Bees have been in the news a lot recently, but the buzz hasn’t been good. Entire bee colonies have been dying, and we’re hard put to figure out why. So-called colony collapse disorder (CCD) is a major problem, because bees are a critical input in our food supply chain: as well as supplying honey, they pollinate many of our crops.
Although Native Buzz doesn’t address CCD directly, it does hope to contribute to the study of bees and wasps in general, and in so doing, find other species of pollinators so that we are less reliant on the handful of bee species that are currently used in agriculture.
If you’re fascinated by bees and wasps, Native Buzz wants you to register and then buy or build a site for solitary bees and wasps to nest in. Not only will this provide much-needed habitat for these creatures, but you’ll then be able to monitor the nests and upload your data to the project. This will help researchers learn more about species distribution and population health, and create action plans for endangered species. Plus, if you’re a gardener, your plants will benefit too.