOGVGLVWXUEHGKDELWDWVJDUGHQVYDFDQWORWV Burlew © Rusty 61 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS The winter of 2018 -2019 was especially wet in the desert regions of northern Mexico and southern California, causing an irruption of painted ladies © Rusty Burlew © Rusty females, courting as many ladies as possible. Most adults live The Lady’s Eggs only 10 to 24 days, and so, like monarchs, many generations Mated females can lay up to 500 small green eggs, one at are born and die along the migratory journey. a time, on the topside of host plant leaves. The eggs hatch after two to three days into spiny dark caterpillars with yellow and green stripes that eat the leaves of the host. Five to ten days later, depending on temperature, the caterpillar pupates into a chrysalis which, in seven to ten PRUHGD\V\LHOGVDQDGXOWEXWWHUÁ\ Painted ladies use a surprising number of host plants, © Rusty Burlew © Rusty easily over 100, although some estimates approach 300. Such adaptability is the major reason the species can set- tle in diverse habitats. That said, they do have favorite hosts, including thistles, mallow, hollyhock, and legumes. A Diet for the Ladies Adults have a wide and varied diet but prefer nectar- ing on tall plants three-to-six feet high. Plants in the aster family are their favorite, especially thistles, which is why WKH\DUHFRPPRQO\FDOOHG´WKLVWOHEXWWHUÁLHVµ,QIDFW their fondness for thistles is embedded in their species name—cardui means “from the thistle” in Latin. The closely related aster family plants such as blazing star, MRHS\HZHHGDQGFRVPRVDUHSULPHVSRWVIRUÀQGLQJ Painted ladies can be identified by the five ringed eye spots on the underside of the rear wings 62 WHAT’S BUGGING © Rusty Burlew © Rusty The eyes of painted ladies are most sensitive to colors in the ultraviolet, blue, and green spectrum painted ladies. They also enjoy a diverse palate of milkweed, privet, lupine, and clover. 3DLQWHGODG\EXWWHUÁLHVDUHXQXVXDOEHFDXVHXQOLNHPRVW EXWWHUÁLHVWKH\GRQRWVHHUHG,QVWHDGWKHLUSKRWRUHFHSWRUV favor ultraviolet, blue, and green. The lack of long-wave- OHQJWK UHFHSWRUV PHDQV WKH ODGLHV GRQ·W QRWLFH UHG ÁRZHUV unless the petals sport attractive ultraviolet nectar guides. Painted ladies have the dubious distinction of being the IDYRUHG EXWWHUÁ\ UDLVHG IRU OLYH FODVVURRP GHPRQVWUDWLRQV and release at weddings. When shipped as caterpillars, spe- cially formulated larval food replaces the host plant nutri- ents. But whether they arrive in the caterpillar or chrysalis A painted lady caterpillar stage, the ladies complete their metamorphosis before the wide eyes of disbelieving school children. For weddings and IXQHUDOVDGXOWEXWWHUÁLHVWDNHZLQJIURPVPDOOER[HVRULQGL- vidual envelopes, providing a new twist on party favors. In Your Garden Adult painted ladies are colorful and easy to spot, al- though both the American lady (Vanessa virginiensis) in the east, and the less common west coast lady (Vanessa anna- bella QHDUWKH3DFLÀFORRNVLPLODU&ORVHLQVSHFWLRQRI WKH underside will solve the dilemma. Painted ladies can be dis- WLQJXLVKHGE\DURZRI IRXURUÀYHULQJHGH\HVSRWVRQWKHLU rear wings. While the girls from your hive busily make honey, it’s the ladies that steal the show. Be sure to look for them in a gar- den near you. © Harald Süpfle © Harald 63 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS 64 CAMERA IN HAND Chasing Spring: Timing is everything Essay by Ryan Burnett Photography by Rob Badger and Nita Winter Migratory birds refuel in mountain meadows GXULQJSHDNZLOGÁRZHUSHULRGV Davidson’s penstemon (Penstemon davidsonii), Summit Pass, John Muir Wilderness, Inyo National Forest, Sierra Nevada, July 65 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS Johnson Prairie, Thurston County, WA, USA Bridge’s penstemon (Penstemon rostriflorus), Inyo National Forest, White Mountains, August $V , URXQG WKH ÀQDO EHQG XS WKH ODVW VWHHS SLWFK DQ RSHQ- ing through the dense conifer forest reveals a sub-alpine mead- ow ahead. Spencer Meadow, just outside Lassen National Park, is barely illuminated by the dawn light, and shows itself gradually as ,IROORZWKHWUDLODORQJLWVHDVWHUQÁDQN$ZLVSRI JURXQGIRJKRY- ers over the steely frost-laden sedges, adding an ethereal texture to this crisp August morning. Here in the shadow of northeastern California’s Mount Lassen, it is below freezing at 6,600 feet on the ÀUVWGD\RI $XJXVW6XPPHUZKLFKVWDUWVODWHKHUHGRHVQ·W last long. I have done this walk exactly sixteen times, including once per \HDUIURPWRDQGDOZD\VGXULQJWKHÀUVWZHHNRI $X- gust. My research with Point Blue Conservation Science is focused on evaluating annual variation in meadow-bird populations and tracking long-term patterns to help inform meadow restoration and management. 7KHZLQWHUZDVUHFRUGVHWWLQJZHWÀQDOO\EXVWLQJWKHKLV- WRULF&DOLIRUQLDGURXJKW IRXU\HDUVZLWKVLJQLÀFDQWO\EHORZDYHU- age precipitation, and a fraction of the annual snowpack in the northern Sierra. I begin to notice many differences from the last few years as I study what the meadow has to tell me. The fog is new but familiar—I recall seeing it in other wet years but certainly not during the drought. The fragrance of coyote mint (Monar- della odoratissima ÀOOVWKHDLUDVP\UXEEHUERRWVEUXVKWKURXJK Alpine columbine (Aquilegia pubescens), it on the trail; it is in full bloom and sure to be covered with nec- “Wrapped” Series, John Muir Wilderness, WDUVHHNLQJ EXWWHUÁLHV RQFH LW ZDUPV HQRXJK IRU WKHP WR WDNH Inyo National Forest, Sierra Nevada, July 66 CAMERA IN HAND Alpine gentian (Gentiana newberryi), Carson Pass, El Dorado National Forest, Sierra Nevada, September ÁLJKW$KHDGWKHWUDLODSSHDUVOLNHDUR\DOFORDNDVVOHQGHU how species and systems, like meadows, respond to drought penstemon (Penstemon gracilentus) is at peak bloom, too, can help inform actions that allow these systems to adapt FDUSHWLQJWKHZD\ZLWKGHHSSXUSOLVKEOXHÁRZHUV7DNLQJLW to less snow pack, less water, and warmer temperatures. We all in, I continue my eager pace as this is no leisurely stroll—I come to Spencer Meadow every year to capture, band, and am running late for work. record information on the diversity, abundance, and con- ,DPPHHWLQJXSZLWKP\RUQLWKRORJLFDOÀHOGFUHZ ZKR dition of the many migratory birds whose annual sojourns spent the night here and are already hard at work) to docu- bring them to high-elevation meadows in the late summer ment the use of the meadow by birds at the end of the breed- and early fall. This is one of four in the Lassen region we ing season. This is part of my research to track long-term have visited each year since 2004 as part of our study. patterns in bird communities and understand the important Wet meadows here in the southern Cascades and through- attributes of these meadows for birds. Point Blue is focused out the Sierra Nevada are important breeding habitat for a on using science, especially that collected over long time pe- broad range of species, but we have discovered they are also riods, to guide adaptation to climate change. Understanding important for many species during the post-breeding period 67 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS when the number of birds in a meadow can increase tenfold over the breeding population. As the lower elevations dry out, large numbers of most- ly young, inexperienced birds arrive at these meadows to exploit the rich resources they provide. Many species rely on WKHVH ZLOORZÀOOHG ZHWODQGV to complete their annual molt and put on fat for migration. Others have come from far- ther away, stopping here to refuel on a protracted south- bound journey to the tropics. 7KH ÀHU\WKURDWHG UXIRXV hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) is one of the species ZH IUHTXHQWO\ HQFRXQWHU LQ these wet montane meadows in late summer. They are one stop in this species’ complex, well-calibrated, annual cycle that takes them from the Pa- FLÀF 1RUWKZHVW LQ VSULQJ WR Mexico for the winter. In the last few years we captured few rufous hummingbirds in this and other meadows in the re- gion. By the time we arrived at Spencer in 2016, the meadow was dry, the willows had be- gun to defoliate, and the wild- ÁRZHU VKRZ ZDV ORQJ RYHU Just a smattering of dried-up seed heads remained. The his- toric California drought had starved these places of their snowpack and the cold, spring conditions that delay the onset RI WKHZLOGÁRZHUEORRPKHUH until July and August. Most RI WKHÁRZHUVDQGWKHQHFWDU resources the hummingbirds need had passed long before the birds arrived from their breeding grounds. This year feels different. It is 6:30 a.m. and time for WKHÀUVWFKHFNRI WKHQHWVP\ crew had unfurled at sunrise Wild geranium (Geranium viscosissimum), throughout the meadow to San Juan Mountains, Uncompahgre National Forest, census birds. As I walk from Colorado (also found in California), July 68 CAMERA IN HAND Wildflowers and Round Top Peak, Carson Pass, El Dorado National Forest, Sierra Nevada, August behind the curtain of conifers that fringes its edge, I am pink bracts of Lemmon’s paintbrush (Castilleja lemmonii) QRWGLVDSSRLQWHG%HIRUHPHOLHVDWDSHVWU\RI ZLOGÁRZHUV accent the lime-green sedges that surround them. in full bloom. Magenta alpine shooting stars (Dodecatheon $KXPPLQJELUGZKLUVE\P\HDUDV,DUULYHDWWKHÀUVWQHW alpinum), elephant heads (Pedicularis groenlandica), delicate Six birds already have been captured, including two rufous bog orchid (Platanthera leucostachys), white, fuzzy ranger KXPPLQJELUGV,H[WUDFWWKHPTXLFNO\DQGJHQWO\SXWHDFK buttons (Sphenosciadium capitellatum) and orange-spotted one in its own cotton bag, placing the bags against my skin Mining bee on Oregon sunshine leopard lilies (Lilium pardilinum) up to my waist. The hot- to keep the birds inside warm for safe transport back to our © Rachael Bonoan 69 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS Rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) at scarlet fritillary (Fritillaria recurva), Table Rocks Area of Critical Environmental Concern, Oregon (also found in California), April mobile processing station on the edge of the meadow. There their epic journey that sees them cover more than 6,000 miles , ZLOO FRQÀUP WKH DJH VH[ DQG D KRVW RI RWKHU PHDVXUHV each year. The species’ annual cycle is predicated on being in before adding a diagnostic mark on their tails and releasing the right place at the right time to exploit nectar during peak them. ZLOGÁRZHUEORRPLQJSHULRGVDFURVVWKHZHVW7KH\GHSDUW By the end of our six-hour sampling period, we have their wintering grounds in Mexico in time to arrive for spring captured, processed, and released seventeen rufous hum- in southern California in March and April. They arrive on mingbirds. Not one of them was a recapture from the day, their breeding grounds in the Northwest in March, departing suggesting there may have been dozens, if not hundreds, of for the Sierra starting in June. They appear in our mountain UXIRXV KXPPLQJELUGV XVLQJ WKLV ÀIW\DFUH PHDGRZ WRGD\ meadows in July and August before heading for the south- Last year we caught only one. west in August and September where the monsoon-driven High-elevation wet meadows are very important to birds ZLOGÁRZHU EORRPV ZLOO IXHO WKHP EDFN WR 0H[LFR IRU WKH in late summer. They provide refugia from the hot and dry winter. conditions in the surrounding forests. In many ways these Imagine driving your plug-in electric vehicle with a 200- birds are chasing spring, and none more so than the rufous PLOHUDQJHRQWKLVURDGWULS:LOGÁRZHUVDUHWKHFKDUJLQJVWD- hummingbird. These tiny birds weighing just three grams— tions for these bantam-sized balls of energy. Over millennia, about one-tenth of an ounce—need to constantly refuel on rufous hummingbirds have evolved to exploit this differen- 70 CAMERA IN HAND Common harebell (Campanula rotundifolia), Mount Rainier Wilderness, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington (also found in California), August WLDOWLPLQJLQZLOGÁRZHUEORRPLQJDFURVVWKHLUMRXUQH\1RZ resources may be leading to a phenological mismatch, which our zest to get where we want to go, eat what we want, and FRXOGVLJQLÀFDQWO\LPSDFWWKHUXIRXVKXPPLQJELUGSRSXOD- be as comfortable as we can, is threatening the existence of tion. It very well may already be happening. this and other species by unbalancing the complex symmetry The species is one of the fastest-declining bird species with which they have so beautifully adapted. in western North America. How much this interruption of The drought was a glimpse into the not-so-distant future. ZLOGÁRZHUWLPLQJKDVSOD\HGLVQRWFOHDU7KHGURXJKW\HDUV As our climate changes, the snow pack in the high Sierra is which in many ways provided a glimpse of the snowpack and declining rapidly, and hot, dry summers are becoming the temperatures we are expecting thirty years into the future, norm. These changes hasten the onset of spring, altering the resulted in almost no rufous hummingbird captures. We can SKHQRORJ\³WKH WLPLQJ RI ELRORJLFDO HYHQWV VXFK DV ÁRZ- be sure they came through but found little to eat. Some may HULQJ³LQ6LHUUDPHDGRZV7KLVDOWHUHGWLPLQJRI ÁRZHULQJ have had the reserves to move on elsewhere, but almost cer- WDLQO\PDQ\MXVWKDGWKHLUEDWWHULHVUXQRXWDQGWKH\TXLHWO\ Giant red paintbrush (Castilleja miniata), perished without our ever knowing. We don’t have a good Shasta National Forest, handle on what percent of the population moves through Mount Shasta, August the Sierra each summer, but they are by far the most abun- dant hummingbird here by early July. If climate warming is inevitable, is the rufous humming- bird’s fate sealed? Is their plight as dire as that of the polar bear whom scientists predict may be gone by 2050? Is there anything we can do to ameliorate the wrench that is climate change being thrown into nature’s well-timed works? I be- lieve there is hope we can reduce the impacts of this disparity LQZLOGÁRZHUEORRPDQGKXPPLQJELUGPLJUDWLRQWKURXJK6L- HUUDPHDGRZV0DQ\RI WKHVHZHWÀHOGVKDYHEHHQGHJUDGHG by a myriad of human-induced activities. A pervasive effect in many meadows is the erosion of stream channels leading to desiccation and reduction of important natural processes WKDWVXSSRUWZLOGÁRZHUVDQGDKRVWRI RWKHULPSRUWDQWHFR- ORJLFDOEHQHÀWVIRUZLOGOLIHDQGSHRSOH Our data suggest it is both the higher-elevation and wetter meadows that harbor the greatest number of rufous hum- mingbirds and other species in late summer. Thus, to combat 71 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS Shasta iris (Iris tenuissima), Plumas National Forest, May Scarlet gilia (Ipomopsis aggregata), 72 El Dorado National Forest, August CAMERA IN HAND WKHQRZHYHUSUHVHQWLQÁXHQFHRI FOLPDWH change on meadow desiccation and the phenology within them, we are working to heal meadows across the Sierra Neva- da. We can raise the water table back up in these desiccated meadows through a num- EHU RI WHFKQLTXHV IURP XVLQJ URFN DQG VRLOWRÀOOHURGHGFKDQQHOVWRSURPRWLQJ occupancy by beavers to dam streams. By re-watering these dried- out meadows, we can keep the soils moister longer into the summer, even with less total water. This FDQ SURORQJ ÁRZHUV EORRPLQJ DQG ZLO- lows growing, which, in turn, may buffer some of the effects of a drier and hotter future with less snowpack. Restoring these PHDGRZVZLOOKDYHIDUZLGHUEHQHÀWVLQ- cluding reducing downstream erosion that clogs salmonid spawning gravels and hy- droelectric energy-generation operations. Functional wet meadows in the high Sierra can provide water to fuel California’s cities and agriculture and, hopefully, these spec- Mountain lady’s slipper WDFXODUÀHU\WKURDWHGMHZHOVLQDZDUPHUM (Cypripedium montanum), drier tomorrow. Plumas National Forest, May This essay was originally published in Beauty and The Beast: California Wildflowers and Climate Change by Rob Badger and Nita Winter Ryan Burnett is the Sierra Nevada Director with Point Blue Conservation Science. He has conducted scientific re- search on the ecology and conservation of the Sierra Nevada ecosystem for the past twenty years. His recent work in- cludes evaluating meadow restoration and the effects of fire on Sierra birds. Ryan uses birds as indicators to help guide and evaluate ecosystem management and conservation decisions, and he currently leads a larger partnership working to re- store and protect Sierra meadows. He re- sides with his family in the northern Sierra, where he is an avid native plant gardener. Photos by: Rob Badger and Nita Winter About the book: Both art and science are seamlessly woven into this inspirational coffee table book that sparks hope and action. Co-published by WinterBadger Press and the California Native Plant Society, it is a thoughtful collaboration of many hearts and minds dedicated to protecting Nature’s beauty. Pygmy daisy (Erigeron pygmaeus), “Wrapped” Series, John Muir Wilderness, For more details, visit: Inyo National Forest, July www.wildflowerbook.com 73 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS Hawaii’s Endangered Bees by Shannon Brown As sea levels rise, Hawaii will face drastic consequences. Shorelines may erode, coastal roads will likely be washed out. n unexpected casualty of rising seas may be sever- al species of native bees, who dwell in coral and Aplants along the coasts. Hylaeus, or yellow-faced bees, can be found worldwide, but they were the only bee that managed to travel to the Hawaiian islands between 400,000 to 700,000 years ago, likely from Ja- pan or East Asia. Since their arrival, over 60 known species of Hylaeus have evolved that are endemic to Hawaii, meaning they aren’t found anywhere else in the world. Seven were de- An excerpt from the Pollinator Partnership’s 2019 clared endangered in 2016; and of poster on endangered pollinators and their habitat these, three species (Hylaeus an- 74 NATIVE BEES thracinus, Hylaeus longiceps, and Hylaeus hilaris) make their nests A female Hylaeus anthracinusRoRockyockcky coastlinecoastllinen ofof Honolulu,Hononolulluu, HawaiiHawwaaiii in porous coral and plants found along Hawaii’s coasts. Rising seas aren’t an immediate concern, says Paul Krushelnycky, a researcher at the University of Ha- waii at Manoa. But, he said, “if the coastal strand habitat the bees rely on isn’t able to move backward, that will be a major problem.” He’s already seen several large wave events wipe out a coastal popula- WLRQRUDUWLÀFLDOQHVWLQJEORFNVWKDW are part of his current research. Krushelnycky is working with other entomologists at the Univer- sity of Hawaii and the Department of Land and Natural Resources to Magnacca © Karl protect coastal Hylaeus bees. Cur- rently they augment the bees’ natu- Hylaeus bees are crucial for Hawaii’s ecosystems because UDOQHVWLQJVLWHVZLWKDUWLÀFLDOEORFNVWRVHHLI ODFNRI QHVWLQJ WKH\DUHSROOLQDWRUVRI QDWLYHSODQWVVXFKDV¶ŇKL¶DOHKXDWUHHV material might be a factor in their decline. and coastal naupaka shrubs. Jonathan Koch, Ph.D., is a Da- The nests also protect the bees from ants. Over 60 spe- vid H. Smith Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Ha- cies of ants have been introduced to Hawaii—there are no waii at Hilo, where he researches yellow-faced bees. His 2012 native ant species—and they eat the bees’ eggs and larvae. SDSHULQ3DFLÀF6FLHQFHIRXQGWKDWHylaeus bees comprised A sticky, non-toxic pest control substance called Tanglefoot 64 to 91 percent of pollinators for some native plants. The VHHPVWRNHHSDQWVRXW$GGLWLRQDOO\WKHDUWLÀFLDOQHVWVFRQ- relationship is mutual: with few exceptions, the bees seem to WDLQKROHVRI DVSHFLÀFVL]HWKDWZRUNZHOOIRUHylaeus and prefer native plants and are found almost exclusively in areas keep out competing species of bees and wasps. with native vegetation. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change pro- In his current project, QDOR PHOL ¶ĆSD·DNXPD (“endemic jected a 3.2 foot increase in sea levels by 2100 and possibly EHHµLQ+DZDLLDQ .RFKLVVHTXHQFLQJWKHJHQRPHRI Hy- as soon as 2060, threatening coastal habitats. A 2017 report laeus anthracinus, a coastal-dwelling bee. He completed the on the impact of sea level rise in Hawaii found the rising sea VHTXHQFLQJLQ1RYHPEHU +LVJRDOLVWRXVHWKHJHQRP- would inundate many of Hawaii’s beaches, including Sandy ic data to guide breeding programs that promote healthy, Beach on the Ka Iwi coast—one of the few locations where genetically diverse populations of bees that can be used to coastal yellow-faced bees can still be found on Oahu. repopulate areas where they’ve disappeared and also guide conservation efforts more precisely. “Genetic diversity is a trusted metric of how well a species is doing,” he says. “We know that genetic disorders arise due to inbreeding in hu- mans. It’s the same with bees. If you have an iso- lated population of bees, maybe because there’s not a viable corridor for them to move across, they may become inbred. We try to avoid that in conservation programs.” Distribution of native ecosystems prior to hu- man contact (left) compared to the current dis- tribution (right) on the Island of Hawaii. Graphic created by the Hawaii Natural Heritage Program (now the Hawaii Biodiversity and Mapping Pro- gram) and submitted as part of the petition to protect the Hylaeus bees of Hawaii. 75 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS The data can also be used to measure Dr. Jonathan Koch in Oahu at a site on the Kaiwi coastline other aspects of the bees’ health. “We where a population of H. anthracinus are persisting can begin identifying how genes within a certain population respond to small pop- ulation size, or even potentially disease or poor nutrition. These are long-term proj- ects that this genome will provide a foun- dation for,” Koch says. Krushelnycky also plans to study re- population in the future, including trying WRGHWHUPLQHZKDWTXDOLWLHVDWFHUWDLQVLWHV promote successful translocation. This will ultimately help stabilize the species: “In general, the more populations that are established, the more secure the bees are going to be,” he said, whether the risk is rogue waves, invasive species, or some oth- er factor. ropyrifos, which previously had been sprayed on up to 91 Habitat loss and invasive species are the main threats for days of the year, citing its link to developmental delays in yellow-faced bees, but agriculture and pesticide use are also children. However, other pesticides are still in use, including possible factors in their decline. The topic is contentious in neonicotinoids, which are particularly toxic to solitary bees. the islands. Hawaii is the site of extensive agricultural test- “For a lot of insect species, we know very little about ing due to its temperate climate and regular rainfall, and the their population trends,” says Sarina Jepsen, the Endangered government allows chemical companies to test restricted use Species Program Director at the Xerces Society. Bee conser- SHVWLFLGHVRQWKHLUSORWV*HQHWLFDOO\PRGLÀHGFRUQÀHOGVRQ vation faces challenges that efforts to protect larger animals Oahu, Kauai, Maui, and Molokai are sprayed with up to 17 may not. Insect conservation efforts often receive less fund- WLPHVPRUHUHVWULFWHGXVHSHVWLFLGHVWKDQFRUQÀHOGVRQWKH ing and attention, there’s little baseline data about their pop- PDLQODQG+DZDLLZDVWKHÀUVWVWDWHWREDQWKHSHVWLFLGHFKOR- XODWLRQVDQGWKH\·UHGLIÀFXOWWRWUDFNGXHWRWKHLUWLQ\VL]H The seven HylaeusVSHFLHVRI +DZDLLZHUHWKHÀUVWEHHVWR be added to the Endangered Species list in the United States. “I think there are a lot of species that face extinction, and whose extinctions potentially go unnoticed because of the lack of funding,” says Jepsen. The Xerces Society helped write the endangered species petitions for the seven species of Hylaeus, along with another Hawaii entomologist, Karl Magnacca, in 2009. They were added to the Endangered Spe- cies List in 2016—which, says Jepsen, is a relatively short period of time. “There are species that have been waiting to get through this process for decades,” she said. Still, says Jepsen, there’s reason to be hopeful: in the past 10 years especially, bees have started to garner more at- tention, and their value to the world’s ecosystems has be- gun to be recognized. “I think that in general, the public has started to care a lot about bees, and has started to recognize their importance,” she said. “And that sentiment will help conserve these very important pollinators.” Shannon Brown is a freelance writer and editor based in Kailua, Hawaii. She focuses on the environment, public health, and travel and is also a certified yoga teacher. Find her at www.skbwriting.com or Kilauea, Hawaii, United States @skbwriting on Twitter. 76 The Discovered A STEP BACK IN TIME Secret of Nature by Hans-Ulrich Thomas Today knowledge pops up at the click of a few keystrokes, answering any questions that spring to mind. Almost every child knows that honey bees play an important role in our environment, KHOSLQJWRSROOLQDWHÁRZHUV as they collect nectar and pollen as their food source. lowers attract bees with bright colors and enticing scents, transferring pollen between plants as they forage for food. Their pol- lination services start the seed-setting pro- Fcess, resulting in a fruit, berry, or large seed. But in the late 1700s such knowledge didn’t exist and when Christian Konrad Sprengel published his book on ÁRZHUVDQGDIROORZXSRQEHHVDQGEHHNHHSLQJFULW- ics ridiculed him for his outrageous beliefs. Between 1787 and 1792 Christian Konrad Spren- gel from Berlin, Germany made numerous origi- QDO GLVFRYHULHV UHJDUGLQJ ÁRUDO VWUXFWXUH DQG SRO- OLQDWLRQELRORJ\+HUHÁHFWHGGHHSO\RQWKHUROHRI seeds—the product of pollination—and their dis- tribution in nature by wind or animals. In 1793 he published his discoveries in Berlin, in his book Das entdeckte Geheimniss der Natur im Bau und Be- fruchtung der Blumen1 (The discovered secret of QDWXUHLQWKHVWUXFWXUHDQGIHUWLOL]DWLRQRI ÁRZHUV This fascinating text was highly controversial at the time of its publication, but almost all the con- clusions it reports are regarded as valid to this day. Sprengel is considered a founder of pollination HFRORJ\ DQG ÁRUDO ELRORJ\ VHWWLQJ WKH JURXQGZRUN 77 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS Geranium sylvaticum also known as wood cranesbill with the Fanes Dolomites in the background for our understanding of pollination syndromes. His work wood cranesbill (Geranium sylvaticum), recording his obser- KHOSHGHVWDEOLVKERWKÀHOGVDVVFLHQWLÀFGLVFLSOLQHV vation notes: :KHQ,FDUHIXOO\H[DPLQHGWKLVÁRZHULQWKHVXPPHURI Sprengel’s Early Life 1787, I discovered that the lower part of its corolla was fur- Christian Konrad Sprengel was born into a Christian fam- QLVKHGZLWKÀQHVRIWKDLUVRQWKHLQVLGHDQGRQERWKPDU- ily with an inclination to the natural sciences on September gins. Convinced that the wise Creator had not created even a 22, 1750 in Brandenburg, Prussia. He was the youngest of VLQJOHWLQ\KDLUZLWKRXWDGHÀQLWHSXUSRVH,ZRQGHUHGZKDW 15 children, born when his father, an archdeacon of St Got- purpose these hairs might serve. Soon it came to my mind thard Church in Brandenburg, was already 64. He followed WKDWLI RQHDVVXPHVWKDWWKHÀYHQHFWDUGURSOHWVLQWKHÁRZ- in his father’s footsteps, enrolling in the University of Halle, ers, secreted by the same number of glands, are intended as where he studied theology and ancient languages. He went food for certain insects, it would not be unlikely that provi- on to teach these subjects. In 1780 he was made headmaster sion had been made to protect this nectar from spoilage by of the Great Lutheran Town School in Spandau near Berlin, rain, and that the hairs were present for this purpose. which enrolled the city’s wealthiest students. 7KH TXHVWLRQ ´:KDW IRU"µ SXVKHG 6SUHQJHO·V FXULRVLW\ Sprengel’s health was not the best, and he sought medi- ZKHQH[DPLQLQJDQ\ÁRZHU+HZDQWHGWRXQGHUVWDQGWKH cal advice from Dr. Ernst Ludwig Heim in Berlin, who also UHDVRQIRUHYHU\VWUXFWXUHKHREVHUYHGLQDÁRZHULQFOXGLQJ LQÁXHQFHGWKHH[SORUHUDQGQDWXUDOLVW$OH[DQGHUYRQ+XP- the plant’s interaction with insects. Absorbed in his intense boldt. Realizing that Sprengel’s problems were more psycho- studies, he started to neglect his duties as a teacher and school logical than medical, Heim advised he should spend as much rector. He was forced to retire from his school post in 1794. time as possible outside. Heim enjoyed botany and was an expert on mosses, so he advised Sprengel to seek relaxation in the study of nature. His diary for 11 October 1784 reads: ´7RGD\,JDYH5HFWRU6SUHQJHOKLVÀUVWOHVVRQLQERWDQ\DQG in view of his hypochondriac moods I hope this will make his daily walks more pleasurable for him.” Heim had planted a seed that fell on fruitful ground. 6SUHQJHO EHFDPH IDVFLQDWHG ZLWK ERWDQLFDO ÀHOGZRUN helping L. Willdenow complete his Florae Berolinensis Prodromus WKDW GRFXPHQWHG DOO RI WKH ÁRZHULQJ SODQWV found around Berlin, published in 1787. Sprengel’s interest seems to have then moved from plant WD[RQRP\ WR WKH SK\VLFDO VWUXFWXUH RI ÁRZHUV ´2XW RI DVXGGHQLQVSLUDWLRQµKHH[DPLQHGFORVHO\DÁRZHURI WKH Detail of bee visiting Salvia pratensis 78 A STEP BACK IN TIME While many might have given up their botanical inclina- tlieb Kölreuter built on these initial studies, creating fertile WLRQV ZLWKRXW D VHFXUH MRE 6SUHQJHO GLGQ·W TXLW (TXLSSHG K\EULGSODQWVEUHGWKURXJKDUWLÀFLDOSROOHQWUDQVIHUEHWZHHQ with no more than a small pocket lens, he systematically two species. H[DPLQHG PDQ\ ÁRZHUV REVHUYHG WKH YLVLWLQJ LQVHFWV DQG Although academic botanists strongly rejected the idea of counted the resultant seed set, if any. A diligent scientist, he plant sex on philosophical and academic grounds, Sprengel FRPSDUHGKLVÀQGLQJVZLWKWKRVHSXEOLVKHGE\RWKHUSHRSOH was convinced that it was correct. He did not know about Sprengel’s conclusions varied from what was commonly HDUOLHUZRUNVRQWKHSROOLQDWLRQRI ÁRZHUVE\0LOOHU2 in En- believed at that time. Flowers were then regarded as a display gland and Dobbs3 in Ireland. of nature, there to please the human eye. The association EHWZHHQ LQVHFWV DQG ÁRZHUV ZDV FRQVLGHUHG WR EH D FDVX- Sprengel’s Discoveries al one, related to food gathering if anything. Because plants Sprengel pursued his studies using an unorthodox meth- were stationary, they were thought to achieve reproduction RG,QVWHDGRI H[DPLQLQJGULHGDQGSUHVVHGÁRZHUVOLNHKLV E\VHOIIHUWLOL]DWLRQRI WKHÁRZHU WKHSROOHQVLPSO\KDGWR contemporaries, he observed live plants in their natural set- FRPHLQWRFRQWDFWZLWKWKHDGMDFHQWVWLJPDLQWKHVDPHÁRZ- tings, at different seasons and times of day. His dictum was er, either spontaneously or by the wind. Nectar was regarded “one must try to catch nature in its act.” He thought little of either as food for the developing seed, or as the fertilizing “armchair botanists who, around noon, follow the needs of OLTXLG their stomach rather than observing the activity of insects $VWKHQHFWDUZDVWKHUHWREHQHÀWWKHVHHGVRPHERWD- YLVLWLQJWKHÁRZHUVµ QLVWVEHOLHYHGWKDWKRQH\EHHVDVPDMRUÁRZHUYLVLWRUVZHUH 'LIIHUHQWÁRZHUYLVLWRUVLQWULJXHGKLPDVKHZRUNHGWR harmful. In contrast, other authors suspected that nectar was decipher their role. He held honey bees and bumble bees in GHWULPHQWDOWRWKHÁRZHUFORJJLQJXSLWVÀQHRSHQLQJVDQG KLJKHVWHHPDQGFDOOHGWKHPVPDUWRULQJHQLRXVLQÀQGLQJ KLQGHULQJLWVGHYHORSPHQW+RQH\EHHYLVLWVZHUHEHQHÀFLDO WKHQHFWDULQDÁRZHU$SKLGVRUEHHWOHVZHUH´QRQSUHFLRXV in their view, as they unclogged the system. LQVHFWVHDUZLJVZHUHXJO\DQGKDUPIXOÁLHVRXWULJKWGXPE The idea that plants were sexual organisms was very new DEOHWRÀQGQHFWDURQO\ZKHQSODFHGRQWKHVXUIDFHµ at that time, but the German botanist Rudolph Jacob Camer- 6SUHQJHODOVRH[SHULPHQWHGGLUHFWO\RQÁRZHUVUHPRY- arius had previously demonstrated that plants had male (an- LQJSDUWVRUVKLHOGLQJWKHPIURPWKHLQVHFWYLVLWRUVZLWKÀQH ther) and female (pistil) reproductive parts and pollen had to cloth, and then watching the result. Whenever he examined a be transported for fertilization. German botanist Josef Got- ÁRZHUKHWULHGWRJHQHUDOL]HKLVÀQGLQJVE\DQDORJ\ ,EHOLHYHWKDWDOOÁRZHUVDUHDFWLQJDVRULJLQDOVEXWQRW DOOSDUWVDUHXQLTXH:KHQHYHU1DWXUHKDGDJRRGLGHDLQ SODQQLQJWKHLGHDOLQDÁRZHULI ,DPDOORZHGWRUHIHUWRLW this way, she is usually so pleased with it that she will apply LWWRRWKHUÁRZHUVLQGLIIHUHQWFLUFXPVWDQFHV7KLVVKRXOGEH very pleasing to us, if this were not so, the study of botany would be something for a higher being rather than for hu- PDQV(YHU\VWXG\RI DÁRZHUVKRXOGEHJLQDW]HURDQGWKH LQVLJKWVJDLQHGIURP ÁRZHUVPD\EHQHJOLJLEOHFRPSDUHG with what is learned from the 100th one. ,QDGGLWLRQWRH[SODLQLQJWKHEDVLFUROHRI ÁRZHUVLQSODQW reproduction, Sprengel is credited with the following discov- HULHVDQGFODULI\LQJWKHFRUUHFWLQWHUSUHWDWLRQVRI ÁRUDOYLV- itors: • The function of nectar is solely to attract pollinators. • 7KHVDPHLVWUXHRI ÁRZHUFRORUVDQGIUDJUDQFHV • Nectar guides and conspicuous color patterns on the ÁRZHUOHDGLQVHFWVWRWKHVRXUFHRIWKHQHFWDU • 0RQRHFRXVÁRZHUV>ZKHUHVWDPHQVDQGSLVWLOVPD- ture at the same time] have male and female func- WLRQVORFDWHGRQGLIIHUHQWÁRZHUVDQGPDWXUHDWWKH same time. • 'LRHFRXV ÁRZHUV SRVVHVV ERWK PDOH DQG IHPDOH functions, and these mature at different times in or- der to avoid self-fertilization. • 6RPHÁRZHUVDUHJHQHUDOLVWVDQGDUHYLVLWHGE\PDQ\ First Copperplate from Sprengel’s book different species of insects. Others are highly special- 79 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS L]HGDQGDGDSWHGWRVSHFLÀFYLVLWRUVOLNHEXPEOH EHHVEXWWHUÁLHVRURWKHULQVHFWV • 6RPHÁRZHUVDUHIHUWLOL]HGE\ZLQGDQGWKHVH are nectarless and inconspicuous, with much higher pollen production than found in in- VHFWSROOLQDWHG ÁRZHUV :KHUHDV SROOHQ WUDQV- mitted by wind is dry and dusty, pollen trans- mitted by insects is sticky. • Pollination by deceit: some orchid species pro- duce neither pollen nor nectar and are neverthe- less visited by insects because of their promis- ing appearance. The last point means that nature can “cheat.” In Sprengel‘s own words: “I must admit that this discov- ery was not very pleasant to me.” He called these plants thereafter false nectar plants. Today this pollination syndrome is known as mimicry. Sprengel’s hunger for knowledge also led him to fol- low the fate of seeds, and “how they return to the lap of Mother Nature.” He recognized wind and animals, especially birds, as the main seed distributing agents. In 1790, three years after starting his studies, Spren- JHOGHFLGHGWRSXEOLVKKLVÀQGLQJVDQGGLVFRYHULHVLQ a book. He placed an advertisement in the Botanische Magazin (Botanical Magazine) which announced a book with the title: “An attempt to explain the construction RI ÁRZHUVµ,WÀQDOO\DSSHDUHGWKUHH\HDUVODWHUXQGHUD different title: Das entdeckte Geheimnis der Natur in Bau und in der Befruchtung der Blumen (The Copperplate VI from Sprengel’s book discovered secret of nature in the structure and fertiliza- WLRQRI ÁRZHUV 1 The Book and its Reception or are designed to disperse genetic material easily by wind. Sprengel’s book is substantial, with a large size (8” x Far ahead of his time, Sprengel’s book met with great dis- 10”) and 447 tightly set double-column pages of text, plus belief. His critics either ridiculed or outright rejected his view. an additional 25 copper plates The church was especially bound in at the back. The text FULWLFDODQGEHVWH[HPSOLÀHG allows the reader to participate by Goethe, who wrote: in all the details, thoughts, er- Nature acts as an artist, rors, remarks and conclusions “ not as a workman. Her crea- Sprengel made for the 461 spe- tures and their organs exist FLHVRI ÁRZHUVKHVWXGLHG7KH every nation should for their own sake. Only nar- copper plates, crammed with row-minded people assume 1,117 drawings, explain and have a standing they are like tools, intended complement the text. Together for a particular purpose. they provide the background Goethe had another, less for Sprengel’s fundamental re- army of bees philosophical, objection: alization, his “discovered secret For the instruction of of Nature,” that the shape of ” young persons and ladies, ÁRZHUV DQG WKH DUUDQJHPHQW - C.K.Sprengel 1811 this new theory will be very RI ÁRUDO SDUWV FDQ EH XQGHU- delicate. The teacher of bot- stood only in the light of the any will be placed in a most pollination service provided by embarrassing position, and LQVHFWVRUZLQG1HFWDUSURGXFWLRQFRORUSDWWHUQDQGÁRZHU when innocent young souls take a textbook in their hand to structures are due entirely to the pollinators the plants attract advance their studies in private, they will be unable to conceal 80 A STEP BACK IN TIME their outraged moral feelings. Eternal nuptials go on and on, and the monogamy basic to our morals, laws and religion disintegrates into loose lustfulness. These ideas must remain forever intolerable to the pure minded. Another critic, Prof. A W Henschel, argued in the same way: “One has the impression that Sprengel’s theory is con- ceived to entertain a schoolboy by an amusing fairy tale.” This dismissal of Sprengel’s discoveries as lewd did not FKDQJHLQVXEVHTXHQW\HDUV6SUHQJHOFRQWLQXHGKLVERWDQL- cal studies, and wanted to publish a second volume. But lack of recognition and attention to his previous work from the Sprengel’s grave site is unknown, but this memorial VFLHQWLÀFHVWDEOLVKPHQWPDGHKLPGLVFDUGWKHLGHD1HYHU- marker commemorates his theless he kept at his studies and in 1811 published a small work in the botanical garden book targeted at the general public: Die Nützlichkeit der of Berlin Bienen und die Nothwendigkeit der Bienenzucht von einer neuen Seite dargestellt (The usefulness of bees and the necessity of beekeeping, seen from another point of view).4 The style of writing and language in it were much VLPSOHUWKDQLQKLVÀUVWERRN+HUHFRPPHQGHGWKDWEHH- Disappointed, Sprengel went back to studying classical keeping, because of its great importance, should be a busi- literature, and even published a book on the topic in 1815: ness closely inspected by the state. “Beekeeping is much New criticism of the classical Roman poets, with com- more important than has so far been realized. It increases ments on Ovid, Virgilius and Tibullus. It was his last the wealth of certain people and the prosperity of all people book as Sprengel died the following year on April 7th, 1816. by producing greater harvests of seed and fruit.” His essen- His grave is unknown. tial advice was that “every nation should have a standing army of bees.” But his theory and practical recommenda- Long Term Impacts of Sprengel’s Work tions were neither understood nor followed. 6SUHQJHOSUHGLFWHGWKDWWKHYDOXHRI KLVÀUVWERRNZDV not so much its content, as the key it provided to the “mag- QLÀFHQWGLVFRYHULHVWKDWSKLORVRSKLFDOERWDQLVWVZLOOPDNHLQ the future.” His second book closed with the comment: “Ec- centric ideas may be stamped out by time, but the judgment RI 1DWXUHFRQÀUPVWKHPµ+HZDVULJKWRQERWKFRXQWV KLV ERRNRQERWDQ\ODLGWKHJURXQGZRUNIRUWKHVFLHQWLÀFGLVFL- pline of pollination ecology. Charles Darwin helped others realize the true value of Sprengel’s books 60 years after their original publication. In his work on the pollination of orchids he remarked: I am aware that this author’s curious work, with its cu- rious title of Das Entdeckte Geheimniss der Natur has often been spoken lightly of. No doubt he was an enthusiast, and probably carried some of his ideas to an extreme length. I feel sure, from my own observations, that his work con- tains a large body of truth. Many years ago Robert Brown, to whose judgment all botanists defer, spoke highly of it to me, and remarked that only those who knew little of the subject would laugh at this work. In addition Darwin must have been especially pleased by 6SUHQJHO·VOLQH´1DWXUHGRHVQRWVHHPWRDOORZDQ\ÁRZHUWR be fertilized by its own pollen.” Thanks to Darwin’s praise, 6SUHQJHO·VERRNÀQDOO\UHFHLYHGDWWHQWLRQIURPERWDQLVWVDQG today he is recognized for establishing much of the ground- ZRUNIRUWKHVFLHQFHRIÁRUDOELRORJ\ Sprenge’s name and the details of all his studies have been forgotten over time. Single handedly he greatly advanced our Copperplate XXV in Sprengel’s book on botany knowledge on how bees pollinate plants, and the plant adap- 81 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS tations for successful pollination. He can rightly be called the /OR\G'* 6SHQFHU&+ %DUUHW )ORUDOELRORJ\ VWXGLHVRQÁRUDO IDWKHURI ÁRUDOELRORJ\ evolution in animal-pollinated plants. Chapman & Hall; London UK. The ÀUVWWZRFKDSWHUVKDYHIROORZLQJWLWOHV 'LVFRYHU\RI WKHVHFUHWRI 1D- During his lifetime he sadly only received one small hon- WXUHLQWKHVWUXFWXUHDQGIHUWLOLVDWLRQRI ÁRZHUVDWUDQVODWLRQIURP6SUHQ- or: The plant genus Sprengelia was named after him in 1794 gel’s lengthy ‘Introduction’ and 2) Christian Konrad Sprengel’s theory of and today some streets in the surroundings of Berlin car- WKHÁRZHU WKHFUDGOHRIÁRUDOHFRORJ\ ry his name. No known portrait of him exists. Besides his Zepernick, B, Meretz,W (2001) Christian Konrad Sprengel’s life in relation books, we have no trace of the man except for a memorial to his family and his time. On the occasion of his 250th birthday. Will- stone in the botanical garden of Berlin. It is tragic and aston- denowia 31(2001): 141 - 152. KWWSV ZZZEJEPRUJVLWHVGHIDXOWÀOHV ishing that we can lose so much about a great naturalist, and documents/w31-1Zepernick+Meretz.pdf yet he lives on through the work of those who followed in his footsteps. References and Further Reading: Hans-Ulrich Thomas is a retired physics lab technician at the Swiss Federal Institute 1. SPRENGEL, C K (1793) Das entdeckte Geheimniss der Natur im Bau of Technology in Zurich. He became inter- und in der Befruchtung der Blumen. Friedrich Vieweg; Berlin, Germany ested in beekeeping as a nice contrast to (reprinted by J Cramer, Lehre, 1972). the highly technical surroundings at work. 0,//(53 7KHJDUGHQHU·VDQGÁRULVW·VGLFWLRQDU\RUDFRPSOHWH His interest in bees grew especially after system of horticulture. the Nobel prize was awarded to Karl von Frisch in 1973 for his discovery of the bee’s 3. DOBBS, A (1750) Concerning bees and their method of gathering wax dance language. Through reading, keep- and honey. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London ing bees, and teaching beginner courses 46: 536-549 in beekeeping, he steadily increased his knowledge about bees. Traveling all over 4. SPRENGEL, C K (1811) Die Nützlichkeit der Bienen und die Noth- the world in pursuit of the threatened status wendigkeit der Bienenzucht von einer neuen Seite dargestellt. Friedrich of bees and native beekeeping techniques complements his activities. This ar- Vieweg; Berlin, Germany ticle is a result of another interest of his: Reading and collecting old literature As far as the author knows, Sprengel’s books were not translated into any about bees and beekeeping. other language. For the English-speaking reader the best sources of infor- mation are: 8282 CAMERA IN HAND For Love of Nature Photo Essay by Bill Johnson Milkweed flowers are beloved by leafcutter bees, such as this Megachile species. These bees have a very distinctive abdomen, one where the dorsal or upper surface is black, and the ventral or underside is © Bill Johnson © Bill covered with hairs. These hairs, called scopa, pick up pollen grains as she traverses flowers. There are two iconic pollinators that dominate public perception— the charismatic honey bee DQGWKHUHJDOPRQDUFKEXWWHUÁ\ © Bill Johnson © Bill I prefer to turn my camera onto the greater diversity of insects that © Bill Johnson © Bill help feed us. 83 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS heyy are a diverse group with numerous in- tentional as well as accidental pollinators. I have abackground in entomology, bot- anyy and photography. The three interests naturallyTy combine. Myy lens has captured manyy diff- IHUHQWVSHFLHVRI EHHVEHHWOHVWUXHEXJVZDVSVÁLHV DQWVJUDVVKRSSHUVPRWKVDQGEXWWHUÁLHV The next time you go out into your garden, see if you can spott some of these amazingg insects. You PD\FRQVLGHUWKHPLQVLJQLÀFDQWEXWLI LWZHUHQ·WIRU WKHVHSROOLQDWRUVZH·GEHHDWLQJORWVRI PXVKURRPV and fungi. This Adrena species of mining bee is a specialist pollinator, also known as an ‘oligolectic bee’. Oligo means few in Greek and so these specialist pollinators are generally found only on a small number of plant species. Andrena hirticincta prefers Asters and Goldenrod (Solidago) species. © Bill Johnson © Bill Sweat Bee (Sphecodes aroniae) The all red abdomen of this female identifies this species of sweat bee (Halictidae). Her male counterpart sports additional black markings on © Bill Johnson © Bill his abdomen. 84 CAMERA IN HAND Flower Longhorn Beetle (Brachyleptura rubrica) have a distinctive long tapered abdomen and long antennae. This family of beetles – Cerambycidae, spends its larval stage in decaying wood, but the adults can be spotted munching pollen on various flower heads. As it chows down, it picks up copious amounts of pollen that it can spread to other flowers on its route. © Bill Johnson © Bill Pennsylvania Leatherwing Beetle (Chauliognathus pennsylvanicus). Late summer into early fall brings out these leatherwing beetles in droves to goldenrod, black-eyed Susan and mountain mint flowers. As they munch away at the pollen, their bodies attract lots of pollen grains that get deposited on subsequent flowers. © Bill Johnson © Bill 85 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS © Bill Johnson © Bill This Tumbling Flower Beetle (Hoshihananomia octopunctat) is in the family Mordellidae. Their bodies have a hunch-backed shape to them. Commonly seen on Queen Anne’s lace. If you happen to disturb them, they will roll over and drop to the ground, a defensive tactic similarly deployed by fainting goats. Only 6-7mm in length, their printed name out measures their body length. Parasitic Bee Fly (Lepidophora lutea) belongs to the family Bombylidae. Lepidophora species have a distinguished hump-back shape to them. The ‘hump’ houses a collection of flight muscles that lets them power through the air. Caught while lapping up some nectar, this image clearly shows pollen grains attached to the hairs around the mouthparts. At the next flower pitstop, they’re likely to get transferred. These bee flies are commonly seen on Rudbeckia flowerheads. © Bill Johnson © Bill Wasp Mimic Syrphid Fly (Spilomyia longicornis). The first time you spot one of these you’ll swear it’s a wasp. Closer inspection reveals it only has two wings (as all flies do), where wasps and bees all have four wings. But check out those incredible eyes. The color patterns are species specific. These syrphid flies are very beneficial, not only as ohnson adult pollinators, but their larvae are aphid hunters ill J in gardens, helping to protect your plants from © Jake Mosher © Jake © B these pests. 86 CAMERA IN HAND Amy’s Backyard where catepillars munch con- tentedly on milkweed Feather-leg Fly (Trichopoda species) If you grow vegetables like melons, squash or gourds, you’ll likely see these nearby as their larvae hunt squash bugs. The adults fuel up with nectar and transfer pollen with those feather-like hind legs. © Bill Johnson © Bill © Jake Mosher © Jake Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) This dark form female has a large patch of pollen quite visible on the underside of the lower wing. The wings can pick up pollen when butterflies flap them while sipping nectar from a flower. Near this Phlox cluster were a group of daylilies, which this individual had just visited. I look at this as an accidental pollination incident. But if the butterfly travels to another daylily, pollen grains would most likely get transferred to Johnson © Bill another flower. 87 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS Yucca Moths (Tegeticula yuccasella) are almost translucent white moths. They are the only pollinators for yucca species east of the Mississippi. They can be hard to see as the yucca flowers face downward. To spot these you have to get underneath the flower and look up into it. It’s an amazing example of a specialist pollinator. Look how perfectly they blend in to the blossom. © Bill Johnson © Bill Squash Vine Borer Moth (Melittia cucurbitae) In our garden we have a lot of monarda and milkweed plants. During the mid to late summer when they’re all in full bloom, this colorful moth hovers over them, at times landing in the flower to sip nectar through its long proboscis. The incredibly feathery hind legs are great receptacles for attracting pollen, which they eventually © Bill Johnson © Bill deliver to another flower. I consider these moths to also be accidental pollinators. 88 CAMERA IN HAND Field Ant (Formica incerta) New York Carpenter Ant (Camponotus novaeboracensis) © Rachael Bonoan © Bill Johnson © Bill © Bill Johnson © Bill Ants don’t spring to mind when the topic of pollination comes up, but wild parsnip flowers (Pastinaca sativa), a common prairie wildflower, can be visited by more than just bees, wasps and various butterflies. In these two photos a field ant (Formica incerta) and a New York carpenter ant (Camponotus novaeboracensis) can be clearly seen with a patch of pollen grains attached to their heads as they forage on flowers. Tiny bee on plantago, too small to differentiate between a sweat bee and a mining bee without a more up-close photo. Katydid Wasp (Sphex nudus), whose common name refers to its primary prey, katydids, as most wasps are predatory insects. However, they supplement their diets with nectar. From crawling around on a cluster of spotted horsemint flowers, also known as spotted bee balm (Monarda punctata), this wasp picked up a patch of pollen on its thorax. © Bill Johnson © Bill Bill Johnson is a native Minnesota writer and photographer. His imag- es have appeared in over 1,000 national and regional books and magazines. He is a frequent con- © Bill Johnson © Bill tributor of photos to Fine Garden- ing Magazine, American Gardener Magazine, Birds & Blooms, Birds & Green Lacewing larvae (Chrysopa chi), a formidable Blooms Extra Magazine, Minnesota looking creature. The larvae of the green lacewing is a Conservation Volunteer Magazine very beneficial insect for your garden as aphids are its and Horticulture Magazine. favorite food. Seen here crawling around a yarrow flowerhead, it has inadvertently picked up quite a He was a contributing columnist with Horticulture Magazine where, for few yellow pollen grains which will be rubbed off 8 years, he wrote the regular full-page column ‘Insect ID’. He is currently as it continues its journey. the National Director for Region V of the GardenComm International or- ganization, formerly the Garden Writers Association, which comprises 13 states from Minnesota to Texas. www.billjohnsonbeyondbutterflies.com 89 TAKING WING Butterfly Pavilion Has a Knack for De-ickifying Invertebrates by Jodi Torpey © Colorado Butterfly Pavilion Butterfly © Colorado t was an early winter morning when I followed the large $Q\RQHZLOOLQJWRWDNHDPRPHQWWRJHWDFTXDLQWHGZLWK DUURZSRLQWLQJWKHZD\WR5RVLH·V&RUQHUDW%XWWHUÁ\ Rosie is one step closer to appreciating the wonderful world 3DYLOLRQ LQ :HVWPLQVWHU &RORUDGR , ZDV ÀUVWLQ OLQH of invertebrates. While Rosie is the most hands-on resident to have a close encounter with Rosie, an adult Chilean DW%XWWHUÁ\3DYLOLRQWKHUHDUHPRUHWKDQRWKHUVSLQH- IRose Hair tarantula from South America. Despite what some less animal ambassadors working to educate the public on may think, the large, hairy spider tiptoed across my open why they’re important and need protecting. palm with such grace I was charmed immediately. /RFDWHGMXVWQRUWKZHVWRI 'HQYHU%XWWHUÁ\3DYLOLRQKDV the distinction of being the world’s only stand-alone inverte- EUDWH]RRDFFUHGLWHGE\WKH$VVRFLDWLRQRI =RRVDQG$TXDU- An adult Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula, a type of spider that is often kept as a pet iums. This year the facility is celebrating 25 years of helping people overcome their fear of creepy-crawlies. 7KHRIÀFLDOPLVVLRQLVWR´IRVWHUDQDSSUHFLDWLRQRI LQ- vertebrates by educating the public about the need to protect habitats globally, while conducting research for solutions in invertebrate conservation.” ,QRWKHUZRUGV%XWWHUÁ\3DYLOLRQ·VJRDOLVWR´GHLFNLI\ invertebrates.” 7R KHOS LQGLYLGXDOV RYHUFRPH WKHLU TXHDVLQHVV VWDII members and volunteers shine a positive spotlight on every animal in the zoo. Consider that a Thorny Devil walking stick is “amazing,” Giant African millipedes are “cute” and baby tarantulas are “adorable.” © Colorado Butterfly Pavilion 91 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS Each year thousands of children get the chance to learn RockyA blue coastlinemorpho butterfly of Honolulu, with theHawaii about invertebrates through classroom lessons and educa- vibrant blue markings on its wings tional outreach programs. They discover how these animals live and protect themselves in nature, and the challenges they face surviving in the wild. To say the Crawl-a-See-Em exhibit area is a constant bee hive of activity is a cliché, but how else to describe it? There’s DIXOOVL]HWUHHÀOOHGZLWKKRQH\EHHVLQDQREVHUYDWLRQKLYH providing an interior view of a bee colony. A transparent Pavilion Butterfly © Colorado WXEHOHDGLQJRXWVLGHLVÀWWHGZLWKDFRXQWHUWRNHHSWUDFNRI how many bees leave the hive every day. 0RPVDQGWKHLUWRGGOHUVDUHHTXDOO\FDSWLYDWHGE\H[KLE- its that provide a close-up view of Giant Dead Leaf mantis, Polyphemus scarab beetles, Domino cockroaches and other invertebrates that are anything but garden-variety insects. Although Rosie and the hive are a huge hit, the main at- EUHGDW%XWWHUÁ\3DYLOLRQ7KHIHPDOHEXWWHUÁLHVKDYHODUJH WUDFWLRQDW%XWWHUÁ\3DYLOLRQLV:LQJVRI WKH7URSLFVZKHUH eyes on their wings that resemble owl’s eyes to confuse pred- YLVLWRUVJHWWRZDONDPRQJPRUHWKDQDWKRXVDQGIUHHÁ\LQJ DWRUV7KHVHEXWWHUÁLHVOD\WKHLUHJJVRQWKHOHDYHVRI /REVWHU EXWWHUÁLHV7KH\·YHWXUQHGWKHODUJHZDUPDQGKXPLGURRP Claw (Heliconia rostrata) plants and the caterpillars feed on LQWRDWURSLFDOUDLQIRUHVWÀOOHGZLWKWUHHVDQGSODQWVLQGLIIHU- the leaves until they become chrysalides. After they metamor- ent layers from emergent and canopy to the understory and SKRVL]HLQWREXWWHUÁLHVWKH\WDNHÁLJKWLQWRWKHUDLQIRUHVW IRUHVWÁRRU 7KHRWKHUEXWWHUÁ\WKDWEUHHGVKHUHLVWKH:KLWH0RU- After passing through the double doors and entering the pho (Morpho polyphemous). A native of North and South UDLQIRUHVW LW VHHPV DW ÀUVW DV LI EXWWHUÁLHV DUH RQO\ Á\LQJ $PHULFDWKLVEXWWHUÁ\HQMR\VWKHQHFWDURI WKHIX]]\ÁRZ- high above, close to the natural light. The eyes adjust to the ers on Red Powder Puff trees (Calliandra haematocephala) VSDFH&RORUIXOEXWWHUÁLHVRI HYHU\VL]HDUHHYHU\ZKHUH$ planted throughout Wings of the Tropics. Blue-banded Morpho (Morpho achilles) rests on the leaf of 7KHUHVWRI WKHEXWWHUÁLHVDUHUDLVHGZLWKFDUHRQVXVWDLQ- a tree, a Small Postman (Heliconius erato) sips nectar from DEOHEXWWHUÁ\IDUPVLQWKHWURSLFVVHQWWR%XWWHUÁ\3DYLOLRQ ÁRZHUV $QWLRFKXV /RQJZLQJ Heliconius antiochus) pud- DQG VKDUHG ZLWK RWKHU EXWWHUÁ\ RUJDQL]DWLRQV DURXQG WKH dles on the path while a black and white Paper Kite (Idea world. The Pavilion’s chrysalis chamber provides a glimpse leuconoe) lands on a railing. LQWRQDWXUH2QORRNHUVVHHKRZEXWWHUÁLHVHPHUJHIURPWKHLU As Large Tigers (Lycorea cleobaea) and Tiger Longwings chrysalis and hang upside down to dry their wings. (Heliconius ismenius ÁLW DQG ÁRDW WKURXJK WKH UDLQIRUHVW 7KHVHQHZEXWWHUÁLHVKHOSGUDZLQYLVLWRUVWRWKHWZLFH one young woman bobs and weaves to keep any from land- DGD\WDONVFDOOHG%XWWHUÁ\(QFRXQWHUV7KHVKRUWSUHVHQWD- ing on her. Another waits patiently as a Swallowtail glides in WLRQV GHVFULEH WKH EXWWHUÁ\·VOLIH F\FOH ZK\ UDLQIRUHVWV DUH to rest on her ponytail for a photo. An overwhelmed little LPSRUWDQWEXWWHUÁ\KDELWDWDQGZKDWZH·GORVHLI UDLQIRUHVWV ER\\HOOV´7KHUH·VWRRPDQ\EXWWHUÁLHVµ disappear. Many of those are Giant Owl (Caligo memnon) that are Even rambunctious kids will stay still for a few minutes as © M van Ree, Wikimedia Ree, © M van © Didier Descouens, Wikimedia © Didier Descouens, Heliconius erato petiverana collected in Heliconius antiochus collected in Veracruz, Mexico and currently housed Veracruz, Mexico and currently housed at the Museum of Toulouse at the Museum of Toulouse 92 TAKING WING A Giant Owl (Caligo memnon) butterfly emerging in a chrysalis chamber at Dow Gardens © Colorado Butterfly Pavilion Butterfly © Colorado © Kirsten S. Traynor © Kirsten A black and white Paper Kite (Idea leuconoe) © Kirsten S. Traynor © Kirsten © Quartl, Wikimedia © Quartl, Female Atlas Moth (Attacus atlas) in Stuttgart, Germany. This is a live animal sitting high on the back wall of the insectarium with a wingspan of ~ 25 cm. Pavilion Butterfly © Colorado 93 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS Lacewing butterflies © Colorado Butterfly Pavilion Butterfly © Colorado A young visitor enthralled by a butterfly Pavilion Butterfly © Colorado HDFK\RXQJEXWWHUÁ\LVJHQWO\UHPRYHGIURPDURXQG Two monarch butterflies mesh container, introduced to the group and then re- enjoying a flower leased into its new home. The showstopper of this UHOHDVHZDVQ·WDEXWWHUÁ\EXWDQ$WODVPRWK Attacus atlas), the largest moth in the world. In addition to its important educational compo- QHQW%XWWHUÁ\3DYLOLRQLVLQYROYHGLQEXWWHUÁ\FRQVHU- YDWLRQSURJUDPVVXFKDVWKH&RORUDGR%XWWHUÁ\0RQ- itoring Network (CBMN), a citizen science initiative. Pavilion Butterfly © Colorado A larger initiative is the one called PACE or Pollina- tor Awareness Through Conservation and Education. With local and global projects, PACE is helping Butter- Attention Á\3DYLOLRQVHUYHPLOOLRQVRI SROOLQDWRUVE\FRQGXFW- ing research, restoring habitat, encouraging sustainable Backyardy Beekeepersp EXWWHUÁ\ DQGEHH IDUPLQJDQGHGXFDWLQJSHRSOHRQ A new way to feed and manage your hives ways to protect pollinators. Part of that pollinator education happens when - As an enthusiastic beekeeper, I struggled with feeding and managing my hives - visitors leave the Wings of Tropics rainforest. Ev- - Disappointed with the different feeders I purchased, I decided to design my own - eryone is stopped in a holding area between a set of GRXEOHH[LWGRRUVDQGFKHFNHGWRHQVXUHQREXWWHUÁ\ Introducing the Bizzy Bee Hive Top Feeder hitchhikers escape their cozy habitat. Jodi Torpey is a Denver-based garden writer, master gardener and author of Blue Ribbon Vegetable Gardening and The Colorado Gardener’s Companion. Her writing appears in other print and digital me- dia, and she reaches an international Online Discount Code: audience through her Bluprint online 2mblossoms gardening class. Jodi’s backyard is home to birds, bees, butterflies and other pollinators as a Certified Wild- life Habitat by the National Wildlife Retail store opening Federation. Fall 2020 (split from Bizzy Bee Farms) To learn more please visit: Brooklyn, CT www.bizzybeefeeder.com 94 ARTS & CULTURE BEES AS SEEDS In Search of Sweet Consilience by Katherine Mast ear the Mediterranean coast in Valencia, Spain our ancestors used the natural indent in a cave wall to depict a wild honey bee hive. The long-dead artist depicted a person high up on a rope ladder gathering honey. This painting in Cuevas de la Araña—the cave of the spider—was painted in red clay some N8,000 to 15,000 years ago and is one of the oldest-known tributes to human interactions with honey bees. This long entanglement with bees is just one of the reasons that Melanie Kirby, a EHHNHHSHUDQGTXHHQEHHEUHHGHUIURP1HZ0H[LFRFKRVH6SDLQDVWKHSODFHIRUKHU)XO- bright-National Geographic Storytelling Fellowship. 95 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS “Spain has such a fascinating heritage,” says Kirby, noting WKHFHQWXULHVRI YDULRXVFXOWXUDOLQÁXHQFHVIURPWKH3KRHQL- cians to the Romans to the Moors. “That’s translated to the EHHVDVDFRQÁXHQFHRIGLIIHUHQWJHQHWLFVµ The U.S. Department of State’s Fulbright program launched a partnership with the National Geographic Soci- Dorian © Nicholas ety in 2013 to support student Fulbright fellows interested in multimedia storytelling. Kirby convinced the grant review board that her history with bees and recent masters research in entomology made her the perfect fellow, pitching her in- terpretation of Consilience—the sweet spot where different disciplines merge together, pointing in harmony toward a comprehensive theory. Consilience is at the foundation of Kirby’s farm, Zia Queenbees, where she and her farm partner raise natural- ly resilient, regionally adapted “survivor stock,” working to ZHDYHODEEDVHGVFLHQFHZLWKWKHDFTXLUHGZLVGRPRI SUDF- Melanie Kirby checks out an apiary in Adamuz in the Cordoba ticing beekeepers. Province in the southern region of Spain known as Andalu- cía. This apiary is next to an oak (encina) grove which pro- “I love science. I really do,” says Kirby. “I also feel it can duces a rich, dark and robust tasting honey. These are “Lay- be exclusive in the way it is communicated. Science can fall en” style hives which are like small trunks holding 12 frames short of reaching the people it can really help.” that are about 14.5 inches tall by 12.25 inches wide. The So now, consilience is the glue for the three lines of in- hive was designed by French beekeeper George de Layens TXLU\WKDW.LUE\LVSXUVXLQJWKURXJKKHU)XOEULJKW1DWLRQ- in the early 1900’s. The majority of Spanish beekeepers use this hive design as well as Dadant and Langstroth. The ever- al Geographic Storytelling project, titled “‘Til Queendom green oak (Quercus Ilex) is the national tree of Spain. There Come: How the Bees As Seeds Experience unfurls the per- are over three million hectares of oak woods distributed all fumed stories from the beehive mind to human conscious- over the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands. Some ness.” In the fall of 2019 she moved to Spain for her nine- are over 1000 years old. It is also called carrasca, chaparra or chaparro. While the bees go for the rich nectar, the acorns month fellowship, studying traditional beekeeping methods are used to feed the famous “pata negra” pigs prized for the WKURXJKVFLHQWLÀFFXOWXUDODQGDUWLVWLFOHQVHV deliciously cured Iberian ham. .LUE\ZLOOXVHWKHSDVVLYHWHFKQRORJ\RI UDGLRIUHTXHQF\ LGHQWLÀFDWLRQGHYLFHV 5),' WRPRQLWRUWKHPDWLQJEHKDY- “I’m excited that this project brings in a little of all of ior of honey bees from coastal to alpine ecosystems across it—the science, the anthropology, and the artistry,” says Kir- the Iberian Peninsula. She will conduct interviews with lo- by. cal beekeepers to glean insight into the Spanish traditions around cultivating hives, and will dive into the role of clay A Winding Path as functional art, from its use in cave paintings to honey and More than two decades ago Kirby graduated from St. seed storage vessels to hive construction. John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Kirby didn’t know her life would revolve around bees. She had imagined she might become a marine biologist or a ceramicist or a DJ in San Francisco’s electronica scene. But an assignment as a beekeeping Extensionist for the Peace Corps in Paraguay set her on her winding career path, which included hot, sweaty work in commercial apiar- ies from Hawaii to Florida to Michigan. Eventually she launched her own op- eration in northern New Mexico. “I’ve been in this industry now for 20 years,” says Kirby. “I’d like to be in for 20 more, if not longer.” Melanie Kirby works a colony at her bee operation in Truchas, NM. 96 ARTS & CULTURE A honey bee foraging on rosemary Melanie Kirby networks with several apiculture technicians The Bees in Spain at a COAG (Coordinadoes Organizados de Agricultura Modern honey bees are a relatively recent arrival to the y Ganaderia) in Sevilla. She attended their meetings to North and South American continents, one of the many ag- invite beekeepers to participate in her project, making important connections and sharing information with her ricultural imports carried over with European settlers. “Hon- European counterparts. ey bees are like many of us and our ancestors—immigrants to this country,” notes Kirby. But there is ample evidence of %HHVFRQWLQXHWRSOD\DVLJQLÀFDQWUROHLQ6SDQLVKDJULFXO- the deep history of human interaction with bees in Europe, ture today, both as pollinators and honey producers. “Along Africa, and Asia, places where Apis mellifera is endemic. with ham, olives and wine, honey is part of what is revered Like Kirby’s home state of New Mexico, Spain’s land- in Spanish cuisine,” says Kirby. But lately, “honey dumping” scape is wildly diverse with high alpine mountains and from other countries has lowered the price that Spanish bee- low-lying arid lands, in addition to a coastline. Its geographic keepers can demand for their products. As other agricultural positioning above North Africa, along the Mediterranean, endeavors like olive production increases, so does competi- and attached to Western Europe means that Spain’s endemic tion for land. honey bees likely carry heritage from multiple places. This 7RIXOÀOOWKHVWRU\WHOOLQJDVSHFWRIKHUIHOORZVKLS.LUE\UH- geographic proximity to many diverse regions makes Spain cords the interviews with Spanish beekeepers. She will docu- DXQLTXHORFDWLRQWRVWXG\KRQH\EHHHFRW\SHVDQGDOVRKRZ ment the experience through photography, and, she anticipates bees and beekeeping practices are adapting to a changing cli- launching a bilingual podcast. Eventually her stories will appear mate. on the National Geographic blog (https://blog.nationalgeo There’s also a deep cultural connection between Spain graphic.org/tag/fulbright-national-geographic-stories/). and New Mexico. Kirby wonders about the roots of honey She plans to create an immersive experience in the US bees in her home state. Did the early Spanish settlers bring after her time in Spain. “The goal, at the very end, is to share bees? There is ample evidence that they brought wine grapes, this experience through a sensory exhibit where people can language, and cultural practices that are still part of New see the photos, hear the podcast and taste the honey, which Mexico today. could include rosemary, eucalyptus, citrus, oak, cilantro, av- ocado. There are so many kinds of all-natural nectars here,” Telling Stories she says. “My side inspiration for this project is to bring more Storytelling runs through Kirby’s veins. She grew up in of the arts back into science. How can we present it—be a Native New Mexican family, part of Tortugas Pueblo in inspired by it—throughgh colocolor or sound or poetry? This is an southern New Mexico. “We only know who we are, and effort in consilience.” where we are going, when we can share where we came from Editor’s Note: Due to the Covid-19 virus epidemic, Melanie and our relationship to our surroundings,” she says. Kirby has returned home to NM and will interview beekeepers via Skype. As she collects the RFID data on honey bee mating pat- She hopes to return to Spain in 2021. terns, she’ll also record interviews with Spanish beekeepers about their traditional practices and efforts to maintain a ro- bust national beekeeping culture. Katherine Mast is a science writer “I’m mostly interested in how things are changing, not in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her work has appeared in outlets including High only within their landscape, but with government policies Country News, Discover, Sierra, and and other issues they have to contend with,” says Kirby. Modern Farmer. Follow her on Twitter @katiemast. 97 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS Pressed Plants A Glimpse into our Changing Planet by Elizabeth Thompson iling cabinets do little to spark the imagination. The drab, PHWDOUHFWDQJOHVDUHUHPLQLVFHQWRI RIÀFHFXELFOHVWD[HV and the necessary evil of storing essential documents. But in the secret spaces behind the National Museum of FNatural History’s exhibit halls, if you lean in close to the smooth, cold doors, close your eyes, and breathe deeply, you detect a light scent, drier than fall leaves, crisper than old books, with just a kiss of vanilla—the aged plants of the National Herbarium. Herbaria are collections of pressed plant specimens that are carefully preserved and organized in metal cabinets. The plants DUHÁDWIDGHGDQGEULWWOHFOLQJLQJWRFKDON\WDEORLGSDSHU6RPH specimens wait decades in these darkened cabinets, marinating in WKHLUDURPDVEHIRUHWKH\VHHWKHÁXRUHVFHQWOLJKWRIGD\ 98 ARTS & CULTURE sheets of newsprint to absorb moisture and supported by outer layers of cardboard. To avoid contaminating the existing collection, new ar- rivals are superheated to annihilate fungus, then supercooled for almost two weeks at -80° Celsius, just a few degrees above the coldest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica. :KHQ , KHOG P\ ÀUVWVSHFLPHQQHZVSDSHUVDQGZLFK D plant called Serjania,ZDVVHDWHGZLWKDÁRFNRI RWKHULQ- terns around a craft table heaped with sturdy cotton paper The National Herbarium houses a vast collection of and acid-free glue. Serjania snaked across the newspaper, specimens. ÁLQJLQJRXWVSRNHOLNHWZLJVWKDWHQGHGLQFXUOLQJWHQGULOV Herbaria feel old and outdated with their endless cabinets 0DQ\ KHUEDULD ´PRXQWµ VSHFLPHQV XVLQJ D ÁH[LEOH DU- and stuffy smells. But initial impressions are deceiving. As I FKLYDOTXDOLW\JOXHEXWWKH1DWLRQDO+HUEDULXPVHFXUHVWKH waded into the world of herbaria, I found myself in a whirl plant beneath thread or thin strips of cloth so that no glue of high-tech projects: DNA barcoding, ultra-high-resolution touches the specimen itself. If the paper becomes moldy or imagery, neural networks, a high-speed digital conveyor belt, contaminated, the plant can easily be cleaned and switched and incomprehensibly vast databases. to a fresh sheet. I arranged Serjania delicately on the page, tilting it to keep the written labels visible. Despite my care, The National Herbarium OLWWOHÁRZHUELWVIHOORII ZLWKHYHU\PRYHPHQW,WXFNHGWKHP As a college student, I thought “herbarium” was one of into a pocket on the sheet called the fragment packet. These Harry Potter’s wizard classes at Hogwarts. Then I landed a VWUD\ELWVRI SODQWKDYHVFLHQWLÀFYDOXHSURYLGLQJPDWHULDOIRU summer internship at the Smithsonian Institution in Wash- DNA testing and other analyses. I fastened down every leaf, ington, D.C., and found myself working at the United States WZLJDQGÁRZHUZLWKFORWKVWULSV:KHQ,KDGÀQLVKHGWKH National Herbarium, one of the biggest in the country. poor Serjania looked as if it had an encounter with Spider- Pressing plants for an herbarium is only slightly more man. That plant wasn’t going anywhere for the next hundred complicated than saving fall leaves between the pages of a years. ERRN$VFLHQWLVWFROOHFWLQJLQWKHÀHOGÁDWWHQVDSODQWVSHF- imen in a way that shows off all its important traits, front Plants & the Printing Press and back, keeping visible any characteristic that will help sci- Plants have always been important to humans for food HQWLVWV LGHQWLI\ DQG VWXG\ WKH SODQW ,W·V VTXDVKHG EHWZHHQ and medicine, but for most of history we’ve had trouble © dronepicr, Wikimedia © dronepicr, The author’s prepared specimen of the plant Serjania A Gutenberg printing press in the Gutenberg museum 99 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS © Ian Alexander, Wikimedia Alexander, © Ian Title page of Linnaeus’ Praeludia Sponsaliorum Pressed and boxed specimens of Raphia australis at the Plantarum from 1729. Kew Gardens herbarium in England. storing them for long periods of time. Living plants depend clature—his two-name Latin system scientists use to this day on weather and are only available in certain seasons. Dried to name living things (like Homo sapiens :KHQTXHVWLRQV plants rolled up in scrolls crumble. arose about how two plants were related, he could shift the When Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1440, a stacks and even the shelves in his cabinets. VROXWLRQ DURVH ERRNV 3ODQWV FRXOG ÀQDOO\ EH SUHVVHG DQG “All plants exhibit their contiguities on either side,” he JOXHGWRÁDWSDJHVDQQRWDWHGWKHQERXQGEHWZHHQSURWHF- wrote in his Philosophia Botanica, “like territories on a geo- tive covers as textbooks for medical students who needed a graphical map.” By keeping his specimens loose, he could reliable way to tell helpful herbs from harmful poisons. “Dry GUDZDQGUHGUDZWKHERUGHUVEHWZHHQWKHP7KLVÁH[LELOLW\ gardens,” known as hortus siccus, sprang up across Europe; in redrawing phylogenies—the relationships of species—as they stored plants so well that specimens collected in the new information arises is essential for a modern herbarium. 1500s survive to this day. In the 18th century, Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus The Key to the Cabinets moved beyond books and built three wooden cabinets, an- A few years after my stint at the Smithsonian, a small her- cestors of today’s metal cabinets, for his collection of 14,000 barium near my home in Fairfax, Virginia, was highlighted in specimens. Inside he kept his plant specimens as loose pages, VFLHQWLÀFSDSHUVDQGQHZVUHOHDVHVDVRQHRI WKHIHZVPDOO RQHSODQWSHUVKHHW5DWKHUWKDQÁLSSLQJWKURXJKDERRNKH herbaria that were still thriving. The Ted R. Bradley Herbari- laid out pages side by side to determine whether similar-look- um at George Mason University is smaller and brighter than ing plants were indeed the same species. If they were differ- the Smithsonian’s bunker-like herbarium: a white-walled, ent enough, they warranted a new label in binomial nomen- window-lined lab. Curator Andrea Weeks threw open a set RI VTXDUHFDELQHWGRRUVOHWWLQJWKHFOHDUZLQWHUVXQOLJKWIDOO onto the waiting specimens crammed onto a shelf labeled Herbarium book from the Siebold Collection “To Sort.” at Naturalis Biodiversity Center “These have already been through the freezer,” she said, pulling out a sandwich of cardboard and newspaper bound up with a red shoelace. She peeled back a layer of veterinary ads and blank crosswords to reveal an arc of marbled pink DQGZKLWHÁRZHUV “Persicaria extremiorientalis,” she said to herself, running KHUÀQJHUGRZQWKHFROXPQVRI DODUJHERRN´,W·VQRWLQ the Flora Virginiana yet,” she said, “so this actually may rep- UHVHQWVRPHRI WKHÀUVWFROOHFWLRQVRI DOLNHO\QRQQDWLYHµ +HUHZHUHWKHÀUVWIRRWSULQWVRI DSRWHQWLDOO\LQYDVLYHVSH- cies. This one specimen is a tiny part of an enormous sto- ry spread out across the darkened cabinets of hundreds of © Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Wikimedia herbaria. Weeks runs a National Science Foundation-funded Yarger © Amy 100 ARTS & CULTURE project called “The Key to the Cabinets,” which aims to in- when it bloomed, how it evolved, and where it grows to- ventory all Virginia herbarium specimens into a single online day. The vast archive lets researchers monitor how popula- database. It’s part of a larger effort to digitize all native spec- tions of endangered species wink out of existence and how imens from the American Southeast, a biodiversity hotspot. VSUHDGLQJKRUGHVRI LQYDVLYHRQHVÀOOWKHLUHFRORJLFDOQLFKHV It represents “a very, very old branch of science coming into Each physical specimen also provides a record of environ- WKHWZHQW\ÀUVWFHQWXU\µ:HHNVVDLG PHQWDOWR[LQVÁXFWXDWLQJFDUERQGLR[LGHOHYHOVWHPSHUDWXUH Thanks to digitization projects like this, scientists sudden- shifts, and even language patterns in the notes collected over ly have easy access to many diverse sets of data labeled with centuries. This trove of data has spawned a new branch of collection dates and locations. Each specimen is a pixel in science called biodiversity informatics, which aims to answer the picture of our planet’s ecological history. Together they WKLVGHFDGH·VPRVWSUHVVLQJTXHVWLRQVDERXWJOREDOZDUPLQJ reveal exactly where a species existed two hundred years ago, pollution, and other large-scale, human-caused changes. 101 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS In the southeast and around the country, many small ing between Virginia’s small herbaria. The box is a couple herbaria struggle to survive. “A lot of them suffer from not feet wide, big enough to hold an eleven-by-seventeen-inch receiving support from their institutions” Weeks explained. specimen. A camera on a stand peers down through an open- With waning interest in botany, administrators would rather ing in its top. Pucci pulled back the sliding doors on its front use the space for other purposes. with crystal knobs that looked like they had been plucked off Programs like the Key to the Cabinets could change the a medicine cabinet. Light bounced around the box’s white perception that botany is an outdated science. interior, white as a sunny winter day. ´+DYH\RXKHDUGRI DZLOGÁRZHUFDOOHG%DUEDUD·VEXW- 3XFFLDUUDQJHGDVSHFLPHQVKHHWRQWKHÁRRURI WKHER[ tons?” Weeks asked. “In the 1960s, people were collecting WKHQVOLGWKHGRRUVFORVHGDQGVQDSSHGDQLPDJH+HÀOOHGLQ in northern North Carolina and southern Virginia, and they some additional information, and with a click and a beep, the found what they thought was a fairly common species” VSHFLPHQ·VÀOHHQWHUHGWKHYLUWXDOFDELQHWRI 6(51(&WKH that looked a little funny. Decades went by. Collectors kept Southeast Regional Network of Expertise and Collections. picking up the funny-looking Barbara’s buttons and adding Larger sites gather these virtual cabinets into bigger databas- them to herbaria. In 2012, someone took a closer look and HVOLNHL'LJ%LRZKHUHUHVHDUFKHUVFDQÀQG6(51(&SODQWV GLVFRYHUHGWKDWWKLVÁRZHUZDVDQHQWLUHO\QHZVSHFLHVQRZ alongside more than a hundred million other digital records called Marshallia legrandii, found only in one county in Vir- from institutions across the country. ginia and one in North Carolina. “It’s not found anywhere else on the planet,” Weeks said. “And there are many more Mass Scanning and Automation stories like that…not of just somebody stumbling on it in Vrrr… vrrr… vrrr… vrrr…. WKHÀHOGEXWRI VRPHERG\VWXPEOLQJRQLWLQWKHKHUEDUL- 0\ ÀUVW JOLPSVH RI WKHLU ´+LJK6SHHG &RQYH\RU %HOWµ um.” Scientists estimate that half of the undiscovered plant back among the gray cabinets at the Smithsonian was a little species on Earth already lie on herbarium shelves, just wait- underwhelming. I don’t know what I was expecting, perhaps LQJIRUDQH[SHUWWRÀQGWKHP whirring belts and spinning papers like a newspaper printing press. This broad belt moved forward one paper length every Pushed Out couple of seconds, stopping when the sample reached the A slow, growling elevator wallpapered with fall leaves end like a grocery store checkout. descended into the basement of the Lewis Ginter Botanical “I think we are up to 1.4 million digital images,” said Garden library. Kevin Pucci, a student at Virginia Common- Sylvia Orli, head of information management and research wealth University guided me past old black-and-white pho- support at the National Herbarium. “That’s at a rate of any- tographs hung on yellow walls. Crates of Christmas lights where between three and four thousand specimens in a day.” cowered in dark alcoves. “It’s a really creepy basement,” he It may not look like much, but it certainly churned through said, unlocking a door at the end of the hall. “That’s where some samples. VCU keeps their herbarium.” 7KH1DWLRQDO+HUEDULXPWDNHVXSPRUHWKDQWZRÁRRUV The nearly 18,000 specimens of the VCU herbarium LQWKH´EDFNVWDJHµSDUWRI WKHPXVHXP0RUHWKDQÀYHPLO- were evicted from their on-campus building, forced into lion specimens huddle in those cabinets, about 4.5 million eleven cabinets that wrap their way around a storage room of which will be digitized. Even at high speeds it will be a LQWKHERWDQLFDOJDUGHQ·VEDVHPHQW3LQQHGEXWWHUÁLHVFUDWHV lengthy endeavor. of paintings, and an aerial map of the garden grounds sur- The National Herbarium shares its data to iDigBio and round a strange-looking white box that hums and glows— to GBIF (pronounced JEE-biff), the Global Biodiversity In- the Photo Box Plus, star of The Key to the Cabinets project. formation Facility, which has nearly a billion records from The portable apparatus has logged many miles, hopscotch- around the world. But the digital library is meant to support Kevin Pucci, the undergrad adding VCU’s The Photo Box Plus at the Virginia Commonwealth specimens to the SERNEC database University (VCU) herbarium, part of the roving setup for the Key to the Cabinets program © Kit Prendergast © Kit 102 ARTS & CULTURE the herbarium, not replace it. Some elements of research simply can’t be done without a physical plant. 6HYHUDOÁRRUVEHORZWKH1DWLRQDO+HUEDULXPVFLHQWLVWV in white lab coats work with the specimens’ DNA. If the plants have been preserved well, DNA can hold up for GHFDGHV7HFKQLTXHVGHYHORSHGLQDUFKDHRORJ\IRUH[WUDFW- ing ancient DNA have already been used on pinned insect specimens like bumble bees, but plants are more brittle. Researchers keep pushing back the boundaries for usable DNA, opening new research avenues for extinct species. 6FLHQWLVWV QHHG DERXW D ÀQJHUQDLOVL]HG SLHFH RI SODQW WR replicate and record the DNA, which they remove from a folded-under leaf or the fragment packet. DNA barcoding, which uses just a few key landmarks A workspace surrounded by cabinets in the Smithsonian LQ D SODQW·V FRPSOH[ JHQHWLF FRGH WR TXLFNO\ LGHQWLI\ WKH herbarium, located in the National Museum of Natural History VSHFLHVVKRZVSURPLVH6FLHQWLVWVKDYHLGHQWLÀHGDIHZVHF- tions of genetic code that are common to all plants, but the PDUNHUVLQWKHVHFWLRQ·VVHTXHQFHDUHXQLTXHWRHDFKVSHFLHV 2016 study used hundreds of specimens from the National Scientists can extract and amplify just 400-800 DNA base Herbarium, from as far back as 1842, to measure how the pairs, identify the barcode markers, and upload or compare protein content of pollen grains changed with rising carbon their specimen to the international barcode database. Be- dioxide levels. FDXVHWKHSURFHVVLVTXLFNDQGZHEEDVHGUHVHDUFKHUVLQIDU After carefully testing nitrogen levels, a measure of pro- ÁXQJFRUQHUVRI WKHZRUOGFDQHDVLO\LGHQWLI\DSODQWRQVLWH WHLQLQSROOHQVFLHQWLVWVFRQÀUPHGWKHLUIHDUV SURWHLQULFK within a few hours. This is much faster than shipping the pollen becomes less nutritious as carbon dioxide levels rise. VDPSOHWRDODEIRUDIXOO'1$VHTXHQFHDQGDQDO\VLV Pollinators already face a host of other risks, and their pop- Physical specimens also provide a window into a plant’s ulations are shrinking. Reduced nutrition from pollen is just FKHPLFDO PDNHXS DW D VSHFLÀF SRLQW LQ HDUWK·V KLVWRU\ $ one more threat pollinators face on our changing planet. Herbarium specimens brought this trend to light, and only when we concretely identify a problem can we begin thinking of ways to address it. Embracing the Digital Age The new, digital face of herbaria is transforming plant-re- lated research. Herbarium curators hope that digital data- bases will get long-forgotten specimens in front of expert eyes as a kind of “peer-review” to make collections more accurate. But human eyes can only take in so much information at a time. For that reason, the National Herbarium is push- ing the boundaries of traditional herbarium use. “One thing that we’ve been trying to do is take the images and do ‘deep OHDUQLQJ·µWKDWLVDNLQGRI DUWLÀFLDOLQWHOOLJHQFH2UOLWROG PH´WRDOORZDPDFKLQHWRÀJXUHRXWWKLQJVDERXWWKHPWKDW we couldn’t see.” 6KHDOUHDG\KDVVRPHVSHFLÀFGHHSOHDUQLQJSURMHFWVLQ mind. In the National Herbarium’s earlier years, curators soaked specimens in mercury to preserve them and protect them against insects. It worked, but it wasn’t great for hu- man health. “After a while the mercury gives off oxidants,” Orli explained, “and it’ll show up on the sheet as these black marks, black specks everywhere.” It would take individual employees or volunteers lifetimes to sift through the millions of specimens in person or in the databases, but, Orli pro- posed, “we could … create a deep learning script for that so the machine will actually teach itself what mercury looks like 103 2 MILLION BLOSSOMS HMS Beagle in the seaways of Tierra del Fuego, painting by Conrad Martens during the voyage of the Beagle (1831-1836), from The Illustrated Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, abridged and illustrated by Richard Leakey. and then be able to tell us, to identify each of the specimens In our Hands Around the Globe that has this issue.” Curators would have the technology Research still needs physical plants, but the digital record to know exactly which specimens to clean and remount to “liberates the data,” as Weeks says. An online database means make the library safer and healthier. even forgotten plants in a basement can participate in trans- 7KHFRQFHSWFRXOGEHH[SDQGHGWRDQ\VFLHQWLÀFTXHV- formative research around the globe. tion. A computer could learn to track leaf shape across hab- “We don’t know how these specimens are going to be itats, trace bloom times across climates, or identify speci- used in the future,” says Weeks. “Darwin had no idea that PHQVWKDWGRQ·WTXLWHÀWLQZLWKWKHLUUHODWLYHV³SRWHQWLDO there was something called DNA, or that scanning electron QHZVSHFLHV,WFRXOGSURGXFHDQVZHUVPXFKPRUHTXLFNO\ microscopes would ever be invented so you could examine than a team of scientists tracking down individual speci- the pollen grains up close.” When scientists open the doors mens at widely scattered herbaria, or even sifting manually WR WKHVH GU\ GXVW\ FDELQHWV OHWWLQJ WKH ÁXRUHVFHQW OLJKWV through enormous databases like GBIF. Shortly after my shine on creased slices of history, they welcomecome ssome of our visit, post-doctoral fellow Alex White joined the Smithso- ROGHVWVFLHQWLÀFNQRZOHGJHLQWRWKHIXWXUH nian team to develop deep learning programs and scour the herbarium’s digital collection for patterns. One program can already identify fern species with more than ninety percent accuracy, potentially weeding out label mistakes and high- Elizabeth Thompson is a freelance lighting unfamiliar specimens that might represent a new writer living in St. Louis, Missouri with her species. White is now turning his gaze toward experiments husband and her two pet rats, Liam and Viggo. She has written for the Smithso- he can run on a massive scale, such as exploring how a leaf ’s nian Institution, the American Geophysi- shape might be related to the climate in which it grows, by cal Union, the United States Geological examining the herbarium’s now more than 2.5 million digi- Survey, and others. Despite her spring tal specimens from all corners of the globe. allergies, Elizabeth loves plants and pol- linators and gets outside as often as she can. 104 IBC BC Betterbee® Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers Betterbee has everything you’ll need throughout your beekeeping journey! Betterbee woodenware is made with Eastern White Pine and We are now proudly carrying BroodMinder hive Eastern White Cedar, milled and made monitoring sensors that allow you to remotely in Maine and Vermont! observe the temperature, humidity, and weight of your hives from your smart phone or tablet. Visit us online at Call us toll-free at betterbee.com (800) 632-3379