PolliNation Podcast
262 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 days ago - ★★★★★ - 128 ratingsPolliNation is a podcast from Oregon State University Extension Service that tells the stories of researchers, land managers and concerned citizens who are making bold strides to improve the health of pollinators.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
111 - August Jackson - Bees of the Willamette Valley
September 16, 2019 05:30 - 30 minutes - 24.5 MBLearning the bees of your local area can be a daunting task. Most guides and keys, for example, include bees that don't even exist where you live, and are packed with hard-to-understand terminology. This week we talk to August Jackson, who has come up with a solution - a concise guide to the bees of the Willamette Valley.
110 - International Pollinator Conference Highlights (2019)
September 02, 2019 15:53 - 37 minutes - 52.1 MBThe Fourth International Pollinator Conference was held in Davis, CA. In this episode you will hear about some of the interesting new research happening on pollinator health from around the world.
109 - Shelley Hoover - Its all in the queen
August 26, 2019 12:31 - 33 minutes - 46.3 MBHoney bee queen quality is an often overlooked dimension of colony health. In this episode we catch up with Dr. Shelley Hoover who is the Apiculture Researcher with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. She tells us about work to assess different commercial queen stocks and to fit queen production into crop pollination.
108 - Rosalyn Johnson - Bio-diverse and drought-tolerant gardens
August 18, 2019 08:00 - 33 minutes - 31.1 MBIn this episode we talk with Dr. Rosalyn Johnson from Yardbio.com about how to establish local, native, and drought-tolerant species in backyards to support pollinators and wildlife.
107 - Bryan Danforth - The Solitary Bees
August 12, 2019 15:32 - 42 minutes - 40.4 MBAlthough solitary bees make up the bulk of bee diversity, there hasn't been a comprehensive biology book about them. That is until now. This week we catch up with Dr. Bryan Danforth about his new book, The Solitary Bee, authored along with Frances Fawcett, John Neff, and Robert Minckley.
106 - Jim Cane - Squash and Sunflower Bees
August 04, 2019 07:30 - 32 minutes - 25.6 MBSquash bees were discovered in Oregon last year. This week we talk to Dr. Jim Cane about this bee, as well as a bee that is widespread in Oregon gardens, the sunflower bee.
105 - Tyson Wepprich - Insect Apocalypse?
July 29, 2019 06:43 - 43 minutes - 34.8 MBThere has been a lot of attention lately to historic declines of insect abundance across the world. This week we catch up with Tyson Wepprich who recently reported on butterfly abundance declines in Ohio over the past 20 years.
104 - Bonnie Shoffner - The finer points of pollinator outreach
July 22, 2019 07:30 - 39 minutes - 31.9 MBPublic outreach may seem simple, but impactful and effective outreach is an art. Bonnie Shoffner from Portland Metro is a real pro at pulling off pollinator outreach events and this week she shares here secrets for success.
103 - Rachel Mallinger - Bees in blueberries, forests and gardens (in Florida)
July 15, 2019 13:36 - 32 minutes - 14.9 MBOregon and Florida may seem miles apart, but the role of bees in both states has remarkable parallels. This week Dr. Rachel Mallinger University of Florida talks about blueberry pollination, bees in forest systems and interests of gardeners around bees in the Sunshine State.
102 - Jacob Pecenka - Watermelons, pests and pollination
July 01, 2019 05:09 - 33 minutes - 30.2 MBWatermelons are hard to pollinate. But they can also experience reduced yield from pest damage. This week we hear from Jacob Pecenka who tells us about the trade-offs from managing pests and loosing pollination and how Integrated Pest Management can provide an excellent way to navigate these trade-offs.
101 - Sharon Selvaggio - Labeling Pollinator Plants
June 17, 2019 04:28 - 42 minutes - 34.4 MBThere has been a lot of demand for nursery plants that are good for pollinators, but also confusion on whether these plants have been grown using practices that minimize impacts to pollinators. This week we hear from Sharon Selvaggio, Program Director at Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP), about a pilot study to see what consumers respond to when labeling pollinator plants around the practices they were grown under.
100 - THE Everything-You-wanted-to-know-about-pollinators-but-were-afraid- to-ask SHOW
June 10, 2019 04:07 - 31 minutes - 25.4 MBFor the 100th Episode of PolliNation we assembled our crack team of OSU pollinator faculty together to answer your burning questions.
99 – Adam Allington – The Business of Bees
June 04, 2019 00:11 - 27 minutes - 12.6 MBCommercial bee pollination is an integral part of food production in the US. In this episode we catch up with Adam Allington, a reporter with Bloomberg Environment, about a new podcast "The Business of Bees" that explores how the food system has evolved to become dependent on bees, and the future consequences of this dependency.
98 – Bob Falconer – Backyard Pollinator Strips Made Easy
May 27, 2019 06:59 - 26 minutes - 36.6 MBPollinator strips are exceedingly tricky to establish. This week we drop by Washington County Master Gardener and Master Beekeeper Bob Falconer’s house to see how he establish magnificent strips of Phacelia and clover.
97 Hannah Levenson - Regional bee communities (and the plants they like)
May 20, 2019 01:20 - 32 minutes - 45 MBNot all bee communities across a region might use the same flowers. But how might gardeners be better informed about what local bees like? Also, do regional bee communities confront different disease pressures. Hear how Hannah Levenson is addressing these issues in a project taking place at North Carolina State University.
96 Mia Park - Urban Prairie Restoration for Bees
May 13, 2019 06:00 - 39 minutes - 53.9 MBHow do you measure the success of restoration projects for bees? Dr. Mia Park from North Dakota State University catches us up on work she is doing around urban prairie restoration. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/pollinationpodcast/2019/05/13/mia-park
95 Lincoln Best - The Oregon Bee Atlas
April 29, 2019 06:00 - 40 minutes - 37.2 MBListen in to learn the role of the Oregon Bee Atlas, how it has grown in only a year, and which plants are best for pollinator biodiversity in Oregon. "It's easy to document common species; it's really difficult to assess the extreme biodiversity that exists here." - Lincoln Best. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/pollinationpodcast/2019/04/29/oregon-bee-atlas
94 Aaron Anderson - Which Native Plants Are Best For In Your Garden For Oregon Bees?
April 15, 2019 06:00 - 38 minutes - 35.8 MBListen in to learn what native plants are best for your garden, both for increasing the health of local pollinators and adding beauty to your garden. "There have been very few studies that have been done on the relative attractiveness of different plants to pollinators, especially in a garden-type setting." - Aaron Anderson. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/pollinationpodcast/2019/04/15/aaron-anderson #fpshows
93 Dr. Elina L Niño - Pollinating California Almonds
April 08, 2019 06:00 - 33 minutes - 31.2 MBListen in to learn how growers can improve their pollinator effectiveness, the benefits of certain overwintering solutions, and the key to great queens. "I know there's a lot of talk about letting natural selection do it's thing, but we have to think about what we're doing. When we put the bee colony into a hive, it's no longer considered to be, in my mind, natural. So I think they definitely need some help." - Dr. Elina L Niño. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blog...
92 Jim Cane - The Weird And Wonderful World of Alfalfa Pollination
April 01, 2019 06:00 - 53 minutes - 49 MBListen in to learn about the two key pollinators of alfalfa seed: the alfalfa leafcutter bee and alkali bee. "If [alfalfa] bloomed in the spring, there would not be enough hours in the day for a female bee to complete a nest cell for one offspring." – Jim Cane. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/pollinationpodcast/2019/04/01/jim-cane/
91 Pierre Lau - The Everything-You-Wanted-To-Know-About-Pollen Episode
March 25, 2019 06:00 - 33 minutes - 30.9 MBListen in to learn all about pollen: how to collect and identify it, how it can be used in forensics, and the tools that researchers have developed to source it from particular plants. “The fun thing about pollen and why palynology is a thing is that every species of plant will produce a unique pollen grain to that species. We can play CSI and forensics here: when you look at the pollen that honey bees collect, you can trace it back to the plant that they were actually visiting.” – Pierre ...
90 Dr. Casey Delphia - The Bees of Montana
March 18, 2019 06:00 - 48 minutes - 44.9 MBListen in to learn about Dr. Delphia's bee atlas projects, why Montana is a "black hole" of bee data, and where to find the coolest native bees of Montana. “It’s really great to be working on bees in Montana and it’s also not so great. It’s great because there are so many things to discover and it’s also not so great because there are so many things to discover.” – Dr. Casey Delphia. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/pollinationpodcast/2019/03/1...
89 Kim Flottum - The Venerable Tradition of Getting the Word Out About Bees
March 11, 2019 06:00 - 47 minutes - 43.2 MBLearn how Kim Flottum is taking beekeeping education into the future, and how he is following in legendary beekeeping educator Amos Root's footsteps. "We have gone from pencil-writing answers to letters, to the electronic age, and it has opened the door to anybody and everybody who wants to talk about anything." - Kim Flottum. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/pollinationpodcast/2019/03/11/kim-flottum/
88 Rebecca Perry and Grace Cope - The Benefits of Golf Course Flower Patches Depends on Course Management
March 04, 2019 07:00 - 19 minutes - 18.2 MBListen in to learn how golf courses can better serve pollinators and their habitats through curating their plants, flowers, and maintenance schedule. "Golf courses are these really unique islands of vegetation within these urban lands." - Rebecca Perry. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/pollinationpodcast/2019/03/04/rebecca-perry-and-grace-cope/
87 Steve Peterson - How To Make Mason Bees Thrive?
February 25, 2019 07:00 - 36 minutes - 33.9 MBListen in to learn Steve's experience in making and maintaining mason bee nesting blocks, and why he advocates using a wood laminate in its construction. "I've always been interested in that you can raise these bees and sort of have a lower input in terms of having to put them into cold storage so soon." - Steve Peterson. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/pollinationpodcast/2019/02/25/steve-peterson/
86 Dr. Priyadarshini Chakrabarti - The Secret Life of Bee Nutrition
February 18, 2019 07:00 - 29 minutes - 26.9 MBListen in to learn the importance of sterols in honeybee health, why they are so important, and the research Dr. Priyadarshini Chakrabarti has done on them. "[Sterols] are building blocks of cellular membranes. That is why we are trying to focus on them, because without these sterols, you would basically have a dead bee." - Dr. Priyadarshini Chakrabarti. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/pollinationpodcast/2019/02/18/dr-priyadarshini-chakrabarti/
85 Lynda Boyer - Producing Native Plants For Bees
February 04, 2019 07:00 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MBListen in to learn how Heritage Seedlings aids in restoration sites and pollinator health as a Flagship Farm, and the best native plants for your garden. "We have around 560 native prairie plant species, and the majority of them also have pollinator species that utilize both for flowering resources and for cover." - Lynda Boyer. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/pollinationpodcast/2019/02/04/lynda-boyer/
84 Kathleen Baughman - Nurseries and Pollinators
January 28, 2019 07:00 - 35 minutes - 32.3 MBLearn how Iwasaki Bros. has reduced their environmental impact through Integrated Pest Management (IPM), bee monitoring, and the flagship farm program. "The Iwasaki's have always been interested in sustainability, so [becoming a flagship farm] was something that came very natural to them." - Kathleen Baughman. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/pollinationpodcast/2019/01/28/kathleen-baughman/
83 Harry Vanderpool - Talking to Pesticide Applicators About Bees
January 21, 2019 07:00 - 41 minutes - 38 MBListen in to learn Harry's effective communication methods, how he builds bridges with others in agriculture, and what he's done for pollinators in the PNW. "We're really all working hard and trying to make a living at the same time, and working together is the answer to that." - Harry Vanderpool. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/pollinationpodcast/2019/01/21/harry-vanderpool/
82 Sarah Kincaid - Promoting Bee-Friendly Farming
January 14, 2019 07:00 - 35 minutes - 32.8 MBListen in to learn how Sarah and the Flagship Farms program work with farmers to create sustainable ecosystems for pollinators, and how you can participate. "We're a specialty crop state and many of those depend on pollination, and if they depend on pollination, that means they provide a resource for the bees themselves." - Sarah Kincaid. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://bit.ly/PolliNation-82
81 Dr. Valerie Peters - Climate Change, Pollinators and Coffee
January 07, 2019 07:00 - 52 minutes - 47.8 MBListen in to learn the intersection between changing tropical climates, pollinator habitats, and the coffee crop, and the impact of mines on pollinators. "For a lot of species, we don't know if they'll be able to successfully move fast enough northward, so the other potential could be that we would just see loss of species in a particular location or maybe declining pollinator population numbers." - Dr. Valerie Peters. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonst...
80 Dr. Christina Mogren - Bees in Hawaii
December 31, 2018 07:00 - 22 minutes - 21.1 MBListen in to learn the relationship of pollinators with native flora and fauna of Hawaii, and what is being done to aid local agriculture and beekeeping. "A lot of the plants [in Hawaii] evolved with bird and beetle pollinators, there's only one native genus of bee." - Dr. Christina Mogren. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/pollinationpodcast/2018/12/31/dr-christina-mogren/
79 Robyn Shephard - Hybrid Vegetable Seed Pollination
December 24, 2018 07:30 - 14 minutes - 13.5 MBListen in to today's episode to learn how hybrid systems work and the steps vegetable seed growers are taking to keep bees healthy during pollination. "It's a labor intensive crop, especially if you're doing it transplanted." - Robyn Shephard. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/pollinationpodcast/2018/12/24/robyn-shephard/
78 Emily Erickson - Breeding and The Attractiveness of Garden Plants
December 17, 2018 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.7 MBEmily Erickson talks about the role of garden plants in bee conservation and how plant breeding may be changing the attractiveness of garden plants to bees. "This [data] gives us a really cool system where we can isolate these single traits in the context of the whole flower. So we can keep everything else consistent and then ask, 'what if it was red instead of orange? Does that matter?'." - Emily Erickson. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/poll...
77 David Cantlin - More Clover In Your Turf? Lessons from the City of Fife
December 10, 2018 07:30 - 31 minutes - 29 MBIn this episode, we hear about the City of Fife’s initiative to increase the amount of blooming clover available to bees on their city properties. "Clover attracts bees and other pollinators, so it benefits the ecology of the area." - David Cantlin. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/pollinationpodcast/2018/12/10/david-cantlin/
76 Dr. Chelsea Cook - Honey Bee Scouting and the Virtues of Being Easily Distracted
December 03, 2018 07:30 - 31 minutes - 28.6 MBListen in to learn how different bees divide up the responsibilities of finding and gathering food, and why they developed this method of foraging. "I can only imagine if in my neighborhood, every couple of days the grocery store closed and popped up somewhere else. How would you deal with that?" - Dr. Chelsea Cook. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/pollinationpodcast/2018/12/02/dr-chelsea-cook/
75 Amy Cox - Eco-lawns and Pollinators
November 26, 2018 07:30 - 18 minutes - 16.9 MBListen in to learn more about eco-lawns, what brought Amy into this business, and what makes eco-lawns ideal for all different kinds of home owners. "I think I've always wanted to something that helped other people, and that's turned into something that can not only help people, but animals, insects, and the environment." - Amy Cox. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/pollinationpodcast/2018/11/26/amy-cox/
74 Lila Westreich - Mason Bees and Landscapes
November 19, 2018 07:00 - 26 minutes - 24.6 MBListen in to learn more about what drew Lila to Osmia lignaria, and how she is finding the effect of these bees on their landscape, and vice versa. "[Osmia] are really easy to work with, they're easy to buy, which is rare for a native bee source, and they're really easy systems to put in different places, so it was almost easier [for me to get into] than bumblebees." - Lila Westreich. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/pollinationpodcast/2018/11/...
73 Research Retinue - Is Glyphosate Harmful To Bees?
November 12, 2018 07:30 - 21 minutes - 20.1 MBLearn more about the recent research studying the effects of glyphosate on honeybees, and how glyphosate can indirectly affect their gut homogenate. "Those lactobacillus bacteria are supposed to not be sensitive to the glyphosate, so it's weird that the single dose would affect them, but when there's a double dose, there seems to be no change." - Addision DeBoer. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://bit.ly/PolliNation-73
72 Garth Mulkey - Specialty seeds and bees
November 05, 2018 07:30 - 21 minutes - 19.5 MBListen in to learn how Garth Mulkey helped develop the bee protection protocol for specialty seed growers, and why specialty seed growers need bees. "[The bees] are even more critical in our hybrid productions, because the females in this production do not produce their own pollen, so if we don't have bees, we don't harvest seed." - Garth Mulkey Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://bit.ly/PolliNation-72
71 Courtney MacInnis and Dr. Steve Pernal - Honey Bee Nosema Disease: An Old Disease With New Twists
October 22, 2018 06:30 - 49 minutes - 45.2 MBListen in to learn how the small fungus Nosema affects bee colonies, how and where it thrives, and what is being done to stop it in the research community. “Nosema is kind of a tough nut to crack. There have been many people besides ourselves that have worked on alternative treatements to Nosema over the years and have largely proved unsuccessful.” - Dr. Steve Pernal Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://bit.ly/PN-MacInnis-and-Pernal
70 Dr. Sara Galbraith - Measuring success: mason bees as an indicator of forest management quality
October 15, 2018 06:30 - 34 minutes - 32 MBListen in to learn how forests are managed, how it affects pollinator habitat, and how bioassays gather essential insights into improving pollinator health. “Out West in general, and especially in places like Oregon, because so much of our land has potential pollinator habitat, and if we manage it properly, I think we could really support pollinators like wild bees.” - Dr. Sara Galbraith. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://bit.ly/PN-Dr-Sara-Galbraith
69 Michelle Flenniken - Bee viruses
October 08, 2018 06:30 - 37 minutes - 34.1 MBListen in to learn how viruses affect pollinators, how virologists study them, and which ways beekeepers can best protect their colonies from infection. “When you think about a bee colony, it's a great place for viral infections. They're really crowded, if you think of honeybees, there's over 40,000 individuals crawling all over each other.” - Michelle Flenniken. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://bit.ly/PN-Michelle-Flenniken
68 Project Apis m. - Enhancing the Health of Honey Bees Through Research and Education
September 24, 2018 06:30 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MBListen in to learn how Project Apis m. has accomplished sustained valuable research for both pollinators and the agriculture and beekeeping industries. “What it takes to make the change on the ground is to show and prove what is happening, and then outreach to educate on the alternatives, and change those practices.” - Danielle Downey. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://bit.ly/PN-Project-Apis-M
67 Rich Hatfield - PNW Bumble Bee Atlas
September 17, 2018 06:30 - 47 minutes - 43.4 MBListen in to today's episode to learn how the PNW Bumble Bee Atlas is aiding in bee conservation, and how you can participate in pollinator habitat surveys. “I can tell you from the response that we've had that people are pretty excited. They've been having a really good time doing this. I love it, too, and it's good to know that other people can join you on this.” - Rich Hatfield. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://bit.ly/PN-Rich-Hatfield
66 Dr. Sarah Lawson - The small carpenter bee and their Cinderella daughters
August 27, 2018 06:30 - 31 minutes - 29.1 MBIn this episode, we learn about the life cycle of Ceratina, and its peculiar strategy of turning the firstborn female into the a nursemaid of the nest. “We like to think of [Ceratina] as a bee on the brink of sociality.” - Dr. Sarah Lawson. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://bit.ly/PN-Dr-Sarah-Lawson
65 Robert Coffin and Josh Loy - Teeing off with Monarch Butterflies
August 20, 2018 06:30 - 42 minutes - 39.2 MBIn this episode, we learn how to create certified monarch waystations, and how Stewart Meadows integrated the monarch waystations into their golf course. “We want to put in more of these monarch waystations and pollinator habitats. To me, that is a wonderful next step, not only for the golf course, but for all the monarchs and our entire community.” - Robert Coffin. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://bit.ly/PN-Coffin-Loy
64 Mike Rodia - Residential Beekeeping and the Law
August 13, 2018 06:30 - 44 minutes - 41 MBListen in as we talk about residential beekeeping, and the ways you can work with your local government to keep your local hives nuisance-free. “Residential beekeeping didn't really exist 30 or 40 years ago, so the cities have had to address it as problems have come up, so each [city] will vary each time it comes up with a problem.” - Mike Rodia. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://bit.ly/PN-Mike-Rodia
63 Lori Weidenhammer - Victory Gardens for Bees
August 06, 2018 06:30 - 29 minutes - 27.5 MBListen in to learn more about victory gardens, the cultural importance of bees over time, and how artists and scientists work together to educate the world. “If you want to grow food to feed yourself, you also need to feed the bees. We need to feed the bees.” - Lori Weidenhammer. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://bit.ly/PN-Lori-Weidenhammer
62 Sam Droege and the Bee School
July 30, 2018 06:30 - 22 minutes - 20.7 MBListen in to learn more about how to plant a garden for pollinators using non-native plants, and the complexities of pollinator research in the field. “The bigger picture I focus on is to emphasize that [we all] have a role to play in the saving of bees, and that it's not really an issue about Monsanto or chemical companies or some far off entity.” - Sam Droege. Learn more about this episode of PolliNation at http://bit.ly/PN-Sam-Droege