Biology of Native Bees and Predatory Wasps. Interactions Between Native Pollinators and Native Plants.
April 1 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Instructor Heather Holm, pollinator conservationist and award-winning author
Dates: April (Tuesdays, 4/1, 4/8, 4/15, and 4/22)
On Zoom
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Price: $125.00
Max 30 pp
Description
This class is inspired by Heather Holm’s best-selling book, *Pollinators of Native Plants*, with a particular emphasis on native bees and predatory wasps. It will consist of four lectures that offer valuable information for gardeners, students, native plant enthusiasts, and landscape restoration professionals. This is a unique opportunity for NPSNJ members to learn from and engage directly with one of today’s leading conservationists in the native plant movement.
Week 1: What’s the Buzz About Bees
This first session will explores the nesting habitat, life cycle, pollen collection, brood rearing, and general characteristics of common genera of native bees occurring in the Midwestern, Eastern United States, and southern Canada. The pollination of native plants and the mutualism between native plants and native bees is also highlighted. Heather will talk about the floral resources and how the physical characteristics of bees can influence the bees’ effectiveness as pollinators.
Week 2: Bumble Bee Banquet
Bumble bees (Bombus) are by far the most charismatic and recognizable native bees. To help bumble bees thrive, we must understand their life cycle, nesting behaviors, and nutritional needs. Heather will illustrate the bumble bee life cycle through the growing season, the importance of selecting the right native (woody and herbaceous) plants to meet the nutritional needs of the queens, workers, males, and gynes, bumble bee habitat enhancement, and factors impacting bumble bee populations.
Week 3: Specialist Bees
The monarch butterfly is probably the most famous insect specialist (the caterpillars feed only on milkweed), but did you know that many native bees are also specialists? Female native bee specialists or oligoleges, collect pollen from a narrow range of native plants; this could mean just one plant genus or species, or many genera that belong to one plant family. Heather will highlight many of these native plant-bee specializations as well as the overlapping habitat requirements of the bees and plants. The presentation will also include the threats to specialists such as habitat loss and climate change.
Week 4: Native Predatory Wasps: Their Role as Pollinators and Beneficial Insects
Native bees and predatory wasps share the same lineage and also share many behaviors and habitat requirements. Predatory wasps feed their offspring insects (and spiders) and bees diverged from this carnivorous diet to feed their offspring plant-based food (pollen and nectar). Flower-rich landscapes provide critical habitat for both adult bees and wasps because they each consume flower nectar; in addition, wasps need diverse, flower-rich landscapes to hunt for their prey. Heather will highlight many amazing natural history and biology facts about native wasps illustrating their nesting habitat, prey specificity, and the ecosystems services they provide—pest insect population control and pollination.
About Heather Holm
Heather Holm is a pollinator conservationist and award-winning author of four books: Pollinators of Native Plants (2014), Bees (2017), Wasps (2021), and Common Native Bees of the Eastern United States (2022). Both Bees and Wasps have won multiple book awards including the American Horticultural Society Book Award (2018 and 2022 respectively). Heather’s expertise includes the interactions between native pollinators and native plants, and the natural history and biology of native bees and predatory wasps. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and many local publications. Heather is also an accomplished photographer and her pollinator photos are frequently featured in print and electronic publications.