#781: Pollination: Wildflower Remnant Habitat for Bees
Bees play a vital role in agriculture because they pollinate flowering crops like alfalfa, flax, blueberries and tomatoes.
Dr. Jessamyn Manson is a bee researcher at the University of Alberta.
She’s working with Alberta Innovates and the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute to better understand the ecology of wild bees in Alberta.
One concern is habitat for bees.
DR JESSAMYN MANSON: So when it comes to canola, canola actually does provide food for bees which is very important. It provides nectar and pollen but it only provides food for bees for a short window of time – when it’s in bloom. And so one of the things that’s really important is to have what we call wildflower remnant or natural habitat remnants near these canola fields. Those natural habitat remnants can provide other sources of forage that also flower for longer periods of time, but they can also provide habitat, so nesting sites, which are really critical for pollinators. So one of the things we’re hoping to look at in our next study, is trying to determine how much of that natural habitat is necessary to support healthy pollinator populations.
While canola is self-pollinating, Dr. Jessamyn Manson suggests bees may improve its yield by up to 40 percent.
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Program Date: 2016-05-12