Pollination | A Pollinator Health Podcast

British Columbia beekeepers have made a major investment in preparing for the future in launching a tech transfer program. Hear about this program and the challenges it hopes to address for beekeepers in BC.

The Western monarch butterfly population appears to have recovered from a tremendously low number of butterflies returning to overwintering grounds a few years ago. In this episode we try to understand what still remains unknown about this remarkable migrating butterfly species.

There has been a long tradition of people working together to help bees across state and provincial boundaries in the Pacific Northwest region. In this episode we discover where this cooperative approach came from.

The federal Endangered Species Act is almost 50 years old and it has been a key mechanism for assisting the recovery of many insect pollinators and plant species they depend on. In this episode we get a crash course on how the Act works.

This week the tables get turned on the host of PolliNation as guest host Miranda Jones asks how did Andony get into bees in the first place.  

The holy grail of beekeeping is taking mated queens from the summer and banking them so that they are available the following spring, at a time when queen supply is tight. This week we hear about work underway to figure out how to bank queens through the winter in Oregon.  

Creating habitat for beneficial insects is a key part of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). In this episode we hear how an Oregon blueberry farm has gone large scale in creating pollinator hedgerows.

The data we have on the natural history of birds, as well as their ranges, is far richer than for insect pollinators. This week we learned about an innovative approach to use bird data to inform what we know about insect pollinator populations.

When people think about beekeeping, their minds turn to honey bees. But humans have influenced the course of natural history for other bees as well. This week we hear about a wonderful new book that considers the ways humanity has shaped the fate of bumble bees. 

Sometimes bees will swarm into structures. Getting them out of the structures is not as easy as some on YouTube make it seem. This week we hear about how one bee club has figured out how to easily remove bees from tricky places.

This week we start a new series looking into what integrated pest management (IPM), not as a conceptual framework, but on the ground, where pollinators are scooting around and living their lives. This week we head to a commercial nursery.

PolliNation has reached 200 episodes. It has also been 5 years since the OSU Pollinator Health Lab came into existence. To mark the occasion we go behind the scenes to see how the Lab came together and its plans for the future.

The type of insect pollinators you find within a region can vary depending on broad categories of land use. This week we learn about the potential mechanisms that drive this variation, focusing on bumble bees. 

Monarch butterflies have been experiencing declines in North America. In this week’s episode we hear about the significance of monarch butterfly collisions on interstates and an innovative method to reduce this source of butterfly mortality.

This week we head to Vermont to hear about the brand new pollinator health position.

A key principle of state Managed Pollinator Protection plans is to increase communication between beekeepers and pesticide applicators during crop pollination. In this episode, we hear about an initiative to map bee colonies to help applicators find bee colonies in the landscape to help facilitate beekeeper-applicator communication.

Honey bees are not native to North America, but they have been here for hundreds of years. In this episode we dive into the deep history of honey bee importations to North America and learn how molecular technologies can provide insight into the subspecies character of contemporary North American honey bee populations.

It’s the 100th anniversary of the Oregon State Beekeepers Association and to celebrate beekeepers are holding a hybrid conference (in person and online). This week we hear about some of the highlights of the conference and what to look forward to.

This week we hear about an ambitious new initiative in California to increase the adoption of pollinator-friendly practices on working lands.

The blueberry industry is one of the most dynamic fruit sectors in the US. As a consequence, what was recommended for pollination a few decades ago may no longer apply. This week we hear about a new initiative to develop a modern pollination planner for US blueberry growers.