Professor Gordon Frankie of UC Berkeley was an early adopter of urban beekeeping. A couple years ago, it was all the rage in the science news world: Colony collapse disorder. Bee populations declined upwards of 30% here in California, a decline that has continued without much fanfare into 2009. While scientists continue to find new clues in the mysterious affliction, a new trend in beekeeping is emerging, which QUEST recently covered in a radio piece: urban bee farming to build biodiversity and catalog native species.
Professor Gordon Frankie of UC Berkeley was an early adopter of urban beekeeping. In the late 1990s, he started the Urban Bee Project, an experimental project to document bee populations in the Bay Area. Gordon used this data to plant a bee garden right in downtown Berkeley (how he managed to get approval of that is mystery to me). The project has catalogued over 80 species of native bees, a number expected to grow well over 100. Gordon has even used the research to create a bee-friendly garden builder.
Gordon will discuss the Urban Bee Project at the next East Bay Science Café. In addition, there are a whole host of local beekeeping organizations that offer educational events.
Native Bees: A rich natural resource in urban California gardens
When: Wednesday, September 2nd 2009