October 2022
As the leaf turns…
…the pace of the Atlas slows down a bit. The Roundup will be published roughly once a month until spring bee activity heats up again.
Watch for time-sensitive news by email in between issues of the Roundup. Recent emails announced several microscope opportunities around the state — get the details below in the Team News section. Don’t forget Catch A Buzz on TUESDAY, October 4th!
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
Cottonwood canyon campout caps off a categorically crazy cool collection close-out
Crazy cool in the “wow, those are awesome landscapes way”. In a temperature way, it was rather crazy hot, but not too hot for a wonderful group of intrepid bee collectors. Led by Sarah Gardner, the group found Perdita on buckwheat, Lasioglossum on wire lettuce, Anthophora on snakeweed and incredible beauty in the night skies and wide open landscape.
Photos below are courtesy of Rachel Phariss, Ellen Silva, Sarah Gardner,
The landscapes were wide open. Flowers were a bit scarce, but buckwheat was in strong bloom and sunflowers popped up here and there; the rabbitbrush was just getting going.
As always, half the fun was seeing wildlife beyond bees. Of course, the bees were awesome.
thank you, NW naturals!
This just in - NW Naturals has announced winners of their new Conservation Champions award — and the Oregon Bee Atlas is one of them! The three-year award includes an annual cash grant, in-kind resources and multi-level organizational engagement and activation. OBA will receive funding which, according to Andony, will help develop our data into a tool that will help anyone who wants to match the best plants in their region to the bees that live there. Bonneville Environmental Foundation’s “CE – Clean Energy, Bright Futures” program also received an award. Many, many thanks to NW Naturals and to member Michael O’Loughlin who helped bring OBA to their attention. This new award follows up on a previous grant from NW Naturals, also catalyzed through Michael’s efforts. Read the full press release HERE.
OBA announcements
Catch a Buzz is moving!!! Catch it on tuesdays starting in October!
The next Catch a Buzz is Tuesday, October 4 at 7pm. To join, go to https://oregonstate.zoom.us/j/97230252365?pwd=TURyTXNMZ1M5SHl2TFQvajBxemtRdz09 | Password: bees
microscope training and open mic days are here!
MICROSCOPE TRAININGS:
Please RSVP here: https://forms.gle/V5Hu1qsFknXem7ZY7
Microscope training days are workshops run by Master Melittologist Program instructors or staff. These trainings are intended to be a beginner-level introduction to the basic use of microscopes, and a first step in the ID of your bees - it is not a comprehensive training on more advanced topics. We will assist you sort the bees in your collection boxes, and use the genus key that was included in your student manual. A checklist will be provided that you can work through at your own pace, with staff or instructors present to assist. Note: People interested in “Open Mic” sessions may also drop in to the Microscope Trainings and use the scopes to work on your bees.
Location: Agriculture and Life Sciences Building (ALS) on the OSU Corvallis campus in the Horticulture Teaching Lab, basement room 0012 *Alternate locations will be noted*
Parking: No parking passes are required at OSU on the weekends. Parking map: HERE
“OPEN MIC” SESSIONS
No RSVP required
These are drop-in sessions in Corvallis to look through your bees using the OSU microscopes alongside Andony (and maybe Linc). Location: Agriculture and Life Sciences Building (ALS) on the OSU Corvallis campus in the Horticulture Teaching Lab, basement room 0012 *Alternate locations will be noted*. Parking is same as for Microscope Training, see above.
no melittologist left unnamed, or at least un-name-tagged
Have you lost your official name badge? Or do you still have an older version (if you joined before 2020)? It’s easy to get a new one. Just email Jen Larsen and she’ll get you set up.
Calendar
Just a reminder that dates for Microscope Trainings and “Open Mic” sessions are on the calendar (see the Calendar of Events in Canvas and here). There are many dates available through the fall and early winter, arranged to avoid holidays and home football games.
People interested in “Open Mic” sessions may also drop in to the Microscope Trainings and use the scopes to work on your bees.
Team news
Columbia Gorge
We have picked a new date for the microscope session in Hood River, OR. The session will be on Wednesday, October 5th at the Extension Office in Hood River, OR 4pm-7pm. This will be a time for you to use a microscope to work on getting a species identification for your pinned bees. We will have a taxonomic specialist, Joe Engler with us to help assist us in identification as well as a reference collection that Joe has put together.
RSVP HERE
Contact info: Frances Fischer – frances@gorgefriends.org if you have any questions.
Central Oregon
Heike and Toni have organized a Microscope Training in Central Oregon. See below for their info!
We will have a microscope session with mentor Joe Engler on
Tuesday, October 11 10 am to 3 pm
at the OSU Deschutes County Extension Building
3800 SW Airport Way, Redmond, OR 97756
Bldg. #3, Tel. 541-548-6088
RSVP by clicking HERE.
PDX
We really are getting close to announcing some PDX area microscope days to be held one Saturday a month at Portland Community College, Rock Creek Campus. Watch for an email sometime this month.
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).
September is for rabbitbrush - need we say more?
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.
Green Rabbitbrush (Ericameria teretifolia) - Rick Williams, Bend (Sept 27)
Rubber Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) - Shawn Steinmetz, Union County (Sept 24)
Gumplants (Genus Grindelia) - Jeff & Michaela Warneking, The Dalles (Sept 20)
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 for Sept 7, 2022
(Martha Richards)
Upcoming Events: It's microscope season! After spending the summer catching bees (or desperately hoping to find bees), we now get to try to identify them. There are three September events posted in the calendar: 9/14 (Wednesday) in Hood River, and 9/17 and 9/24 at OSU (in Corvallis). There will be very helpful experts at these events to help you work through the keys and use a microscope effectively. Also, Andony is working on scheduling more OSU microscope days on non-football Saturdays -- watch the calendar.
Module 6 is very, very close to being released. No, seriously. Andony says it's actually coming out soon. Among other things, it will include information about how to record bee IDs on either the portal or the spreadsheet.
Q&A
Q: Does the staff have a preference for whether we enter our bee IDs on the portal vs. the spreadsheet? A: Not at all. There are pros and cons for each. If you enter your IDs in the portal, your determination labels will all be printed out in one single printing -- there's no print-as-you-go option. With the spreadsheet, the determination labels can be printed in separate batches as you work through your bees (within reason - batches should consist of a good number of labels). But spreadsheet users must use Microsoft Excel (the Excel spreadsheet has been specially formatted and other spreadsheet programs have not been tested for compatibility).
Q: If we have entered our bee determinations online (either using the portal or a spreadsheet), what is the point of pinning on determination labels, especially for people who are new to bee taxonomy and whose IDs might be wrong? Won't those incorrect ID labels just get in the way?
A: The hope is that Bee Atlas members will get good enough at bee identification that their determinations will stand -- some people have already gotten to the level where Linc doesn't need to check their work. You will need to get in the practice of adding your determination labels at some point, and now is as good a time as ever. Also, Linc is increasingly relying on student workers to do preliminary determinations and sorting, so our determinations may help them with their work (more than once, Linc has said that we're actually more accurate than we give ourselves credit for). Andony also let slip a secret: he said that even though Linc claims to ignore the labels when he's doing his ID work, Andony has caught Linc sneaking a peak at the labels from time to time.
Q: We have been receiving generalized feedback on the accuracy of our bee identification, but there are specific bees whose identification I want to have confirmed. I would really like to have a spreadsheet listing all of my bees, my determinations, and Linc's (or other expert's) determinations so that I can confirm my IDs or learn from my mistakes. Is that possible?
A: That is something that could be added to the individual reports that we receive. Andony expressed a reservation that OBA data represents a significant amount of staff and volunteer work (and money!), so we need to be careful about releasing the data because we need to be sure that the information is used appropriately and that the OBA, its staff, and volunteers are properly credited. But with that in mind, Andony will discuss with Linc the possibility of adding a bee-by-bee spreadsheet to the individual reports.
Q: When is the next Advisory Committee meeting? A: September 20th. There is a page in Canvas (appropriately titled "Advisory Committee") that lists upcoming meeting information as well as contact information for all Advisory Committee members. Anyone who wants to contact the Advisory Committee can either send an email to the whole group at atlas.advisory@lists.oregonstate.edu or look up an individual and contact them directly by phone or email.
The Advisory Committee is made up of a revolving set of OBA members and exists to advise the OBA staff and act as a sounding board for new ideas (thanks for all you do!). There's now a link on Canvas to the inner workings of the committee, including committee member bios, contact information, meeting minutes, and the 2021 Strategic Plan.
Listen in OBA members Susan Albright (shown), Martha Richards, Carol Yamada, Missy Martin, plus Washington County Master Gardener Ron Spendal in conversation with Andony on Episode 220 of Pollination Podcast. They discuss the joy of sharing information on native bees with the public and share ideas for planning a successful outreach event.
Something’s Bugging Bob
Would you like to earn some service points for looking at pretty pictures of native bees? We’ve been asked to help Robert O’Brien, an avid BugGuide contributor, figure out what he’s been taking photos of by looking through his submissions. If you think you can help, check his photos out under his username, bobobob, by clicking HERE. You’ll need a BugGuide account to make comments, by the way.