Last Resort: Captive breeding for bee conservation

This week on the podcast we have a story about a last resort in bee conservation. It’s a story about the steps we might need to take to prevent a bee species from winking out of existence for ever. It’s a story about the captive breeding and intentional reintroduction of bees into the wild.

This is an idea I first heard about in my conversation with Sheila Colla a few weeks ago (Episode 4, if you want to check it out). It’s an idea that I’d never heard anyone talk about for bees. But it’s an idea – and a probable future – that we need to be talking about. Because if we want it to be successful, we need to be preparing for it now.

Elaine Evans from the University of Minnesota and Tam Smith from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service join me in this episode and graciously indulge my curiosity.

WEEKLY UPDATE
• Florida’s rare blue bee rediscovered at Lake Wales Ridge (Florida Museum of Natural History) https://bit.ly/3dLXHe9

• Microalgae food for honey bees (USDA) https://bit.ly/2T4Q6zm

• Researchers discover a gene in honey bees that causes virgin birth (University of Sydney) https://bit.ly/3cylRJ7

• Does urbanization homogenize regional biodiversity in native bees? (University of California, Riverside) https://bit.ly/2T6Fosl

GET INVOLVED
• Bumble Bee Watch https://www.bumblebeewatch.org/

• Queen Quest https://www.queenquest.org/

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Hit me up on Twitter and Instagram @bymattkelly.

Get in touch at tbr@bymattkelly.com.