The Buzz About Protecting Pollinators- Ongoing Research with the URI Bee Lab at AgInnovation

Portsmouth, RI- The end of 2023 marks the end of the first year of a project between the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, and the URI Bee Lab, to assess plant and pollinator abundance and diversity. This three-year study will inform ongoing and future conservation efforts on NRCS Farm Bill conservation program lands.

Casey Johnson of the URI Bee Lab states that “Native wild bees have declined in recent decades due to habitat loss, pesticide exposure, pathogens, and land use intensification. The implementation of pollinator conservation measures, such as planting native plants and limiting pesticide use, supports native bees and other beneficial wildlife.”

Through monthly field surveys of 24 different pollinator meadows in RI and CT between Spring and Fall over the course of three years, Johnson and the URI Bee Lab team hope to evaluate the efficacy of existing conservation plantings and provide data that will offer crucial insight into the local bee and flower relationships. Johnson says, “the ultimate objective of this research is to document the native bee species richness and abundance on [NRCS] Farm Bill conservation program lands, identify the key plant species that support wild native bees, and provide information for developing seed mixes that best meet the needs of RI and CT bees.”

One of the NRCS Farm Bill conservation program lands being surveyed as part of this project is at the Eastern Rhode Island Conservation District (ERICD)’s Portsmouth AgInnovation Farm (AgInnovation), created in partnership with the Portsmouth Middle School. Four separate surveys of the pollinator meadow at AgInnovation occurred between July and October 2023. In total, the URI Bee Lab team documented 69 bumble bees of four different species, surveyed 35 different flower species, and collected 384 additional small, wild bee specimens to be identified and cataloged in the coming weeks.

Of note, based on their initial visual observations, the team was happy to report that four yellow bumble bees (Bombus fervidus) were observed at AgInnovation over the course of 2023. Johnson noted that “the golden northern bumble bee is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN Red List and, according to a recent statewide survey of Rhode Island’s bumble bees conducted by the URI Bee Lab, is one of RI’s rarest bumble bee species.”

With one year complete, the URI Bee lab team and all their vested partners look forward to their 2nd year of surveying. The Bee Lab team hopes the weather will cooperate, so that they can get started even earlier this year and catch some of the earlier spring blooms and bees.

Learn more about the URI Bee Lab and their work by clicking here.

For more information on bee surveys and the value of collecting bees, please check out the URI Bee Lab’s FAQ on the subject by clicking here.

Photos courtesy of the URI Bee Lab.