And suddenly it’s August…
After a flurry of collecting in July, with field events around the state, we’re now hitting that hot, dry part of the summer where collecting isn’t as productive or fun. But September and rabbitbrush season is coming, and in the meantime there is Bee School to keep many of us (especially Linc!) busy.
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). Please try and get your submissions in the Monday before publication.
In this issue
Field Notes
Full Steens Ahead
August Jackson, with generous and excellent assistance from Lincoln Best, led a wonderful field event on Steens Mountain at the very tail end of July. Here is a photo diary of the event.
Even before arriving at the South Steens Campground, flowers (and bees) were popping up everywhere. This is at the Chickamony Reservoir, now dry, but providing a lunch spot with netting opportunities between bites!
The dramatic change in altitude along the glacier-formed gorges of Steens Mountain creates myriad microclimates, thereby enabling tremendous biodiversity in flowers…and bees!
Collecting was as simple as walking along the road, or perhaps over a patch of remnant snow.
As always, an OBA outing is a chance to see lots more wildlife than bees and flowers. Yes, that is a black widow in the lower right.
Linc and Tanya started their fun ahead of time with a side trip to the Alvord desert where they picked up the trapline left by the O’Loughlin brothers a few weeks earlier. If ever you feel like complaining about having to pin dozens of bees, just think of the poor undergrads who are receiving these ziplock(TM) bags!
Camp was hot by day, cool by night, and lots of fun for the 7 attendees (August and his partner Amy, Linc, and 4 OBA members).
This is the only kind of pin-up poster in which your editor wants to appear.
After leaving the mountain, a new sort of fun — getting a close look at our bees. Heike and Ellen stopped at the historical and very comfortable Hines Pine Mill House Bed & Breakfast, which is owned by our own Shani Hodges and her husband, Roger. If you let Shani know you’d like a microscope in your room, she’ll oblige! She is currently offering OBA members a 205 discount, so maybe you need to get a trip to the SE in yet this fall?
Photos are courtesy of Lincoln Best, Heike Williams, and Ellen Silva.
OBA announcements
Catch a Buzz
Catch a Buzz happens the first Wednesday of the month at 7pm. To join, go to https://oregonstate.zoom.us/j/97230252365?pwd=TURyTXNMZ1M5SHl2TFQvajBxemtRdz09 | Password: bees
Where are the Squash Bees Now?
Participate in a unique opportunity to track a native bee expand its territory! Do this by checking out any patch of squash available to you for the presence of Eucera (Peponapis) pruinosa, that cute little honeybee look-alike responsible for so many pumpkin pies come November. First found in southern Oregon in 2018 by an OBA member, E. pruinosa has been heading north. How fast and how far will it go? We can help answer that question. Check out all the details by clicking HERE.
State Fair Outreach Opportunity - Answer the burning question of whether native bees and pronto pups can co-exist.
The Oregon State Beekeepers Association will have a booth at the Oregon State Fair this year. It would be great if some Master Melittologist participants wanted to volunteers in some time slots, and educate the public about native bees! See below for info and schedule.
Anyone that has the link can edit the spreadsheet (fill in their own names/contact info).
Everyone that is on the schedule will receive a letter from Bonnie King explaining the details in advance of the fair. They get fair passes and free parking, and water bottles are provided.
Contact Bonnie King, OSBA Chair (Fairs and Exhibits), at bonjking@gmail.com or 503-864-2100 with questions.
Click HERE for SCHEDULE LINK
Supplies getting low? Getting more is an easy ask.
If your busy summer of collecting or doing outreach has you low on pins or post cards, all you have to do is fill out a supply request form and Jen will take care of getting you what you need. For the form, click HERE.
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).
PDX
Jan and RB Buschman provided native bee educaton and fun at the recent Washington County Master Gardener Association Open Garden Event at the Portland Community College Rock Creek Campus.
Subalpine Mariposa Lily - Lori Humphreys
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.
Subalpine Mariposa Lily (Calochortus subalpinus) Lori Humphreys - Oakridge (July 21)
Rubber Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) Heike Williams - Harney County (July 29)
Roundleaf Snowberry (Symphoricarpos rotundifolius) - Katharina Davitt - Keno (July 29)
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.
miscellany (not to be missed)
Catch a Buzz Summary (Martha Richards)
The squash bee survey is still going strong, so if you have squash plants growing nearby, check the blossoms early in the morning and report your findings. The squash bee survey is a little different from the OBA survey in that they're tracking the zero data -- those times when someone looked for a squash bee but didn't find one -- as well as the bee sightings. Click HERE for more information.
Remember to keep checking the calendar of events on Canvas! Some events worth noting:
Bee school is almost here! It's going to be great!
OBA will have a booth at the Oregon State Fair August 26-September 5 and volunteers are needed to staff it. Talk about bees then go check out the livestock. Or fill up on cotton candy and fried food. If you haven't been to the State Fair, it's definitely worth a visit and this is your chance. See additional info in the OBA announcements section of this newsletter.
The Cottonwood Canyon campout is September 3rd-4th. It was a great success last year, so chances are good there will be some interesting bees again this year.
Bonnie Zand is leading a field training in Kamloops, B.C. August 27th -- rabbitbrush galore! Totally different from Vancouver's flora! Since it's probably a bit of a haul for many folks, she plans to make a weekend of it. There will be a Saturday potluck and more collecting on Sunday. Check the flyer on Canvas for details. (Even though Kamloops is in a whole different country from Oregon, everyone is welcome to participate in this event. Andony noted that in the future, they intend to announce these more distant trainings further in advance to give people more time to plan.)
There will be a collection event at Scholls Valley Native Nursery on Monday, August 22nd.
Ellen made us all very envious by reporting on the recent collection event at in the Steens.
The OBA has chalked up yet another new Oregon record: Megachile inimica. It's one of Oregon's three leafcutter bees from the subgenus Sayapis. It was found in Baker County and Linc said that OBA people, particularly the O'Laughlin brothers, have been finding a number of Great Plains bees in that area.
Andony is currently working out the details of how we will be recording our determinations. The process will probably be similar to how things worked last year, but there are still some things that need to be finalized.