Although not quite the bee’s knees, a three-year effort to conserve bee populations by introducing pollinator habitat in North Carolina agricultural areas showed some positive effects, as bee abundance and diversity increased in the studied areas.
Although not quite the bee’s knees, a three-year effort to conserve bee populations by introducing pollinator habitat in North Carolina agricultural areas showed some positive effects, as bee abundance and diversity increased in the studied areas.
But results of a study examining the program’s effectiveness also showed that the quality of the habitat played a key role in these positive effects, and that habitat quality could be impacted by the way the areas are maintained over time.
North Carolina State University researchers studied the effects of a N.C. Department of Agriculture program that installed pollinator-friendly flowers on 16 agricultural research stations from the mountains to the coast in 2016-18. Mixtures of planted bee-friendly flowers were evaluated for their effectiveness in supporting bee populations – with the goal of increasing the abundance and diversity of bees.
Read more at: North Carolina State University
A queen bee enjoys an agricultural pollinator habitat. (Photo Credit: Hannah Levenson, NC State University)
