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Come to our BABA March meeting to hear Tufts bee-searcher Nicholas Dorian discuss his research on the bumble bee life cycle and how such research can aid in conservation efforts.
Talk title: God save the queens: Assessing bumble bee conservation from a life cycle perspective
About the talk: Many bumble bee species are in decline despite efforts to provide flowers to growing colonies. It is possible, however, that other life stages are also important since little is known about how queens survive the winter and start colonies in spring. Specifically, my research in the Crone lab at Tufts seeks to 1) understand the effect of queen body size on overwinter survival and colony establishment and 2) explore the role of these life stages for bumble bee population viability. In this talk, you’ll hear my answers to these questions, learn why rearing bumble bees is rewarding (despite that you can’t harvest honey), and hopefully get excited to find bumble bee queens of your own buzzing around this spring.
About Nick: I graduated from Tufts with my B.S. in Biology and Environmental Studies in May 2016, and am looking forward to continuing my education at Tufts as a Ph.D. student advised by Dr. Elizabeth Crone this fall. Academically, I consider myself a budding population ecologist who’s enthusiastic about using both models and fieldwork to inform pollinator conservation. When I’m not studying and thinking about bees, I spend my time watching and photographing birds, gardening, and cooking.
This meeting is free for BABA dues-paying members. We suggest a $5 donation from non-dues-paying members to offset the cost of the meeting. Dues/donations go back to you in the form of educational programming and events!
Sign up as a dues-paying member here: http://www.bostonbeekeepers.org/membership/joining-baba/