5/14/21 - Blueberries

Everyone loves blueberries, right? Well in the bee world they are more polarizing since the long, deep flowers make it hard for some species to access the nectar. Other species however, are well-suited to blueberry flowers and are rarely found away from them. Wild blueberries in VT belong to a number of different species, but from the bees perspective it seems soil type is more important than blueberry species. Blueberries growing over sandy soil are likely to support the highest number of specialists, while blueberries in swamps might only be visited by species that nest in above ground cavities. This is one case where garden varieties might be as good or better than the wild thing. The UVM study below found that commercial blueberry farms support a wide range of specialist bees and that wild bees are economically important for pollination. Despite all the work that has been done with bees and blueberries, we still have a lot to learn, and there are several blueberry specialists that we are yet to find in VT, but likely occur here. They could be hiding in your backyard!

UVM Study: https://tinyurl.com/5d5mpafy
Learn more about Blueberry Bees: https://val.vtecostudies.org/projects/vtbees/blueberries/

Posted on 14 de maio de 2021, 11:53 PM by beeboy