Highlights of top bar hive expert Sam Comfort’s workshop

Sam Comfort explains the construction and utility of a top bar hive. Click/double click image to enlarge.

Top bar hive expert Sam Comfort (http://anarchyapiaries.org/) held a workshop at the Second Nature Teaching Apiary in Urbana, IL on Aug. 8, 2013. During the first hour and a half he introduced a number of issues honey bees encounter and showed us how top bar hives are constructed. He also introduced the utility of the smaller Warre hives.

One of Sam’s Warre hives. Click/double click image to enlarge.

At that point Second Nature owner, Maggie Wachter, received a phone call regarding one of her hives swarming at an organic produce farm north of Mahomet, IL. We promptly agreed to drive there to get some hands-on  experience in handling and re-hiving a swarm. The swarm was clustered about three feet above the ground on a peach tree. This proved perfect for observation, photographing and rehousing.

Note the size of the swarm relative to the humans standing near the tree,

A close-up of the swarm. Click/double click image to enlarge.

Peace. As expected, the honey-filled honeybees were quite docile during their rehoming. Click image to enlarge.

Read Full Post »

2011 Entomological Society of America Insect Photographic Salon Results

Mesquitebug Nymph - Image taken using Marian's point and shoot camera during a day of hiking at El Charco del Ingenio Nature Reserve, just outside of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, June, 2011. Click image to enlarge.

Results from the 2011 ESA International Insect Photography Salon arrived this morning. I love this particular salon. It allows me to see how a subset of four of my images stack up to those of many of the world’s best arthropod photographers.

I diverged completely from my normal international nature photography strategy, entering a set of images four images that have never been entered in a PSA competition before.

Aren’t I reckless? No, I don’t think so either, but this is as reckless as I get…

I was pleased to see three images receive honors.

Results follow:

Mesquitebug Nymph 14/15 points (see above)

Sonoran Desert Ant 14/15 points

I photographed this ant in the Sonoran Desert (my VERY FAVORITE place) during the 2011 Invertebrates in Education and Conservation Conference (July, 2011). Click image to enlarge.

Pollinating Megachilid 13/15 points

This megachilid was thoughtful enough to pose for me at the University of Illinois Arboretum's Idea Garden, August, 2011. Click image to enlarge.

Read Full Post »

Prime time for observing many arthropod species

Ambush bug (Phymata americana) with honey bee (Apis mellifera) prey. Click image to magnify. Double-click to see the piercing-sucking proboscis of the ambush bug.

In east central Illinois this is the prime time to observe many arthropod species. Most insects encountered are mature, full size adults. The continual cycles of eating and reproduction occur at an ever-accelerating pace, and the early leaf drop of some plant species make the omnipresent insect and spider species even more obvious.

Go out and look if you have the opportunity. There are only a few more weeks of prime arthropod viewing this season!

Read Full Post »

Continued bumblebee decline

Bumblebee (Bombus sp.). Click image to enlarge.

Bumblebees, the only native social bees, are able to fly at cooler temperatures than other bee species. Buzz pollination allows them to be particularly effective in the pollination of plants such a tomatoes, blueberries, cranberries and eggplants.

They, like honeybees, have shown recent worldwide population declines. The cause? Like honeybee decline, a pathogen is partly involved, but inbreeding caused by habitat loss is a major concern and potential contributing factor.

Professor Sydney Cameron of the University of Illinois, performed a three-year study of 382 sites in 40 states and examined more than 73,000 museum records. Her team found the relative abundance of four species declined by up to 96 per cent and that range of the species surveyed geographic ranges have contracted 23 to 87 percent.

Genetic tests indicate the four studied bumblebee species are inbred while other tests implicate the pathogen Nosema bombi as a causal agent.

Read more at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1343979/Bumblebees-risk-wiped-96-decline-species.html#ixzz1Vmnft9kM .

Read Full Post »

Megachilids (Leaf cutter, mason and resin bees)

Megachilid (July 9, 2011, Urbana, IL). Click image to enlarge.

Megachilids include leaf cutter, mason and resin bees.

Resin bees use plant resins to glue sand and pebbles together to  produce their nests, typically located on the underside of plant stems or under ledges.

Leafcutter bees shear oval or circular pieces from leaves to produce individual cells that comprise their nests, typically located in wood or underground.

Mason bees, a major group of native pollinators, nest in pre-existing tunnels within wood. They partition the tunnel into cells and then seal the entrance with mud, effectively protecting their developing offspring from an array of predators and parasites.

Read Full Post »

Honeybees and Crocuses

First arthropod image taken with the new camera.

It was a beautiful first day of Spring Break. Crocuses are emerging and opening AND I had my first chance to photograph an insect. Pollinating bees and flies aplenty!

Read Full Post »

Electronic BeeSpace article to appear in The Science Teacher

 

The Electronic BeeSpace article will appear in the February, 2011 issue of The Science Teacher. Click the link below to access a pdf version of the article.

Electronic BeeSpace Draft

Read Full Post »

2010 National Insect Salon

Kickapoo Male Bluet, Honors Image, 2010 National Insect Salon

Sumichrast's Toothpick Grasshopper, Accepted Image, 2010 National Insect Salon

Meadowbrook Grasshopper, Accepted Image, 2010 National Insect Salon

At The Snapgdragon's Doorway, Accepted Image, 2010 National Insect Salon

The Entomological Society of America’s international photography competition, the National Insect Salon, attracts many of the world’s top nature photographers. Each entrant may submit up to four images for judging.

Regular entrants include Alfred Preuss (http://www.fotoinsekt.de/home.htm), Dre Van Mensel (http://users.telenet.be/drevanmensel/), and Pawel Bienlewski (http://benas.atspace.com/homeenglish.html).

Last year, at the urging of Hiram Paley, I entered the 2009 National Insect Salon. It was my first competition and first international salon. I was thrilled to have one of my images accepted. Accepted images from the 2009 National Insect Salon can be accessed at http://www.peoriacameraclub.com/insectsalon/sect_1.htm .

This year I again entered the salon. The Photo Gods smiled on me, with all four images being accepted, one of which received Honors. I’m really looking forward to seeing the full set of this year’s award winning images!

Read Full Post »

Electronic BeeSpace

Electronic BeeSpace is an excellent resource for acquiring background regarding bee biology, colony collapse disorder, molecular biology techniques and behavioral genomics. The site includes downloadable pdf files and an array of bee-related videos.

Read Full Post »

Africanized Bee (“Killer Bee”) Expansion Continues

“As of May 2010 there are no Africanized Honey Bees in Georgia.” Georgia Beekeepers Association, May, 2010.

“Africanized Honey Bees were found in
 Albany, Georgia on October 21, 2010.” Georgia Beekeepers Association, October, 2010.

“Africanized bees blamed in death of Georgia man,” CNN US, October 21, 2010.

Africanized honeybees have been confirmed in Georgia and are responsible for the death of a 73-year-old man, the state’s agricultural commissioner said Thursday.

Curtis Davis of Dougherty County in southwest Georgia last week accidentally disturbed a colony of bees while he was clearing bush with his bulldozer, CNN affiliate WFXL reported. He received more than 100 stings.”This is the first record of Africanized honeybees in Georgia,” Agricultural Commissioner Tommy Irvin said in a statement about the entomological tests.

Africanized honeybees, known colloquially as “killer bees,” were believed to have entered Texas in 1990 and have since spread to about 10 other states from California to Florida.

Read Full Post »