October 2023
Boo!
We don’t really want to scare you, but we wouldn’t mind a bit more help. It needn’t be a big commitment; for example, Martha Richards’ summary of Catch a Buzz discussions has been invaluable. If you’d like to take on a section or be a roving reporter, just let us know! Email me at e.silva@comcast.net.
If you have any feedback or submission for Field Notes or if you want to post notes for your regional team contact Ellen Silva (e.silva@comcast.net). Photo credits are at end of newsletter.
In this issue
What kind of bee is a Halloween Bee??
scroll down to see!
Field Notes
Cottonwood Canyon Campout
In our third year closing out bee season at Cottonwood Canyon, this field of tents is starting to look like home!
How close does August get to the bees he photographs?
Another year, another great Cottonwood Canyon campout. Led by Joe Engler, who went fly fishing for a couple days thoroughly scouted the area before the event, we collected off a wider array of flowers at Cottonwood than in prior years. Evenings were spent pinning bees INSIDE the education building, followed by late night star-gazing (9:30 pm is late night for us).
Though it is admittedly HOT, HOT, HOT at Cottonwood, many of us did cool off this year by dipping our toes in the John Day River to cross over to swaths of goldenrod and gumweed. Later in the day, a few of us enjoyed sitting in the river up to our chins to cool off — highly recommended, so add a swimsuit to your packing list for next year.
Bees were abundant — Melissodes, Colletes, Perdita, and more, including the evasive Neolarra, collected from a slope where Perdita were observed coursing over the ground. Neolarra are clepto-parasitic on Perdita. This is only the 3rd or 4th site in the state where they have been collected, but Perdita are plentiful, so there must be more. Go find ‘em!
State Fair OBA Outreach Best Yet!
Steve Gomes
Last year, we worked with the Oregon State Beekeepers Association to join their annual outreach effort at the Oregon State Fair. This year, the Oregon Bee Project was given two tables for display and outreach materials. This is the largest annual outreach event in the state, probably reaching more people than all other events combined. We had a number of volunteers and staff on site through the week to answer questions for the public. Thanks to all who participated, the public response was great!
OBA ANNOUNCEMENTS
A special way to remember a special meliittologist, Jerry Paul, whose death this summer was felt by many.
Click here to download a copy of the event announcement.
Microscope training opportunities abound
With many of you coming to the end of your collection season, now is a great time to look through your bees and try and put genus or species names on them. This is not a mandatory task before turning your bees in to Atlas projects – there is a A LOT of value in a bee that has been properly pinned and databased – but it will deepen your melittological pursuits. We have a few entry points to learning to identify bees plus instructions for adding determinations to your bees.
Microscope Training: There are several in-person trainings available in Corvallis, along with a training in Vancouver, BC.
Lab Drop-Ins Replace Weekend Scope Days: Last year we offered weekend drop in sessions in addition to formal microscope training days. Attendance was low, so this year we have opted instead to offer lab drop-in appointments during the week at the lab in Corvallis. We can take up to two people at a time in the Corvallis pollinator lab and you will be able to work directly with our collection. This will be of particular benefit to anyone setting off on the journey to the Journey level. To set up an appointment to spend the day in Corvallis, contact our taxonomist, Lincoln Best via email: lincoln.best@oregonstate.edu
Determinations: Instructions for how to enter determinations are available in Canvas under the Resources and FAQ section, but also in Module 6. The great benefit of doing this is that you will get feedback on how your identifications are coming along. But also, the struggle to identify a bee makes you stronger (as a melittologist).
Catch a Buzz
Catch a Buzz is the FIRST Tuesday of the month at 7pm. The October Catch a Buzz features Kelsey Graham from the USDA who will be talking about the quest to find the Mojave poppy bee (Perdita meconis). To join, go to https://oregonstate.zoom.us/j/97230252365?pwd=TURyTXNMZ1M5SHl2TFQvajBxemtRdz09 | Password: bees
Here is the recording of the last Catch A Buzz with Jen Hayes of the OSU Garden Ecology Lab.
A Halloween bee is a HylAeus!
Always prepared for Halloween or fancy dress bee balls, Hylaeus bees are also known as Masked Bees. Look for small black bees with yellow markings on their face and integument. Do you have some in your boxes?? Would you trade them for a fun pack of M&M’s and a mini Snickers bar?
kudos and thanks are always in season
We must all be busy putting location labels on our bees as we have no new Kudos nominations this month. Remember you can thank another OBA member for kindnesses big and small.
Nominate your personal hero for going above and beyond and after approval by the Advisory Committee, a handwritten note will be sent thanking your special person. All it takes to get the process started is to fill out the nomination form found by clicking HERE.
OBA Keys getting a major update!
Lincoln Best, August Jackson and and multi-dimensional all-star team has been reworking the Oregon Bee Atlas keys for all bees to genera and male and female bumbles to species. There’s new wording, new genera, and new color photos that will make it easier for us to key out our bees. These keys are in final editing now and will be available in a few weeks.
Calendar
Team news
If you want to include your own team’s news in the Roundup, send it to Ellen Silva (e.silva@comcast.net) the Monday before we publish (typically, the 1st and 3d Monday of the month).
Columbia CountY kicks off the Bee ID season in style
Sorting bees can be a daunting task, especially for Robin Gill who had boxes of bees but hadn't gone to bee school or even a microscope training event yet and wasn't sure where to start. Bee Friends to the rescue! She invited several melittologists to come out to Scappoose and work in a space at the OSU Extension office to help sort and ID bees. For a good three hours the bees were oohed and ahhed over and then quick sorted by genera. Now she's set to take the next steps on sorting her bees. It didn't hurt that the treats featured freshly picked huckleberries!
The microscope training days in Corvallis are another great tool. In Septembery Andony and Linc took newbies through the steps from how to look comfortably through a scope,learn about bee anatomy, and then start thru the keys. If this is all new and confusing, see if you can possibly swing coming for a day in Corvallis.
The next OSU microscope day is October 28. Bring your bees, the apprentice manual you received this spring, some paper to write down what your bee is, and your curious mind.
I really learned a lot! I didn't get the bell rung but I can identify male from female, and in the next class I am hoping to be able to identify by species.
It was great to finally meet Andony and Linc and some great learners in the class too. Some came from a distance! One had over 800 bees collected!
I am looking forward to the next two microscope classes I have signed up for.
Wendy Thornburg - apprentice candidate
Gorge Area Microscope Day on October 30!
Interested? Please RSVP here.
Come out to the Gorge microscope session in Hood River on Monday, October 30th at the OSU Extension Office (2990 Experiment Station Dr, Hood River, OR 97031). The session will run from 4-7 with Joe Engler there to help with identification. Another session will be added if there is lots of interest. See you there!
PDX Team Microscope Days Start OCT 21
Location: PCC Rock Creek Campus, 17705 NW Springville Rd, Portland 97229 — Building 4, Room 104
Interested? RSVP here.
Dates: October 21, November 18, January 13, February 17
Time: 9am-1pm
Bee ID Experts: Joe Engler, Mark Gorman and/or Ellen Silva (one expert per session unless we have a large sign-up). Questions? Susan Albright, albright.becker@gmail.com 503-758-7197
Notes:
1. Parking is FREE on Saturdays (ignore the parking permit required signs).
2. You can park in the gravel lot in front of Building 4 or in Lot D or Lot E and walk to Building 4.
3. Bring your bees to ID, any reference books you like to use, and an extra light (if you have one). Microscopes will be set up in the room although you may want to bring your own scope.
American Asters (Genus Symphyotrichum) by David Schiappa
What’s blooming
Combing through iNaturalist over the last week, we note our volunteers have come across some great plants on the hit list or have found bees in areas of special interest. You should be able to revisit these sites. Remember to check the permit requirements for these sites in Canvas.
Yellow Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus) The Pedersons, Paisley, OR (Sept. 15)
Rubber Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) Lisa Robinson, Silver Lake, OR (Sept. 20)
Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) — Scott Sublette, The Dalles, OR (Sept. 21)
Please remember to include images of the flower, the leaves, and the entire plant with all your submissions. Only include images of the plants you collect on, not bees, in the Oregon Bee Atlas (Plant Images/Sample ID) project.
Beautiful bee, beautiful flower. An unidentified bumble on Gentiana calycosa aka Explorer's Gentian, spotted last month in the Wallowas near John Henry Lake by Jan and RB Buschman.
MISCELLANY Not to be missed
Missing the bees yet? Grab some OBA gear here and bee fashion forward this winter!
BEE WEAR – CONVERSATION STARTER
Jeanie Taylor
My squash bee sweatshirt is very cozy, so I wear it a lot. Whenever I wear it, I am always (always!) surprised by the effect it has on other people. Random strangers smile at me as I walk by, people behind me start up a conversation and I have to turn around to respond! Strangers address me in mid-thought, as if we have already been discussing bees. For example “Ma’am! How are the bees doing?” Or, “Thank you. (for volunteering for bees)” - This from a certain US Fish and Wildlife person who specializes in finding a rare/extirpated bumblebee, while we were in line at OMSI. I met a person I now work with on pollinator gardens because I wore it to a birding fieldtrip!
I think this particular message attracts the most comments. It’s graphic and friendly. Perhaps you all find the same effect with your Bee Atlas volunteer t-shirts. Maybe we should study this. Let me just say, the best thing you can do to brighten your day, meet new people, and feel good about humans, is wear your bee sweatshirt, preferably the one that says I HELPED OREGON FIND NEW BEES on the back. You might forget you are wearing it, and you will be pleasantly surprised by all the smiles and nods, and yes, bee comments you get. If, like me, you wonder why people are so nice today, don’t forget to check your garb, and remember you speak for the bees. People like that!
Jeannie is Yamhill County team and have been a Bee Atlas melittologist-in-training since 2018. She’s a plant person, but enjoys all the naturalist topics She first encountered bees studying Hackelia venusta (showy stickseed) reproductive biology for her master's thesis in Conservation Biology at the University of Washington.
Instructions for Donating to the oba
Would you like to help ensure the future of the OBA with a donation to the endowment fund? Start by clicking HERE and in the “I want to give to…” field, start typing “Jerry & Judith Paul Native Pollinator Endowment” and it should pop right up. Be sure to select this exact destination for your funds to get it in the right place. And thank you in advance!
Photo credits (all photos not credited are by Carol Yamada or Ellen Silva)
Header photo
State Fair: Steve Gomes
Cottonwood: grid gallery photos by Chris Stanton; other photos by Susan Albright and Ellen Silva
cartoon art by Carol Yamada
Columbia County events photos submitted by Linda Zahl
What’s blooming: David Schiappa