In last week’s blog, we introduced you to Sam Droege, one of three guest speakers on the February 20th Wild Ones webinar on “Bees Beyond Honey, Understanding Native and Managed Pollinators” hosted by Sara Ressing, Wild Ones Education and Program Coordinator. In this second installment of this multipart series on “Bees Beyond Honey”, we introduce Dave Hunter, Founder and owner of Crown Bees, which is dedicated to promoting sustainable pollination through the use of solitary bees. “With over 30 years of experience, Dave has been a leader in sustainable pollination, using science and best practices to revolutionize our understanding of solitary bees like mason bees. As the founder of Crown Bees, Dave combines research-driven methods with hands-on education to support pollinator health and empower gardeners and farmers across North America. He’s the co-author of The Mason Bee Revolution and a mission-driven leader working to protect pollinators from the challenges of climate change.” (Source: Instagram)
During his presentation, Dave shared his insights on introducing cavity-nesting bees into agriculture. He described mason bees as “cute little bees that are just very different than a honeybee. Belly flopping into a flower, next flower, belly flopping into a flower and the pollen just spreads.” Dave explained that mason bees can help increase the yields of various crops, like cherries 50%, almonds 35%, and strawberries 40%. Leaf cutter bees, like the alfalfa leaf cutter, are used extensively in the alfalfa industry.
Roughly 20-25% of the 4000 species of native bees are cavity-nesting, solitary bees. Historically these bees nested in holes in old dead trees drilled by other insects. “In an old dead tree, you’d have one hole over here and one hole over there, and pests wouldn’t really move between them.” Naturally, these holes in dead trees deteriorate over time, but the same may not be true of the tubes in bee houses, where “… all sorts of foodstuffs, whether it’s pollen and nectar, or larva, … a lot of little funguses and parasitic wasps and flies, and all these things also go into those same holes. And … if your holes aren’t deteriorating every year, or being replaced, then really, it actually winds up being a bad thing.” Dave cautions against some of the mass-produced bee houses where tubes are glued in place. While they are fun and sound like a good idea, they can actually wind up killing bees. “And so there’s some good and there’s some not so good aspects of trying to help bring back populations of bees that can’t nest there because their nesting holes aren’t there. So we’re trying … as best we can. And I appreciate that Wild Ones is out there, and I appreciate this webinar.”
Photo courtesy of Crown Bees
In the panel session that followed the three presentations, Dave offered the following insights into the questions that Sara asked of each panelist. Note that these are excerpts of the answers and there is a wealth of additional information in the recorded webinar.
What does responsible management look like in practice?
“It’s tough in our environment today, where you have monoculture, where you’ve got thousands of acres of one plant, apples, almonds, canola. And when you look at that, it’s trying to keep the cost of food down. And when you’re doing this, you have, unfortunately, two weeks of bloom, and then you have a Sahara Desert for the rest of the year. … And even what we see in farmlands across countries where you might be putting out pollinator strips, and farmers do this, but then after the bloom is done, they’re out there spraying. And so, any bee that might’ve been using these hedgerows are getting hit with sprays. And it’s tough. There’s no answer that I’m seeing out here today. On the homeowner side, we’ve learned that the bees that we work with, the cavity nesters, typically fly away at the smell of adverse chemicals. So, we’re always saying, well, your yard might be an oasis. Plant as many flowers as you can. But if you can, also extend your little bubble of oasis to your neighbors. How do you talk with them about the bees in my yard are going to be pollinating your flowers? It’s tough. And that takes probably action through conversation to your local neighbors.”
Can you share an example where just like a small change in management practices had a big impact on bee conservation?
“I had worked with a researcher analyzing bees out of organic farms and the conclusion was the older the organic farm, the more bee species they had out there. These were cavity nesters from a four-millimeter hole all the way up to like a 14. So just a variety of bees. But when we dug into that, we think it’s because solitary bees all show up at a different time of the year, six or so weeks, and for that species to show up the following year, there’s got to be food at that time for next year’s bees to again nest. And so the older the organic farms, the more in their established farms, those pollinators kept on showing up in June or July or May…. So continuity of resources and then a place for these bees to nest was probably one of the bigger lessons I’ve seen.”
What’s one policy or program that attendees could advocate for in their communities to support native pollinator habitats?
“I’m going to say education. That when you’ve got a space that’s a community garden, you’re going to have people going through there. And it’s beautiful there. But to have signs that said, this is this plant and it’s helpful for these bees, go plant this at home. And by demonstrating on pathways or community gardens, by helping people see this is an example of solid pollinator habitat, I would hope that then people could learn and go try this out themselves….. It’s trying to influence the influencers. So you and I are reaching out to the community gardens to have words that someone can learn there and take home. And the only other piece, when I see the word pollinator habitat, to the humans, I could say our habitat is just Albertsons or Safeways because that’s where food is. And then we got to realize, ah, wait, pollinators have to live, 90% have to live within 300 yards of that food source. And so what is the ground? Is the ground full of chemicals? Do we have weed block? Are there bee habitats above ground that might have been old dead trees? So part of it is food. And the other part of it is to teach the bees have to live here. Can they? It’s the awareness.”
I’ve heard mixed opinions on insect hotels. What are the risks and benefits and what should people consider before installing one?
“Back in the day, if you had an old dead tree or a broken reed, these holes were used one year. The bees nested, the bees emerged, and those holes were deteriorating…… The bees have evolved to work with that type of environment. When you bring in these man-made shelters that now protect these holes, you’re allowing the holes to stay in place for years and, as a result, this pile of awesome food resources, pollen and nectar and bee larva, all these things attract nature to it…. I believe over time these things kill more bees than you doing good. Because the following year, the bees have left, the pests are in there and now the bees don’t know any different because they’ve evolved to just go into a brand-new hole. So here’s an old hole filled with pests…… So what we advocate to our followers is always be supplying clean holes every year. So nothing’s glued in, no bamboo, no drill blocks and it’s a small management….Pull things out, put fresh ones out there…..”
“That just aren’t bee hotels. When we’re saying an insect hotel, there’s a lot of solitary beneficial wasps that are grabbing katydids and aphids and neat things to put in there, lay their eggs. And so you’re adding biodiversity by doing this. But again, you know, cleaning these things up. So it’s just not bees. It’s you’re also bringing in wasps. Very good.”
What is one key action, big or small, that attendees can take today to better support pollinators in their own communities?
“I’m going to say that I’m an advocate of iNaturalist, that the more people that learn this awesome little app that you’re just holding up on your phone and taking pictures of something, I think the more we are aware of this across the country, the more data people or scientists are able to gain. You don’t have to have a researcher trapping everywhere. The backyard gardener is creating that awareness as well. That would be one piece……”
Dave’s passion for pollinators is contagious—he “thinks like a bee” to create better solutions, bridges knowledge gaps about pollinator health, and champions native bees as unsung heroes of our environment for their association with food production. Don’t take my word for it. Listen to Dave on the Urban Farm Podcast.
And if the “Bees Beyond Honey” webinar left you wanting to learn more about Dave’s journey, check out his interview with Heather Riverun titled Crown Bees: The Little Native Bee Company with a Big Heart, in which Dave is described as “a self-proclaimed ‘why guy.’ Thirty years ago, it was this persistent desire to know how things work that caused him to look from his friend’s apple tree to his own, and question why the other tree had an exponentially higher yield of fruit.”
“As the two talked, Hunter learned that the secret to success had been the Blue Orchard Mason Bee. Mason bees are native to most of North America, solitary, and nest in cavities, as opposed to hives. They are also powerful pollinators. This new information sparked a strong interest in Hunter.”
“Drawn to the idea of increasing his crop yields with minimal effort, he introduced the tiny but mighty bee into his own yard. He also began researching his newfound garden ally. The trouble was, there was very little information out there.”
“Regardless of the challenges of mostly forging his own path, he nurtured his interest along for more than a decade. It wasn’t until 2008, in the wake of a recession driven layoff, that Hunter decided to take his hobby to the next level and founded his company, Crown Bees. “
Source: https://kinute.com/stories/665532323-crown-bees-the-little-native-bee-company-with-a-big-heart
Photo courtesy of Crown Bees
Additional Crown Bees resources:
Check out the more than 168 videos on Crown Bee’s YouTube channel, starting with their “Getting to Know Native Solitary Bees” video collection.
Did you know…… Wild Ones and Crown Bees have joined forces and are Partnering for a Greener Future. You can read about the partnership on both the Wild Ones and Crown Bees websites.
Next up in the “Bees Beyond Honey” series will be Lora Morandin, Associate Director of the Pollinator Partnership.