Bee Pollinators of Southwest Virginia Crops (revised 6 June 2010)

Clips of bee behavior (primarily native bees) pollinating peach, apple, blueberry, blackberry, and various types of cucurbits (squash, melon, cucumber, watermelon) and nesting. Dedicated to Dr. Michael Kosztarab, the donor of the Kosztarab Scholarship, an award presented to Virginia Tech entomology students who have contributed to the department's insect collection or to insect systematics. Film highlights buzz pollination, mating of squash bees, nectar robbing by carpenter bees, the change in behavior of bumble bees through the growing season (skittish queens in early spring to relaxed, probably workers, in late summer), pollen-packing, and grooming behaviors. Also shows Dr. T'ai Roulston marking a tomatillo specialist bee, Colletes latitarsis, after cooling the bee on ice, a technique that allows for capture, release, and recapture, without harm to the bees. Also, one clip shows worker honey bees forcing drones (males) out of the hive at the end of the season, somewhat like thoughtful advisors might push their grad students out when it's time...

I'd like to thank Dr. Donald Mullins for teaching me how to edit video and for encouraging me, along with all his students, to use various technologies to express myself more effectively.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• native
• bees
• bee
• pollinators
• non-Apis
• apple
• blueberry
• blackberry
• squash
• melon
• cucumber
• Andrena
• Osmia
• Bombus
• Peponapis
• Melissodes
• mining
• mason
• long-horned
• bumble
• nativebees
• pollination
• gardening
• Adamson

[gxlont04]

Very nice bee pollination variety and close up shots! Excellent captions too.

[MelittologyNancy]

@gxlont04 -- thanks for your kind note!

[JPSerences]

Wonderful shots and such a nice variety of bee species shown. Very well done!

Thank you!

J Serences

[MaidenInBlood]

Jajaja! That´s funny minute 3:40 - 3:44 gossip honey bees!. Great video =D

[cousin229]

I was given a Mason Bee house as a present and I am enjoying watching a few of them, working hard to set their nest in it.

Your video is beautiful!

Thank you for sharing it with all of us.

[ZachreyCA]

Thank you very much for the video! It looks like a lot of effort and fun went into this one.

[Tom6093]

I had a visitor in my apartment that was playing hookie from it's job today, I tried to coax it out my window, but it flew into my living room when I came close to it. So I was on my computer and it landed on my left arm. I then slowly walked to the window and said goodbye to the little guy.