Citizen science: Protecting pollinators one count at a time

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Emily Davenport: 0:01

Welcome to Cultivating Curiosity, where we get down and dirty with the experts on all the ways science and agriculture touch our lives, from what we eat to how we live. I'm Emily Davenport.

Jordan Powers: 0:12

And I'm Jordan Powers. And we're from the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

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Jordan Powers: 0:21

We are here with Becky Griffin, community and school garden coordinator within the Georgia Center for Urban Agriculture. Becky, thanks for joining us today.

Becky Griffin: 0:28

Thanks for having me.

Jordan Powers: 0:29

Can we start with you telling us a little bit about your background?

Becky Griffin: 0:32

I grew up loving agriculture, like many people that end up in our field do. I have a bachelor's degree from Kennesaw State University in biology with a minor in chemistry, and I went on and did some things after that and went back when I was 50 to get my master's degree at UGA, so I can officially be a dawg. And I have two wonderful children - neither one followed in my footsteps - and a very patient Extension husband.

Jordan Powers: 0:56

Love it. I also love to hear going back to get your master's at 50. There's always time to become a dawg.

Emily Davenport: 1:01

There is always time.

Becky Griffin: 1:02

Oh, yeah. That's right.

Emily Davenport: 1:03

How did you become interested in pollinators?

Becky Griffin: 1:05

My whole life. I can't remember a time where I wasn't fascinated by bees. So I grew up in a really small town, Powder Springs, Georgia, which isn't so small anymore. But at the time, there was one public library with just a few volumes. And one of those was on bees. And I must check that book out a dozen times. I would love to have that book. You know, with that little card, you know, with my name many, many times.

Emily Davenport: 1:26

Oh, yeah.

Jordan Powers: 1:26

All the stamps.

Becky Griffin: 1:27

Yes. Overdue, overdue. So, from the very beginning, I've just been fascinated by insects and how they work.

Jordan Powers: 1:34

And we know that that's obviously a big part of your role as a community and school garden coordinator. Can you tell us a little bit about what that role looks like?

Becky Griffin: 1:41

Well, I'm very blessed. I get to work with all of our amazing agents across the state, and I help them with those clients. So if they are approached by an administrator from a school or county commissioner saying ""we want a community garden" or "help us start a school garden," I provide resources and help to make that happen so that the agents aren't totally overwhelmed with all of those duties.

Emily Davenport: 2:02

Aside from working with schools and agents, what might a day to day look like for you?

Becky Griffin: 2:08

Well, it could be recording a podcast

Everyone: 2:11

[laughter]

Becky Griffin: 2:11

or it could be, this morning we taped a Georgia Public Broadcasting show.

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Jordan Powers: 2:16

Becky was recording content for Georgia Public Broadcasting's Pollinators Live program, a half hour interactive event developed for school aged kids. This program is now available on demand. We'll add a link in the show notes.

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Becky Griffin: 2:30

It is usually answering a lot of agent questions, working on publications. I love working with young agents to help them in their career. So it could be that I'm helping them develop a publication. I could be visiting school gardens. I'm housed at the Georgia Mountain Research and Education Center in Blairsville. I'm the apiarist there, and I just got word that I had a swarm this morning while I wasn't there, so it could be maintaining the bees or helping out there where I can, giving presentations and lectures and workshops and developing those, working with 4-H agents and 4-H specialists. So every day is different, which is one of the things I love about my job.

Jordan Powers: 3:07

Absolutely. And we had a chance to go visit you up in Blairsville last year, our team here at the Office of Marketing and Communications and what a beautiful place to call home base.

Becky Griffin: 3:15

Oh, it is definitely beautiful.

Jordan Powers: 3:16

You just said something just now you said you have a swarm of bees while you weren't there. What does that mean for someone who's not in the industry?

Becky Griffin: 3:23

That means that I had a very successful beehive full of Russian bees actually, little feisty buggers, they thrived during the winter. And that means that I attempted to split the hive, which means creating a swarm for them. But basically what it means is too many bees getting too full in their hive, so we're going to divide out. And it's how they naturally divide if they're out in the wild. But if I was there, I could capture that swarm and bring it back, and then it's extra bees but since I'm not there, I don't want anybody getting stung or messing with them so I said, let them go, they'll find a home.

Jordan Powers: 3:58

Aww. Off on an adventure.

Becky Griffin: 4:02

That's right.

Emily Davenport: 4:02

Traveling bees. How do you get them to stay in in the hive once you've captured them?

Becky Griffin: 4:07

Try and treat them really nice. Say nice words to them, whisper sweet instructions. It's just providing a home for them that they're happy in. And I knew this hive was was expanding outside their range so I tried to split them, but they did not respond to that so that lure to hive and reproduce that way is very strong.

Jordan Powers: 4:25

Sounds like a toddler. Like, I won't do this when you want me to do it.

Becky Griffin: 4:28

Oh yeah.

Jordan Powers: 4:29

But then you're not looking and then I'm gonna run.

Becky Griffin: 4:31

Having raised two daughters is why I'm pretty good at beekeeping.

Everyone: 4:34

[laughter]

Emily Davenport: 4:37

Well, we're really big fans of the Great Southeast Pollinator Census.

Becky Griffin: 4:40

And I appreciate that very much.

Emily Davenport: 4:42

Yeah. So tell us about the history of this annual event and how it's changed over the years.

Becky Griffin: 4:47

Sure. So as the community and school garden coordinator, I was traveling around looking at a lot of gardens, especially community gardens, and I was finding a lot of really great gardeners. They knew a lot about plant choice, they knew about soil health. They didn't know enough about entomology. Every bug they saw was a bug, was a pest. At the same time, I was working with school gardeners and finding that our teachers, when they were in college learning to become wonderful teachers weren't really exposed to entomology. So more likely than not, they are not interested in teaching about insects, and it's more like, ew, it's a bug. So I was on a long drive from Tifton thinking about these things, and came up with this idea to do this census. So it had three prongs. The first one is to teach people about these bugs, these insects. Why are they valuable? How can I have them in my yard doing great things for me? How can I develop skill set within my students? And I also thought, well, we could also teach people how to sustainably create pollinator habitat. Georgia is a beautiful state, we have a lot of people moving in here. And they want to tell me that I don't know how to create a pollinator garden. And they're going to teach me by bringing in plants they grew in Minnesota or California. They don't do well here. So sustainable pollinator garden means you are planting things with limited inputs, limited water, they survive our droughts we have in the summer. So that's what we're encouraging people to do with that goal. And then of course, lastly, to generate pollinator population data. And as we thought through this, and I talked to researchers at UGA, researchers in other colleges, looking at how I can make it easy for people to do the census, but still generate data that's useful. I had to marry those two things. So they were very helpful. We did two years of pilot projects in 2017 and 2018. And then 2019 was the very first all-state census and I was on pins and needles, and we were worried as you upload counts, were the computers gonna hold? What if nobody counted? You know, but it was a lot of fun. And I can't express how much joy this census gives me. At the end of each census, I will get people that call me and say, "I had no idea. I had no idea of the diversity and number of insects in my own garden. And I've been gardening for fill-in-the-blank number of years." And that person becomes a pollinator advocate and they are out in their neighborhood saying, "you need a pollinator garden and here's how you do it." So it's been a big reward for me. The big news is, of course last year, South Carolina joined the census through my good friend Amy Dabbs, who does my job at Clemson University. This year, North Carolina is joining the census through North Carolina A&T as well as NC State. And then in 2024, Florida will be joining. And I have to tell you a little about that because I am a rabid Bulldog football fan, which means I'm already getting my hackles up talking about working with Florida, right? So this is all in joking. But when we talked together, we agreed not to talk football. But last time I was in the Tate Center, I got a picture of the oar. So you know, the oar is what we get when we win and if they win, they get it. It's of course housed here. And I took a picture and sent it down and got no response.

Emily Davenport: 8:10

Uh-oh.

Becky Griffin: 8:10

So I may have crossed the line.

Jordan Powers: 8:13

Uh-oh.

Becky Griffin: 8:13

But no, that's all in jest. We get along very well. And they're excited to join this effort with us. And it's going to be a lot of fun.

Jordan Powers: 8:19

Talk about a lasting impact of the work and inspiring so many pollinator advocates. Speaking of excitement, what are you the most excited about for this year's pollinator census, other than the new states joining?

Becky Griffin: 8:30

I mean, people say to me, aren't you tired of this project yet? No! You know, I have new people who are counting. I have new people that I've met, new businesses that are counting. Every year more and more people join. I have added new resources for educators. So I've been spending a lot of time with teachers, helping them meet their needs, so they can have this no-cost STEM program. So I'm very excited about what they do with it. I was invited to speak at OLLI or retired people.

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Jordan Powers: 8:59

OLLI stands for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and is a learning and social community for adults 50 and over hosted at the University of Georgia. We'll add a link in the show notes if you're interested in learning more.

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Becky Griffin: 9:11

They said, well, we would like you to speak, and I said, well, which part of the census do you want me to speak about? And someone else was speaking on the census. Someone I didn't even know. And that makes me so excited because that means people are taking ownership of the project. If it were just me and my laptop, it would have never been the success it is. People are excited. They're taking ownership. They're making it their own census, which is what I wanted from the very beginning.

Emily Davenport: 9:37

Last year you were at the governor's mansion to count. What was that like?

Becky Griffin: 9:41

It was wonderful. I didn't realize Marty Kemp was such a pollinator advocate. She has done so much over at the governor's mansion. She's planted in new gardens. She has bees there. And she's such a really neat, approachable person. It was just a wonderful afternoon. I felt honored that she carved out the time for us and she really not only counted with us and carved out part of her day, but she also advocates for the Census as well. So that was really a feel-good day for me, I really enjoyed being with her,

Jordan Powers: 10:10

How are scientists and researchers using the data that's being collected?

Becky Griffin: 10:14

Well, that's interesting. And this is a tricky one. I know they're using it for economic pollination valuation studies. So what that means is they can actually put a value, an economic dollar figure, on pollination services. And if you think about it, we grow a lot of watermelon in the state and watermelon has to have a pollinator because the female flower is on one part of the plant while the male flower's on another. If we do not have pollinators, then we're out hand pollinating and having to buy a very expensive watermelon. So they can actually use their magic and figure out how much that means in dollar value. So I know that they're looking at what pollinators are in what parts of our state and using that in their formulation of how much these pollinators are worth. So I know that's going on. I know that some researchers that are studying pollination habitat will use pollinator criteria to actually look at different pollinator gardens and maybe do a before they planted certain things, and then an after to see what kind of impact it's making. I do know that since we started the census, we got really lucky here. And we include flies, and more research is coming out on the importance of hoverflies, which are the tiny little flies that look like bees, they're bee mimics, and their role in pollination of our crops. And we are the only census that I know of in the United States that's actually looking at flies. So I'd like to say that was my my brain thinking ahead, but it was pure luck that we chose flies.

Jordan Powers: 11:43

Shh, we won't tell.

Becky Griffin: 11:44

Yeah, don't tell. So I know it's being used a lot of ways. Schools are using it. One of the neatest things is to be in a school, they have counted, they have saved their data from their students. They wait until I put on the website, the rest of the data, and they use it for math lessons. So the kids are using data they helped generate, that really does make a difference, and they're using it in their math lessons. And the teachers tell me, they love it, the kids are more engaged because they can relate to the data.

Jordan Powers: 12:12

Why was math not like that when I was...

Emily Davenport: 12:14

I know, right?

Jordan Powers: 12:15

I might be more of a math person if that were the case.

Emily Davenport: 12:18

And then when the student says, "I'll never use this in real life," you can say, "Look, you are, right now." I love a good citizen science project. How can our listeners participate in the pollinator census?

Becky Griffin: 12:30

Well, happily, it's not very difficult. You don't have to be an entomologist. If you are all by yourself, and you live on a little island in Georgia, and you're not going to be with your local Extension office who's going to have programs, you're not going to be with any of the other groups leading events, all you have to do is visit the website, which is gsepc.org. And all the information there on how to count is is right on the website. We have an inset counting and identification guide. We have videos, you can join us on our social media platforms, we post information daily. Right now we're learning about bumblebees, we have Fun Fact Fridays, which will help you learn a little bit more entomology, but it's very basic, you just count for 15 minutes and whatever insects land on your flower, you put into one of eight categories. And learning to differentiate between the categories is very simple. But it is also divided so that those of us who are entomologists, just a little behind the scenes. For example, we have a small bee category, and that is any bee that's smaller than a honeybee. Well, for the average person they're like, "I got that," you know, "I've figured out how big a honeybee is. Any small bee, I'm ticking that category." But for me and other entomologists, we know that a large group of our native bees like leaf cutter bees and mason bees fall into that category. So you may think,"Okay, I'm just got a small bees anything small," but for us, it's like, ooh, those are numbers about some of our native bees. And they're important.

Emily Davenport: 14:00

I can't wait to participate this year. I'm gonna go census my garden.

Becky Griffin: 14:04

There we go.

Jordan Powers: 14:04

I think this will be my first year participating as well.

Emily Davenport: 14:06

Yeah.

Becky Griffin: 14:06

I can't wait to see your counts.

Emily Davenport: 14:08

I know.

Becky Griffin: 14:09

I will look for them in August.

Jordan Powers: 14:12

And we'll add a link in the show notes with that information on the Census and how people can get involved as well.

Becky Griffin: 14:17

Thank you.

Jordan Powers: 14:17

So when you say the word pollinator we know that honeybees are often one of the first critters that come to mind. We talked a little bit about hoverflies. But what are some other pollinators? And is there one that surprises people the most?

Becky Griffin: 14:29

Flies I think are big. Because people the average citizen, you talk about flies, they're thinking, "I'm trying to eat on my patio and the flies are bothering me," right? So that is a big surprise to people. Wasps are another one. People are inherently scared of wasps. And I think it's just because we talk about them in such ominous terms. And actuality, the only time I have been stung by a wasp as an adult, is when one had died in my cabin floor and I stepped on him. So I see them and actually grow plants to attract them. As long as I'm not grabbing them, they're not interested in me. So wasps are a big one and I'll post pictures of wasps and I'll get, "ooh that's a scary black wasp," and I'm like, that wasp is doing you so much good in your garden. You should be saying, "hello black wasp, welcome!" you know? That type of thing. So the wasps are one. Everybody loves butterflies. I call them the gateway insect.

Everyone: 15:21

[laughter]

Becky Griffin: 15:21

Get you hooked on butterflies, we can move into bees. In actuality, they do pollinate but they're not like bees. Bees are the most efficient, best pollinators. So, you know, those are always the gimme. Carpenter bees, people have a love hate relationship with them, which is understandable. But they are amazing pollinators and they're out there. So I guess the wasp is the biggest surprise, and the fly as well.

Jordan Powers: 15:43

Yeah, but the carpenter bee is a contentious one. My husband's a hater and I'm always like, stop! Don't swat at them! They're doing so much good!

Becky Griffin: 15:50

But you can't have them eat your house.

Jordan Powers: 15:52

Precisely.

Becky Griffin: 15:53

You know, you gotta balance it all out.

Emily Davenport: 15:55

Yeah. And when they're out there buzzing around, they're so big. My kids hate them. Because they're so big. I'm like, they're not going to sting you.

Becky Griffin: 16:01

No. And the funny thing about carpenter bees is if they're buzzing in your face, and you see that there's a white or yellow stripe on the face, that's a male. They don't have a stinger. And so I will be out, like at the Atlanta Science Festival, I was out talking and these carpenter bees, they get right in your face. And it's, you gotta admire that. This little carpenter bee is defending his territory. Who are you and what are you doing here? You know, and he's so tiny. And he's getting on my nerves and I see the yellow face, so I grab and move him. And oh my gosh, those kids went, [gasp], you know, but I knew he didn't have a stinger. And although he has mandibles and could bite me, I took them off guard, so I just moved them away from my face, but it was like a little magic trick.

Jordan Powers: 16:38

There you go.

Emily Davenport: 16:39

The bee whisperer.

Becky Griffin: 16:41

Bee whisperer.

Emily Davenport: 16:42

I've heard rumor that some spiders are pollinators. Is that true?

Becky Griffin: 16:47

Well, technically, anything that moves pollen from the male part of the flower to a female part of the flower is a pollinator. So you're a pollinator when you're at work in your garden, when the bears in Blairsville roam around and they get goldenrod all over their face, they're pollinators. So technically, I could see a spider being a pollinator. Do they have a need for pollen in their diet that would have them be attracted to flowers? No. They're mostly predators who are out looking at those pollinators. What pollinators can I trap in my web? So technically, yes, they can be pollinators but that's really not what they're out there doing.

Emily Davenport: 17:22

Okay.

Jordan Powers: 17:23

I'm like still stuck on how fascinating, I'm like, technically we are all pollinators.

Emily Davenport: 17:27

My dog is a pollinator.

Jordan Powers: 17:31

Do you have a favorite pollinator?

Becky Griffin: 17:33

It depends on the year. You know, every year is a little different. I was really in love with the green metallic, the Halictid sweat bees a couple years ago. They're so beautiful and dark green and I was traveling around looking for sunflowers to take pictures of them. This year I think I'm pretty hooked on bumblebees. They're so cute as they fly and lumber round like big old teddy bears. And they are just the, they're built for nothing but pollination. I mean, if you knew nothing about pollination, and you studied the anatomy of a bumble bee, you would come away with, that bee has something going on there's there's a purpose for that bee and it is basically moving pollen. From the way their hair is arranged to their faces to the way they fly, the way their wings work. They are pollination powerhouses.

Emily Davenport: 18:19

The cutest pollination powerhouses.

Jordan Powers: 18:22

They really are. Can you tell us the difference between a honeybee, a bumblebee, and a carpenter bee?

Becky Griffin: 18:28

Sure. So let's start with carpenter bee and bumblebee because you need to differentiate those for the Census anyway. So carpenter bees, we all know what those are. If I say carpenter bee, you think of the thing, the bee that's boring into your home, but I want you the next time you see one to look at their abdomen, and that's the last segment and it's going to be bald. So an entomologist would say, that bee has a bald abdomen. Actually, what we can say is a shiny hiney. Right? There's no hair on it. And it makes sense if that bee is boring into wood and having to go in and out of a wood home that she built, hair would catch on those wood particles, right? So that's logical for us. Nature has made her a shiny hiney for her nest, whereas a bumblebee, and we've talked about how they fly like big teddy bears, they have hair all over them. So their abdomen is going to have lots of hair on it. It could be black or golden or even white. We say their rears are fuzzy. So they're about the same size. If you see one that's about the size you look at the abdomen and is it a shiny hiney? It's a carpenter bee. Is it full of hair? It has a fuzzy rear and it's a bumblebee. So for the census that is all you have to know. I'm not asking species I'm not asking is it a worker bee? Just, is it a carpenter bee or a bumblebee? Now honey bees are a little different. Honey bees once you see a picture of one which there are tons of them on the website, you will know a honey bee. It is much smaller than a carpenter bee or a bumblebee. It will have a pollen basket if it's a female so you'll, I often see them carry pollen on their hind legs. They don't have quite as much hair, but they do have hair around their face, which makes them extremely cute. The females will have stingers, the males will not. But most of the time you're going to see females, honeybees out and about. And once you see a photograph, you will not mistake it for a bumblebee or a carpenter bee.

Emily Davenport: 20:21

Well, going back to honey bees, this is a question for our honey fans. And tell us more about honey and maybe what impacts the taste of honey?

Becky Griffin: 20:32

Sure. So honey is made up of the nectar that the bees gather. They bring it back to the hive, and they deposit it in one of those hexagonal cells. It has been in their honey stomach, so when they regurgitate it, there's some enzymes in there as well. It's deposited in its cell and then the other bees will flap their wings to evaporate excess water till it's about 18% water, and then they cap it. And that's honey and they're making it to get themselves through the winter. So every single bottle of honey that you eat is going to be different, because you don't know the makeup of the flowers that those bees have made the honey with. And you don't know the quality of the nectar. For example, if we've had a really rainy spring, the nectar is going to be very watery. If we have some droughts, the nectar that the plant makes is gonna be very strong. And even though a bottle of honey will say it is sourwood honey, that doesn't mean that the only plants that those bees visited were sourwood. I mean, you'd have to really, that'd be a trick, for sure, but it means it's primarily sourwood and you don't know what other things were blooming. It's like wine or whiskey, it's going to be a little bit different every bottle. And every bottle is going to be really special.

Jordan Powers: 21:46

So is that also part of what impacts the color of honey?

Becky Griffin: 21:49

Yes, exactly. Ums sourwood's, a little darker, clover's a little lighter. So depending on what's in there. And honey judges can tell you by looking at at it, you know kind of what it is. I'm not that good yet.

Jordan Powers: 22:00

We got to come do a testing with you about a year ago and I'd say you were pretty skilled at walking through the different colors and flavors.

Emily Davenport: 22:07

Oh yeah.

Jordan Powers: 22:07

We all enjoyed ourselves quite a bit.

Emily Davenport: 22:09

We did.

Becky Griffin: 22:09

Well I'm glad. You are now honey advocates. And I'm hoping that you're buying honey from your local beekeeper?

Emily Davenport: 22:14

Mm-hmm.

Becky Griffin: 22:15

Excellent answer.

Emily Davenport: 22:16

Yes. Yes, well, the bee lab here on campus has kept some of us in supply.

Becky Griffin: 22:21

Oh, yeah. You gotta know know the right people and they'll set you up.

Emily Davenport: 22:24

Yes.

Becky Griffin: 22:25

Jennifer does an amazing job with that lab. I mean, she's a real gift to this university.

Emily Davenport: 22:30

And the honey is delicious.

Becky Griffin: 22:31

Oh, yeah.

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Becky Griffin: 22:32

Like Becky said, the UGA bee lab is an incredible asset and resource, especially for those interested in becoming beekeepers. We'll add a link in the show notes to their website.

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Emily Davenport: 22:42

So tell us what the deal is with organic honey.

Becky Griffin: 22:44

What the deal is with organic honey. All right, I have a little bit of issue with organic honey. Because in theory, then, what that means if you're saying it's organic, that every flower that the bees have visited would meet organic specifications. Unless you have hives in the middle of 25 acres that you know that has had no non-organic things done to it, I don't know how you can say that your honey is organic. And that also means that the way the beekeeper is keeping those bees, how is that beekeeper dealing with mites? How's that beekeeper dealing with any other diseases? Are they just not treating the bees to make them organic? Is that the best practice for caring for bees? So it opens a lot of questions. It's not as simple as saying, like, "this is an organic apple." You know, there's a lot more to it when you're dealing with bees that will fly five miles to get nectar and bring it home.

Jordan Powers: 23:39

Definitely adds a layer of complication to the process.

Becky Griffin: 23:42

Mm-hmm.

Jordan Powers: 23:42

So we touched on this a little bit a moment ago, but we know that not all honeys are created equal. And what are some of the benefits of buying local honey like you were just advocating for?

Becky Griffin: 23:51

Yes, well, first, you're supporting local business and local agriculture. And we all love that, right? You get to know your local beekeepers. So you get to know, how are they treating their bees? For me, that is extremely important. I know that my bees are first for me. Of course, I'm not a honey producer. I'm not relying on that income. But you want to make sure that your beekeeper is treating those bees well. They're taking care of any disease problems, they are being looked after, they're being put in pastures and things that have ample resources for them. So that's another advantage. And then local beekeepers are not heating that honey. They may be filtering some things out of it, which is fine, but if you superheat honey, you're taking away a lot of the benefits that you bought the honey for, you know, so buying local is definitely the way to go.

Emily Davenport: 24:37

So with your bees when they're not producing honey, what are you doing with your bees? Or are all your bees producing honey, I guess is another question.

Becky Griffin: 24:45

I do. So one trick for me that is kind of fun is you will never see apple honey for sale. And the reason is because apples bloom really early in the season and you want your bees to get that nectar and start building up their resources. So that they have food for themselves. Well, I work on a farm that has 2000 apple trees. And so one of the tricks that I try and do for the people that work at the Georgia Mountain Research Center is I will take a few frames of apple honey and make some apple honey butter or something like that. And that's something you're not going to buy at a store. So, you know, that's kind of fun to do. Even if I wasn't a beekeeper, and they were just out being bees, they would be bringing in honey for themselves. So the trick is, a lot of bees like our native bees, bumblebees, their life cycle is pretty much over at the end of the season. Bumblebees go through diapause. Only one will last. Whereas a honeybee hive is going to try and be a superorganism, you know, you remember that term from school. And they're going to get through the winter with maybe 2000 bees and build up strong again. Well, those bees got to have some food in the wintertime and they're not out foraging, it's too cold and there's nothing blooming. So they immediately start bringing in pollen, which is a protein source for their young, and bringing in honey, which is their carbohydrate source, to get through the winter. So they're always producing honey.

Jordan Powers: 26:06

You used the word diapause. For our listeners who might not know what that is, can you explain diapause?

Becky Griffin: 26:11

Sure. Most people have heard of hibernation. And it's usually when an animal's metabolism slows down and they get through the winter. Well bees go through something similar called diapause. And for a bumblebee, her body actually produces something like antifreeze, so she can actually go underground. She borrows under the ground, and her metabolism is very slow. And so she just hangs out down there until springtime.

Jordan Powers: 26:33

That's incredible.

Emily Davenport: 26:34

Yeah. That's cool.

Becky Griffin: 26:34

I mean, I'm telling you, the more you learn, the more you are impressed with insects.

Jordan Powers: 26:38

So as a beekeeper, how do you balance making sure your bees are producing enough to get themselves through the winter, but also enough for you to borrow some?

Becky Griffin: 26:47

I can answer that easy because I'm not dependent on the honey for an income. You know, commercial beekeepers are a different breed and they have to balance things out a little differently. And I have many friends that are commercial beekeepers, and we have discussions about this. And the people that I work with are always trying to balance. So they may say a lot of beekeepers have the rule that after goldenrod starts blooming, we're not taking any more honey. And part of that is selfish because honestly goldenrod honey is not very good.

Everyone: 27:14

[laughter]

Becky Griffin: 27:15

But that means we're getting to August, they've already started getting ready for the winter. Some beekeepers will say, for every two supers that are filled, I'll take one, you know, that type of thing. And then a lot of it depends on the weather. Are we going to be in a dearth? Are we going to have a period of time where we have no rain at all? And there's no way the bees are making honey because there's no nectar flow? Then you have to balance, am I going to have to feed my bees or how's that going to work? So it is always a balancing act. Every year is different. Everybody really has their eyes on keeping those bees healthy and happy. And so you want to take some honey for yourself, but you definitely want to make sure they can get through the winter.

Emily Davenport: 27:53

People don't keep bumblebees or carpenter bees, do they? Can you?

Becky Griffin: 27:58

Well, I like to like ask that question. Do they really?

Emily Davenport: 28:01

Do you want to?

Becky Griffin: 28:02

Yes. So there are some greenhouses that actually do have bumblebee colonies. And I did some research on bumblebee colonies that we brought in. So you can purchase bumblebee colonies, similar to you would a package of honeybees. And bumblebees make honey for their young, but it's not enough that you would ever harvest it or take it from them. But they do they do produce it. A bumblebee queen will produce maybe 200 bumblebee babies, so she's going to produce some honey for them. And some, gather some pollen for them. But it's not the same as caring for honeybees. Like, if you had a greenhouse you would never put... well, I hate to say never, but I can't imagine that you'd put a hive of 40,000 honeybees in a greenhouse. There wouldn't be enough for them to do and you as a person working in it would have to deal with bees in close proximity. Whereas bumblebees are not going to be quite so voluminous in their colonies. And they also do a lot of generalist pollination. So yes, that's the short answer. Carpenter bees, no, I don't know anybody that keeps carpenter bees.

Emily Davenport: 29:06

Unless they need a bunch of holes drilled in their house for some reason.

Jordan Powers: 29:09

Right?

Emily Davenport: 29:12

I didn't even realize that bumblebees were a colony. I just assumed that they lived solitarily kind of like a carpenter bee.

Becky Griffin: 29:20

No, they're a little different. What's interesting is we have over 4,000 native bee species in North America. So you can be pardoned for not knowing that information because there's so many and they're all a little bit different on, are they solitary? Are they social? How many insect babies do they have? And depending on what part of the country, it may be one generation a year or it may be more than one. So you are given a pass for not knowing that.

Emily Davenport: 29:48

I'll take it

Jordan Powers: 29:50

Four thousand.

Emily Davenport: 29:51

It's a lot of bees.

Becky Griffin: 29:52

Yeah, and what's really sad is they did a, I think Jimmy Kimmel did a man on the street interview and he asked, they asked, what do you know about pollinators? Every single person said, "honeybees." And we've got 4,000 native bees. But the trick is, honey bees have a advocate. They have a lobby, they have honeybee keepers, and agricultural producers will go to bat for them and try and get legislators to help them. Whereas native bee species most people don't realize do a lot of ecoservices for us.

Jordan Powers: 30:19

So we are excited to debut a new part of our show where we ask for questions from our listeners. We've been asking on social media the last couple of weeks in preparation for this episode. And we did get a few for this one. And the first is, do you recommend any particular flowers to plant for pollinators this season?

Becky Griffin: 30:37

So, yes. I tend to like native plants. They usually require less inputs from us, and they usually kind of thrive where they are. A good example is what got through the winter this year? Right? If you got through the negative 1.9 degrees, then I'm planting more of you, right? So the one plant that really thrived in my yard during the winter was the false rosemary. And that happens to be a pollinator plant of the year for the Pollinator Plants of the Year program out of the State Botanical Gardens, and I trial some of those up in the mountains and man, that's a winner. So look for that. I always will recommend milkweed because that's what the monarchs will lay their eggs on. I love our native asters. Some of them are purple, some are white, some are yellow. Some of our native sunflower species are beautiful. I'm a big fan of goldenrod. And downy goldenrod is something you could plant in your yard and it looks pretty manicured, you could get away with the HOA there. And you have to remember that goldenrod does not make a sneeze, it is ragweed which blooms at the same time, but is a different plant altogether. Also, a lot of those will be blooming in August when we have the census. So you want to make sure you have something in the garden that's going to be ready for counting in the census. Mountain mint is another one that was also one of our plants of the year. It thrives in any conditions. It's a native. Its bloom is not that beautiful, but boy, it is a nectar source for all sorts of insects. So when you go to the nursery, if you are looking for something specific, and you don't see it, ask them because if we want them to stock native plants like milkweed, they're not going to know we would buy them if we don't tell them that.

Jordan Powers: 32:21

Absolutely. We need to be an advocate for our pollinator plants. Yeah, and when you're talking about native plants, you use the word inputs. For our non agriculture-focused listeners, tell us what you mean when you talk about an input that a plant might need?

Becky Griffin: 32:33

Yes, an input may be water, a lot of our native plants can get through those droughts with very little water. Some of our other species have to be babied. And I don't want to pay a water bill to keep a plant alive. So if you are in my yard and you have been established, been there a while, you're on your own. I'm not hauling water to water you. So that's one input. Another input may be does it attract diseases? Is there powdery mildew? Is there downy mildew, are there things you're going to have to use a fungicide on? Don't want to do that. Are there things that pest insects that like your plant? Well, I'm certainly not putting insecticide on a plant that I'm using to attract pollinators. It's expensive, it's time consuming. It's not really a great use of all of our resources. And you really don't have to do it if you have good plant choices.

Emily Davenport: 33:21

Making a list of plants for my own yard.

Everyone: 33:25

[laughter]

Emily Davenport: 33:25

All right, another question that we got was what can this person do at home to help pollinators in their own yard?

Becky Griffin: 33:32

Very good. I love that question. That question makes my heart happy.

Emily Davenport: 33:35

Yay!

Becky Griffin: 33:36

Definitely create good habitat and learn what that is. That is correct flowers as we were talking about. Also, if you want to have native bees, what native bees are you interested in attracting? And do you have nesting resources for them? Some of our native bees like our cute little leaf cutter bee, she will look for holes that are already established. So she's looking for spent sunflower stems, spent blackberry vines, you know, pithy stems that she can build her nest in. So do mason bees. Bumblebees need something like right under mulch or in leaf litter. So if you are raking up all of those wonderful leaves and putting them on the curb, you are probably throwing away some bumblebees and maybe some firefly larvae as well. So just learning about what's out there and educating yourself, every year your pollinator habitat will get better. And every year you will see amazing new insects. And can I share a story about that?

Emily Davenport: 34:35

Mm-hmm.

Jordan Powers: 34:35

Please do.

Becky Griffin: 34:35

Okay, so in Atlanta near English Avenue, there is an old church. And the guts of the church burned down, but the bones of the church, the brick was still there. And they contacted the State Botanical Gardens and myself and some others and said, "we want to make that a community gathering spot. Could we put a pollinator garden?" So we did. Lauren Muller was instrumental in doing that as well as Jenny Cruse at the State Botanical Gardens. When I'm down there, I check on it. It had been around about four years, it's a pretty mature garden. I went to check on it, and I found an American Bumblebee. And that is considered a rare bumblebee. It's not an endangered bumblebee, but it's not common. And I was giddy. I mean, I was taking pictures and sending it to my entomology friends, am I seeing what I think I'm seeing? And this is the middle of Atlanta. So the lesson is, if you build it, they will come. And if you keep your habitat, you know, you have nesting materials, you have food source and the flowers, you have some water source, then they don't need to leave your yard. And they will keep reproducing. And then who knows, you may one day find an American Bumblebee in your backyard, and you will be sending me pictures. And we'll be giddy together.

Jordan Powers: 35:47

I love that. I just also love that I have a new person to be giddy about insects with.

Everyone: 35:50

[laughter]

Jordan Powers: 35:52

After we hit, you know, record off, I need to show you a picture of the bumblebee I found a couple of weeks ago.

Becky Griffin: 35:57

I'm all into that.

Jordan Powers: 35:57

Because I'm that person who's always taking pictures of them.

Becky Griffin: 35:59

Oh, yeah.

Jordan Powers: 36:00

And my five-year-old gets excited but my husband just kind of rolls his eyes at this point.

Becky Griffin: 36:04

I understand.

Jordan Powers: 36:05

So speaking of the gateway pollinators that we talked a little bit about, we hear that you recently went on a special trip to see one of the more popular butterflies, the monarchs, migrate.

Becky Griffin: 36:14

Yes.

Jordan Powers: 36:14

Can you tell us a bit about that trip?

Becky Griffin: 36:15

Wow. I mean, it was a trip of a lifetime. I mean, it's really hard to describe. We got to Mexico, it's in rural Mexico. And so these butterflies will fly to these fir trees in the middle of nowhere Mexico. And we don't know how they know to go there. There's still so much we don't understand, and these are millions, millions of monarchs. And when we got there, it was unusually warm. So they weren't in clusters on the trees, like you've seen pictures of, they were moving around. They were getting ready to migrate. So I would be walking on a path, they'd be in my hair, they'd be between my legs. And I don't know how this happened. But we got under the rope. So we got to go where the public usually doesn't get to go, whatever I did to earn that I am very grateful. Because I could turn a corner and be the only human that I saw and have these butterflies. And there were so many that if we cupped our ears, we could hear their wings. So the memorable moment there is we got to visit a local school and these kids grow up seeing these monarchs. They never see the caterpillar or the chrysalis because they're only seeing the adults that migrate there. And then they leave. So we're at the school and we have this typical, superior American attitude. What are you doing to take care of the monarchs? How are you taking care of the forest? You know, how are you preventing logging? What are you going to do as you grow up? One 6th grade girl, after hearing a lot of these accusations, looked at us and said, What are you doing? Because we're seeing less butterflies every year. What are you doing to keep those butterflies happy? What kind of resources are you doing? And I mean, all of us gasped and took a step back. And we were put in our place real quick. And it really made me think, you know, I'm always advocating for it, but could I step it up a little more? Could I work more with local nurseries to supply milkweed? And teaching people the correct kind? Can we work more in like the No-Mow Mays and just letting wildflowers go for these insects? So that was a moment I will not forget. And then of course, anytime I'm having a little bit of a bad day, I look at the video on my computer, and I'm transported back to Mexico, and all of those beautiful butterflies.

Emily Davenport: 38:25

Wow.

Jordan Powers: 38:25

That's incredible. And we will actually link maybe some of that video in the show notes so that our listeners can see what you're talking about.

Becky Griffin: 38:32

Great.

Emily Davenport: 38:32

Oh, I got chills thinking about that.

Becky Griffin: 38:33

Me too. And I've gone through it.

Emily Davenport: 38:36

Right?

Becky Griffin: 38:36

Yeah.

Emily Davenport: 38:37

Well, we've have covered everything from monarchs to honeybees, to all the other pollinators. What have we missed today? Anything else?

Becky Griffin: 38:46

Well, I want everybody to realize that they have a great resource with their local Extension agent. They know a lot about local plants. They know about natives, they know resources that are local. A lot of them will be doing events for the Census. So if you're interested in the Census, but maybe you're not confident in counting on your own, contact your local Extension agent, they'll probably have some events that they're sponsoring. So that is very important to make sure that you link up with them because they're just a wealth of information. I have nothing but high praise for all of those agents. And also want to make sure that everybody knows the Census this year is August 18th and 19th. So I look forward to everybody's counts. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we have a good sunny days, we had a little bit of rain last year. It's just going to be pollinator day in Georgia and across the Southeast.

Emily Davenport: 39:34

We're very excited for it.

Jordan Powers: 39:36

We love that. We will be out there ready to count and we will also link in the show notes all of the county Extension offices. So if somebody doesn't know where their Extension office is or who their agent is, they can find that information as well. Becky, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for coming down from Blairsville in the mountains to join us on the show today. We have learned a lot. I have a whole list of plants and bees that I need to go look up I'm like, I need to see what this leaf cutter bee looks like.

Becky Griffin: 40:00

Oh, she's adorable.

Jordan Powers: 40:02

We have a lot of resources and a lot of more research to do and we just we appreciate your time and insight.

Becky Griffin: 40:08

Well, thank you so much for having me. It's been a pleasure.

Emily Davenport: 40:10

Thank you.

Sound Effect: 40:10

[music]

Emily Davenport: 40:11

Thanks for listening to Cultivating curiosity, a podcast produced by the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. A special thanks to Mason McClintock for our music and sound effects.ind more episodes wherever you get your podcasts.