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Jun 23, 2021 10 tweets 7 min read Read on X
Day 3 of #PollinatorWeek and we want to highlight one reason why bee pollinators are important: they pollinate our crops and food!

Below are some fun facts about crop pollinators:

#PollinatorWeek2021
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With over 90 different crops relying on bees for their pollination services, we have to take a moment this week to thank a bee for the food on our tables.
#PollinatorWeek2021
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Here are a variety of crops that 50% or more of their yield is dependent on pollinators, we would probably not have these foods without our insect friends!
#PollinatorWeek2021
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Some native solitary bees have evolved very specialized relationships with crop species, like squash bees
#PollinatorWeek2021
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The alfalfa leafcutter bee (Megachile rotundata) and the horn-faced bee (Osmia cornifrons) are both managed solitary bee species that were introduced to US to increase pollination of alfalfa and orchard crops
#PollinatorWeek2021
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Blueberry plants are pollinated by many different bees including bumblebees and specialist like southeastern blueberry bee and two specialist mining bees.

Photos of Bombus and Andrena on blueberries by @NashTurley
#PollinatorWeek2021
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Generalist pollinators like honey bees are capable of pollinating many crops
#PollinatorWeek2021
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Some crops are not effected by pollinators at all (like corn, rice, wheat) while others can develop without pollinators but their yield is increased when they are around, like soybeans.
#PollinatorWeek2021
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About 11% of all crop value in the US is thanks to pollinators, and globally pollinators contribute about $300 Billion to agriculture. journals.plos.org/plosone/articl…
#PollinatorWeek2021
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A study of the impacts of pollinators on crops around the world found that wild pollinators increase yield in ALL crops systems while honey bees increased yield in only 14% of systems. science.sciencemag.org/content/339/61…

#PollinatorWeek2021
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More from @lopezuribelab

Jun 24, 2021
For day 4 of #PollinatorWeek2021 we are going to look at bee biodiversity.

Below is a thread giving just a small taste of the vast variety of shapes, colors, and behaviors among the more than 20,000 bee species in the world.

#PollinatorWeek

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In Pennsylvania there are over 400 species of bees, in the US there are over 4000.

A survey of the general public found that "only 14%
of people were able to guess within 1000 the actual number of bee species in the US" digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewconten…

#PollinatorWeek2021
2/n
Roughly 70% of bee species nest in the ground, that's true around the world, and here in Pennsylvania.
#PollinatorWeek #PollinatorWeek2021
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Read 12 tweets
Jun 22, 2021
It’s day 2 of #PollinatorWeek and we’re celebrating the queen bees and her hives, honey bees!

Below is a thread of fun facts about honey bees.

#PollinatorWeek2021

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Honey bees are eusocial, they live in hives of thousands of bees but only the queen lays eggs.

The amount of eggs laid by a queen in a single day can weigh more than her own weight!

#PollinatorWeek2021

2/7 Image
Honey bees can beat their wings over 11,000 times per minute, that is twice the rate of hummingbird's wings.

#PollinatorWeek2021

3/7 Image
Read 7 tweets
Jun 22, 2021
For #PollinatorWeek2021 we’re excited to showcase some fun info about bee pollinators, especially ones we work with in the López-Uribe Lab. Today is all about squash bees!

A thread: Image
Squash bees are ground nesting solitary bees that pollinate plants in the genus Cucurbita, such as pumpkins, squash, zucchini, and other gourds. Image
Squash bees do look similar to honey bees but ecologically they are very different. Honey bees live in huge hives and squash bees are solitary. Here are tips to help you tell them apart Image
Read 8 tweets

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