Joan Milam
Non Forest Service
My favorite experiences are catching uncommon bees throughout North America with fellow bee scientists (called “melittologists”) and identifying them in my lab. I especially enjoy catching bees that collect pollen from just one plant species, meaning the bee is an oligolege, and collecting cuckoo bees. Cuckoo bees are parasitic bees that lay their eggs in the nests of bees that worked hard to collect pollen to feed their young!
Learning about bees means that you also must know about plants (botany) and where plants grow. I also like catching bees on flowers that grow in a tree canopy of maple and cherry trees; that means putting traps up in trees as high as 70 feet! I enjoy giving public talks and workshops about pollinators to get people excited about the many amazing pollinators that live around us, including in city parks and backyards.
Featured from Natural Inquirer
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Lawns are a common sight in the United States. The scientists in this study found previous research showing that lawns mowed frequently or treated with chemicals had limited flowering plants...The Bee Frequency: How Does Lawn Mowing Affect Bee Populations?
Lawns are a common sight in the United States. The scientists in this study found previous research showing that lawns mowed frequently or treated with chemicals had limited flowering plants...
