Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Bumblebee Plants and Resources for Saskatchewan

(*Denotes a medicinal plant for bees)

Shrubs: Pussy Willow (Salix spp.) Arctic Willow, Clove Currant (Ribes aureum) Wood’s Rose (Rosa Woodsii), Prickly Rose (R. acicularis), Potentilla spp., hardy bush roses (avoid double flowers), Ninebark, Buck Brush (Symphoricarpos occidentalis), Common Snowberry (S. albus)

Native Trees: Chokecherry, Crabapple, Saskatoon (and many other native fruit trees), Western Mountain Ash (Sorbus scopulina) Pincherry (Prunus pennsylvanica)

Native Vines: Purple Clematis (Clematis occidentalis) Virgin’s Bower Clematis (Clematis ligustifolium) beware of invasive look-alikes

Native and Near Native Perennials:

Native violets

Prairie Crocus (Pulsatilla patens)

Bleeding heart (Dicentra spp.),

Heartleaf Golden Alexanders (Zizea aptera)

Nodding onion (Allium cernuum) and other native alliums,

Canadian Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) and other Aquilegia spp.

Prairie Smoke (Geum trifolium),

Few-Flowered Shooting Star (Dodecatheon pulchellum)

Locoweed (Oxytropis spp.)

Milk Vetch (Astragalus spp.),

Native Silvery Lupin (Lupinus argenteus)

Yarrow (Achillea Millefolium),

Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor)

Common Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia) Don’t plant creeping bellflower!

Native Larkspurs Delphium bicolour, D. glaucum or Nuttall’s Larkspur (D. nuttallianum) HIGH toxicity warning,

Rocky Mountain Bee Plant (Cleome serrulata),

Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)

Penstemon spp.,

Scarlet Globe Mallow (Sphaeralcea coccinea) (red-listed grassland species),

Plains Prickly Pear (Opuntia polyacantha),

Erigeron spp.

Blue Gentian (Gentiana spp.)

Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium spp.)

Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea)

Cranesbill Geranium (Geranium spp.)

Native Annual: Bienenfreunde aka Lacy Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia)

Late-Blooming Native Asteraceae:

Blazing Star (Liatris spp.)

Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium maculatum)

Blanket Flower (Gaillardia spp.)

Tickseed (Coreopsis spp.)

Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritaceae)

Asters (Symphyotrichum spp.)

Goldenrod (Solidago spp.)

Purple Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea)

Prairie Coneflowers (Ratibida spp.)

Black-eyed Susan the Alberta native is Rudbeckia serotina

Curly Cup Gumweed (Grindelia squarrosa)

Wild Sunflowers

Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale)

Exotic Perennials:

Catmint (Nepeta cultivars)

*Sage (Salvia spp.)

*Meadow Sage (Salvia pratensis),

*Oregano, *Thyme,

Tall Verbena (Verbena Bonariensis)

Hollyhocks (and other malva spp.),

Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia),

Sea Holly (Eringeum spp.),

Globe Thistle (Echinops ritro),

False Sunflower (Heliopsis)

Exotic Annuals:

Borage (Borago officinalis),

*Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum)

*Tobacco (Nicotiana rustica),

Calendula (Calendula officinalis),

Blue Shrimp Plant (Cerinthe major)

Moroccan Toadflax (Linaria maroccana)

Veggies: Scarlet Runner Beans, *Nightshades (Tomato, Pepper, Eggplant, Potato), squash (Cucurbitae)

Let some of your veggies bloom for bees: radishes, kale, leeks, carrots, parsnips Extra bee-friendly herbage: cilantro, fennel and dill

Warning: Don’t plant Sainfoin (Onobrychis spp.)—I have recently found out that it is invasive in Alberta. Creeping bellflower is also invasive.

Sources and Recommended Reading:

Blazing Star Wildflower Seed Company: https://www.growwildflowers.ca/

Local native plants and seed nursery: http://www.wildaboutflowers.ca/

Native Plants for the Short Season Yard by Lyndon Penner. (This is a must-have book for the Albertan bumblebee gardener!!!!)

Victory Gardens for Bees: A DIY Guide to Saving the Bees by Lori Weidenhammer

List of Saskatchewan bumble bee species: http://beespeakersaijiki.blogspot.com/2017/11/saskatchewan-bumblebees-species-list.html

BB’s of Southern Alberta Guide to Queens by Megan Evans 17 true bb’s and 3 cuckoo bbs.

https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$Department/deptdocs.nsf/all/prm13779/$FILE/bombus_guide.pdf

Bumble Bees of Calgary: A key and illustrated guide for identification of the bumble bee species found in Calgary, Alberta

Neame, Tobyn; Ritchie, Sarah; Summers, Mindi

https://prism.ucalgary.ca/bitstream/handle/1880/113505/Bumble_Bees_of_Calgary_V1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide

Paul H. Williams, Robbin W. Thorp, Leif L. Richardson, and Sheila R. Colla

Bumble bees of the western U.S. (I use this a lot)

https://xerces.org/publications/identification-and-monitoring-guides/bumble-bees-of-western-united-states

Conserving Bumble Bees: Guidelines for Creating and Managing Habitat for America’s Declining Pollinators by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. (This is available online for free.)

https://xerces.org/sites/default/files/2018-05/12-028_01_XercesSoc_Conserving-Bumble-Bees-Guidelines_web.pdf

Bumble bee nest relocation: A blog post

http://beespeakersaijiki.blogspot.com/2019/05/operation-bumble-bee-nest-relocation.html

Videos, Allies and iNaturalist Links:

Bumble bees of Canada Monitoring Program (You can search for your local bee sightings by typing it into the location setting)

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/bumble-bees-of-canada-monitoring-program

Bees of Canada

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/bees-of-canada

Native Bee Society of BC Bee Tracker

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/nbsbc-bee-tracker

Feel free to DM me/tag me if you want me to help ID a bee. (@beespeaker)

Allies:

Alberta Native Bee Council: https://www.albertanativebeecouncil.ca/

The Native Bee Society of British Columbia: https://www.bcnativebees.org/

The Oregon Bee Project

https://www.oregonbeeproject.org/

The David Suzuki Butterfly Rangers

https://davidsuzuki.org/take-action/act-locally/butterflyway/

Videos:

Sarah Johnson: Getting to know the bumble bees of western Canada

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5MvfzcXlqw

Lincoln Best: The Bumble bees of the Oregon Atlas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0dvvT46rtI

Monday, August 2, 2021

A Celebration of Bees and Teas in the Riley Park Community Garden

Welcome to our celebration of recent projects we've accomplished at the Riley Park Community Garden celebrating the plants that support our cherished neighbourhood pollinators. We sipped herbal tea made from the garden while this yellow-headed bumble bee drank nectar from this vibrant zinnia.

If you look carefully at the sedum around our pollinator border, you might see a tiny leafcutter bee supping her own sweet tea.

We have two new butterfly BINGO cards for you to enjoy, as well as the other cards in the series celebrating plants and pollinators. You can use these to have fund spotting and naming the bees and the butterflies and the plants they need to thrive.

We also have some really fun cards from the Oregon Bee Project about some of the beautiful species of bees that occur in the Pacific Northwest. Please check out their website for more awesome information about our local bees.

I took small group of people looking for critters to examine up close and we found some mating shield bugs int he Moonshine yarrow.

A thirsty female common eastern bumble bee drinks from the pearly everlasting flowers.

The fennel was very popular with a variety of bees, wasps, and ladybugs.

We found some very tiny masked bees that nest in stems. They are unusual because they carry pollen internally rather than on hairs on their body like other bees.

Teaching children to catch and release bees gives them confidence and helps them get over the fear of insects. This little guy was very proud of the bumble bee he caught in the jar. (I use plastic shaker jars from the dollar store. They have air holes at the top, which helps the children feel they are not suffocating the insects. )

And here's our favourite queen bee sampling some sweet delights from the community!

Children could also practise their netting skills by catching bubbles!

We're accumulating a nice collection of seasonal maps of the garden. Special thanks to Tom at Kapow Creative for the designs!

Selina created a beautiful seed table for folks to take home samples to plant in their own gardens. She also made the refreshing herbal tea we enjoyed.

Lunaria seeds are like small works of art.

And you can never have too many borage (aka "bee porridge") seeds! (-;

She's packin' lots of porridge for her babies!

It's that time of the year when we see bees napping in the garden. How many sleepy bees can you find?

And don't forget to plant some calendula seeds for Ms. Melissodes with the hairy pollen pants!

Even a little zebra spider joined in the fun!

Please check out our new David Suzuki Butterfly Ranger signs when you visit the garden.

Thanks to everyone who came as guest and for all the folks who help make our garden thrive!

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

A Gift of Pollen

A dark, velvety Andrena mining bee landed on my hand and proceeded to groom. It was a beautiful interaction. In the final picture of the series you can see the gift of pollen she left on my hand as a little gift.

Saturday, April 10, 2021

Cool iNat Projects: Bees and Beyond!

Here's a list of cool iNaturalist Projects to check out:

British Columbia

NBSBC Bee Tracker (Native Bees of British Columbia)

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/nbsbc-bee-tracker

BIMBY: Butterflies in my Back Yard (David Suzuki Butterfly Rangers in British Columbia)

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?project_id=35874

Vancouver Island Bumble Bees

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?taxon_id=1020322

Edible Plants on Vancouver Island

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/edible-plants-on-vancouver-island

Biodiversity of Vancouver Island

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/biodiversity-of-vancouver-island

Bees, Wasps, and Stinging Insects of the Sunshine Coast

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/bees-ants-and-stinging-wasps-of-the-sunshine-coast-bc-canada

Bees and Flowers of the Central and North Okanagan

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?project_id=17676

BC Parks

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?project_id=32265

Washington

Washington Native Bee Society:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?project_id=89326

Oregon

Oregon Bee Atlas (Bee Pictures)

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?project_id=13014

Oregon Bee Atlas (Plant Pictures)

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?project_id=18521

Bumble Bees of the Willamette Valley

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/bumble-bees-of-the-willamette-valley

Alberta:

Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/glenbow-ranch-provincial-park

The Urban Flora of Lethbridge, AB

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/the-urban-flora-of-lethbridge-alberta

University of Lethbridge Campus Flora

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?project_id=767

Lepidoptera of Alberta

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?project_id=lepidoptera-of-alberta

Biodiversity of Alberta

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?project_id=29564

Alberta Parks

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?project_id=67720

Ontario

Bumble Bees of Ontario

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/bumble-bees-of-ontario

“Extra points for anyone that can submit observations of the three at risk bumble bee species: Rusty-patched (Bombus afinis), Gypsy Cuckoo (Bombus bohemicus) and Yellow-banded (Bombus terricola).”

Bumble Bees of Northwestern Ontario

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/bumble-bees-of-northwestern-ontario

Canada

Bees of Canada

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/bees-of-canada

Bumble Bees of Canada

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/bumble-bees-of-canada-monitoring-program

More United States and Beyond

Bees of North America

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/bees-of-north-america

Cuckoo Bumble Bees (International)

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?taxon_id=538893