More Habitat Improvement Class sources

How exciting that Eldon Winston will be helping out Virginia for Saturday's class on Habitat Improvement! He's the "go to" guy for pollinators and you'll leave ready to establish pollinator habitats! Below is a list of resources that he has provided..

POLLINATOR WEB SITES and Other things.

 

An interesting web site that can give you some information on planting guides for pollinators for the Central Appalachian region is: www.Pollinator.org

 

Another link with significant information is: www.fws.gov/pollinators

 

For access to more information on bee blocks and some versions of them try the Idaho site which offers both blocks for sale as well as some downloadable flyers on pollinators. www.Pollinatorparadise.com

For a bee block with holes for both Orchard Mason bees and leafcutter bees in the same block try Pine Tree Seeds at www.supergardenseeds.com or www.fedcoseeds.com I had the page numbers from 2009 but haven’t looked up the page numbers for 2010.

 

While I will include links to other sites here I don’t know if they have plans for a bumblebee nest box. If you would like the plans I can forward the email to you which I received from Alex Surcica and you can take another step in enhancing pollinators. Bumblebees don’t make honey either. Sorry.. email eldon@winstongardens.com

 

Websites:

 

• http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/nativebee.html#raising
• http://beeandgarden.com/?p=22
• www.xerces.org/.../nests_for_native_bees_fact_sheet_xerces_society.pdf
• http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05576.html
• http://www.ent.uga.edu/bees/pollination/other_pollinating_bees.htm
• http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/Other/note109/note109.html
• http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/animals/beegardens.asp

 

While the web is wonderful if you like to read a real book try The Forgotten Pollinators by Stephen L Buchmann and Gary Paul Nabhan. This book spells out some very strange relationships between plants and pollinators and implicitly shows us that we have already lit the fuse on the dynamite of ecological collapse. I enjoyed it.

  

Finally, for a look at what has happened in the past though not referred to the pollinator level why not try the book Collapse by Jared Diamond. Makes me glad to be as old as I am.