Members Meetings
Why Should We Care About Native Bees?
March 25, 2020 at 7:30 pm
Speaker: Gordon Frankie
Location: Garden Room, Orinda Public Library
Did you know there are 1,600 different bee species in California? That amounts to 40% of all bee species in North America. The reason for the high number can be realized by looking at the incredibly diverse landscapes of California and their representative plant species. We have more than 5,100 flowering plant species (angiosperms) in the state, and most provide pollen and nectar resources for the bees. We have modified California landscapes over years of use for human needs, but still we can find bees in these areas; not as many as before, of course. One of the landscapes where we can often find rich collections of bee species is the urban environment, and in California these areas continue to grow, and residents continue to unknowingly install bee plants in their gardens. The Urban Bee Lab at UC Berkeley specializes in researching bee-flower relationships in these gardens and adjacent agricultural and wild areas. Dr. Frankie’s talk will focus on the diversity of projects his lab is working on, and how the lab also shares its findings with several audiences.
Gordon Frankie is a professor and research entomologist at the University of California, Berkeley. His specialty is behavioral ecology of solitary bees in wildland, agricultural, and urban environments of California and Coast Rica, and he is particularly involved with questions of how people relate to bees and their plants in these environments, and how to raise human awareness about bee-plant relationships. Dr. Frankie also teaches conservation and environmental problem solving at UC Berkeley. More information on his projects can be found at www.helpabee.org.
East Bay CNPS members meetings are free of charge and open to everyone. This month’s meeting takes place in the Garden Room of the Orinda Public Library at 26 Orinda Way, Orinda 94563, a few blocks from the Orinda BART station. The Garden Room is on the second floor of the building, accessible by stairs or an elevator. Email programs@ebcnps.org if you have questions.
East Bay Chapter members meetings are great for:
- Virtually visiting beautiful and interesting places
- Being inspired by conservation challenges and success stories
- Meeting people who share your interests
Our meetings are always free and open to everyone, members and nonmembers alike. We meet at 7:30 pm on the fourth Wednesday evening of the month in January-May and September-November, with a slight adjustment in the schedule to avoid Thanksgiving week. Most of our meetings take place at the Orinda Library, which is centrally located in our two-county chapter area.
We welcome your ideas for topics or speakers (some of our best programs have come from members’ suggestions). You can contact us at programs@ebcnps.org.