The lab is embarking on a three-year project focused on educating extension professionals (and the apple growers with whom they work) about the role of wild bees as early spring crop pollinators. This project is supported by a grant from the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture, Research, and Education (NE-SARE) program. Our project will develop educational modules focused on five topics: (1) wild bee biodiversity, ecology, and natural history in the eastern US (apple orchards in particular), (2) the economic value of wild and managed bees as agricultural pollinators, (3) habitat management for enhancing wild bee populations, (4) best management practices for pollinator-friendly pesticide use, and (5) the use of a smartphone-based monitoring tool for guiding pollinator management decisions on a local scale. We look forward to working with apple growers and extension professionals to make Northeast early spring fruit pollination more sustainable and less reliant on non-native, managed honeybees. A detailed overview of the project can be found here. For more information on the project, please contact Maria Van Dyke [email]
