This Hunt's bumblebee landed on my shirt and stayed there long enough to worry me. I set it down in a raised bed, with a bunch of freshly picked dandelions, next to a tiny ceramic water cup. It woke up and started browsing on the flowers. I didn't see it go, but it did go.
"The nesting habits of many Osmia species lend themselves to easy cultivation, and a number of Osmia species are commercially propagated in different parts of the world to improve pollination in fruit and nut production. Commercial pollinators include O. lignaria, O. bicornis, O. cornuta, O. cornifrons, O. ribifloris, and O. californica. They are used both as an alternative to and as an augmentation for European honey bees. Mason bees used for orchard and other agricultural applications are all readily attracted to nesting holes – reeds, paper tubes, nesting trays, or drilled blocks of wood; in their dormant season, they can be transported as intact nests (tubes, blocks, etc.) or as loose cocoons."
My lino print with collaged Japanese washi papers on a white mulberry leaf paper with bark inclusions shows blossoming cherry branches & two of our wild, native bees: the bumblebee (Bombus impatiens) and the Blue Orchard Mason Bee (Osmia lignaria). I printed it by hand on Japanese kozo (or mulberry paper), 16” x 20” with various collaged Japanese washi papers for the blossoms, bee bodies and wings.🧵
Many cherry species require insect #pollinators. Farmers usually use honeybees, but not only are honeybees difficult to maintain, they are an introduced species which can endanger the biodiversity of native bees, here in North America, because they can out-compete native bees for pollen and introduce bee pathogens into the wild. But cherry blossoms are popular with many of our hundreds of native bee species, notably the mason bees and bumblebees in particular. 🧵2/3
Encouraging and protecting these native species is a better solution for pollination and biodiversity.
(Blue orchard mason bees are both a native species and a managed species in farming, it should be noted.)
I’d like to draw some attention to the tremendous variation of beautiful wild bees, who even come in surprising colours like blue!
The bee parasites are out en force. Blood bees, nomad bees, and worst of all, the bee body snatchers: conopid flies. It’s tough to be a busy bee minding your own business…
Every reference photo of the leaf-cutter bee Megachile roeweri at #iNaturalist was unwittingly contributed by me. Thanks to the identifiers for picking up the species; makes my memories of last year's Crete Drosophila neuroscience meeting even sweeter – all are observations from the grounds around the Crete Orthodox Academy at Kolymvari, Crete Island, Greece.
The leaf-cutter bee Megachile roeweri is declared as "Data Deficient (IUCN)" and therefore it's threat status is undefined. Let's see if further contributions to #iNaturalist can help clear this.
Turns out I unwittingly reported, one year ago almost to the day, the only observation in the UK, and one of the 4 observations in the whole of Europe, the other 3 being in Belarus. Thanks to the anonymous iNaturalist identifier for the ID – I had only narrowed it down to subgenus Microandrena.
I am starting #ArtAdventCalendar with this Eastern Snail Shell Mason Bee (Osmia conjuncta), a small North American blue bee which makes nests in suitable empty snail shells! In my linocut I show this adorable little pollinator with a Cepaea shell. Each print is 8” by 8” on delicate Japanese kozo (or mulberry) paper. I am truly charmed by the idea of a snail shell nest!
An Anthophora curta napping on a rock by the beach in Isla Vista, in Santa Barbara, California, this past Summer 2023 while visiting UCSB. Its silvery colours and large green eyes are captivating. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/173683325