Going native:Researcher looking for ways to attract natural pollinators

摘要

Dalhousie University student Robyn McCallum is all abuzz about her research project reexamining ways to encourage native bees to proliferate."I am really conscious, because I am a farmer, that bee management techniques have to be simple, yet successful to work for producers because of time management constraints," says the Faculty of Agriculture graduate student.Buckwheat is a key component of her research project, entitled Improving Native Bee Abundance Through Operation Pollinator. It is also an annual flowering crop that is easily established in nutrient-poor soil and smothers encroaching weeds. Its long flowering period provides bees with a good food supply of nectar and pollen, McCallum recently explained during the Wild Blueberry Producers Association of Nova Scotia's winter meeting.Through her research project, she will be using trap housing to monitor Osmia (native bee species) plus testing and monitoring buckwheat as a food source for native bees compared to non-buckwheat plants.