Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

Bumblebees and solitary bees are the native bees of Texas.

09— Compared to honeybees, native bees have far less interest in term of research and money and organized conservation.

That’s too bad because native bee populations are declining from loss of habitat and plant diversity, says TPW invertebrate biologist Michael Warriner. Should they decline significantly, that could further affect what you see on the landscape.

13— If decline happens, you may see over decades, fewer of certain plants. Maybe you don’t see that wildflowers as frequently as you did or that flowering shrub as much as you did. And they slowly just disappear off the landscape.

We can all help the native bee populations.

19—The landscape of Texas has changed so much that we’ve lost a lot of plant diversity – particularly of those plants that bees need for nectar and pollen. Even if you live in the heart of a city, if you planted just a few more good native plants that produce good nectar and pollen – you can help to support the native bees in those areas.

Find resources for supporting native bees at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today… Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
_________________________________________________________

Native Texas Bee Resources:

http://www.txnativebees.com/
http://www.beewatchers.com/bee-watchers.html
http://dallas.culturemap.com/news/food-drink/06-09-13-north-texas-farmer-garden-native-solitary-bees/
https://www.facebook.com/texasnativebees
https://www.facebook.com/texasnativebees#!/texasbumblebees