Great Georgia Pollinator Census

Is the 3rd Annual Great Georgia Pollinator Census on Your Calendar?

by

The 3rd Annual Great Georgia Pollinator Census will be Friday, August 20th and Saturday, August 21st, 2021.  This event brings citizens scientists from across Georgia together for insect education and conservation.  Are those dates on your calendar?  Won’t you join us?

Why Count Insects?

Understanding pollinators and other beneficial insects is imperative to Georgia’s ecosystem and our economics.  A 2014 economic impact study by the University of Georgia determined that the annual value of pollination to our state is over $360 million.  Any home gardener who has tried to grow watermelon, squash or cucumbers knows that if there are no pollinators there are no watermelons, squash or cucumbers.

Learning what pollinators need, their habitat, is an important part of this project.  By providing a varied flower garden with nesting materials such as undisturbed ground, spent flower stems and leaf litter not only provides for pollinators but other beneficial insects as well.  These beneficials can help a home garden with some of the pest insect problems.

How Can You Participate?

  • Learn about creating a sustainable pollinator habitat by being a part of your local UGA Extension office programming.
  • Create a small pollinator garden or build the pollinator garden of your dreams (the bees will thank you!).  We have the resources to help.
  • Join our Georgia Pollinator Census Facebook group to share ideas and to learn insect identification.
  • Check the project website, https://GGaPC.org, for information on exactly how to count insects for the Census.
  • Plan to attend one of the events listed on the website to learn even more about pollinators.
  • Count insects on August 2oth and/or 21st.
  • Upload your counts to the website.
  • Know that you have made a real difference in pollinator conservation.

How is the Census Data Used?

The data collected from the Census will be used by researchers to spot pollinator population trends, economic valuations, and correlations between pollinator populations and other factors such as weather. By participating in the Census you are truly contributing to science!

I look forward to seeing YOUR pollinator counts this August,

Becky Griffin

Coordinator of the Great Georgia Pollinator Census

Garden Wasps – Where is the Love?

by

Bees have such a great reputation.  They are the face of pollinator conservation and we know how valuable they are in our food system.  But what about wasps?  Where is the love?  Wasps are also fascinating pollinators.  Did you know that wasps are the main pollinators of figs?

Your garden is full of beneficial wasps.  They dine on the pollen and nectar provided in pollinator gardens and are valuable pollinators.   They also assist in controlling grubs, caterpillars, and crickets.   Wasps provide important garden services!

Sadly, wasps seem to have a bad reputation.  They are seen as aggressive stingers.  This is not necessarily true.  Most wasps are nonaggressive and will only sting when they are grabbed or threatened.  These insects are beautiful and fun to watch.

Four toothed mason wasp

One example of a wasp you may see in your garden this summer is the four toothed mason wasp.  This wasp visits all types of flowers.  They are cavity nesters, laying eggs in small cavities already created by another wasp or bee.  They also use holes in twigs or hollow flower stems.  If you have a native bee home in your garden you probably have a mason wasp or two using those homes.

The female wasp hunts for soft-bodied caterpillars to carry back to the nest.  She will lay an egg and leave a stunned caterpillar next to that egg.  As the egg hatches, the emerging wasp larvae will consume the caterpillar.  This is a great service to your garden as you battle caterpillars that eat your food crops.

However, mason wasps do not differentiate between pest caterpillars and the caterpillars of beloved butterflies.  Gardeners do have a bit of control here.  Plant milkweed, parsley and other butterfly larval plants away from plants that wasps frequently visit such as mountain mint.  Otherwise, think of your garden as a whole ecospace and thank the wasps for their help in controlling the pests!

Scoliid Wasp

Another valuable wasp is the Scoliid wasp (Scolia dubia).  This wasp lives in the soil.  The adults can be seen on several flowering plants eating pollen and nectar.  The females lay their eggs in the ground.  At egg-laying time she will fly just above the ground looking for grubs.  When one unlucky grub is spotted, the wasp paralyzes it by stinging.   This grub is left with her eggs for the emerging larva to consume.  Grub control is another valuable service the wasps provide.

As wasps begin to appear in your garden take some time to appreciate their beauty and the services they provide.  Consider becoming more involved with pollinators by participating in the Great Georgia Pollinator Census in August (https://GGaPC.org).

 

 

Adding Milkweed to Your School or Community Garden

by

Leading up to the Great Pollinator Census we will be looking at the benefits of adding pollinator habitat to your school or community garden.  Today we will look at milkweed.

Common milkweed, Asclepias tuberosa, has a beautiful orange blossom.

Attracting Monarch butterflies to your garden involves including their larval host plant, milkweed or Asclepias, in your garden.  Common milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) is a popular milkweed with orange blossoms that frequently appears along roadsides.  The beautiful plant also provides nectar to bees and other pollinators.  Many gardeners feel that growing milkweed from seed is challenging and it can be.  However, there are a few tips and tricks that can help you find success.

Common milkweed seeds need to be stratified before they will germinate.  This means that they need a period of moist cold.  In nature, it is easy to see how this is accomplished.  Our winters provide the chill and the rain provides the moisture.  You can mimic this process at home with a few easy steps.

  • First, purchase some clean sand from your local hardware or craft store. Craft or playground sand will work.  Moisten the sand with water until you have a paste.  You want damp sand, not wet sand.
  • Add your milkweed seeds and mix them in the moistened sand.
  • Put all of this in a plastic baggie or jar and label it with the date.
  • Place this in your refrigerator for thirty days. Mark on your calendar the date the seeds will be ready so that you don’t forget them.   Once they have stratified they are ready for planting.
  • Lay the seeds across planting soil, not covering them.  They need light to germinate.  Use your greenhouse or home light set-up.
The rewards of growing milkweed are Monarch caterpillars!

For more information on milkweed join us on the Georgia Pollinator Census Facebook group or on @gapollinators Instagram.  This week we will be exploring milkweed types, ways to grow it, and how it benefits our pollinators.  Leading up to the Great Georgia Pollinator Census we will be exploring all types of pollinators and pollinator habitats in our social media groups.  This year’s Great Georgia Pollinator Census will be on August 21st and 22nd.  You can find out more at the project website:  GGaPC.org.

Happy Garden Planning!

The School Garden and Your Classroom Curriculum

by
Little Red school house

School is back in session over most of the state and with that school gardens are being used in curriculum. Hopefully teachers came back to a neat and weed-free space. In the perfect world, teachers would come back to crops planted and paths cleared. If neither of those is your school, you definitely have some work to do this year in building your school garden committee!

Over the coming weeks we will be exploring how to tie your school garden into your classroom curriculum. I look forward to hearing from you all on ideas that you have as well.

This week I want to make sure that all educators are aware of the Great Georgia Pollinator Census. This is happening Friday, August 23rd and Saturday, August 24th. This program is perfect for school gardeners. I have been working with teachers across the state to help them craft events for their students. All that is needed is pollinator garden or an area with several pollinator plants blooming during the census.

For fifteen minutes, participants count insects that land on a favorite pollinator plant and place the insects into categories:

Carpenter Bees
Bumble Bees
Honey Bees
Small Bees
Wasps
Flies
Butterflies/Moths
Other Insects

The Insect Counting & Identification Guide is found on the website and is the key to success with the project. The observation sheet can be printed and carried to the garden and actual counts will be uploaded to the website. You do not need a strong entomology background to be successful with this project.

Two years of pilot projects helped us refine the project and make it ideal for upper elementary through high school students. It fits in perfectly with STEAM curriculums. The website also has a special page for educators with ideas on how to use the census with your students. We also have a Facebook group, Georgia Pollinator Census, where educators have been sharing ideas.

Happy Gardening!

The Great Georgia Pollinator Census August 2019

by

August 23rd and 24th of 2019, citizens of Georgia will be conducting the first ever statewide pollinator census. This includes YOU if you live in Georgia! You will want to be a part of pollinator history!

We have been working towards this project for some time and even though it is still 14 months away, we want to make sure that every Georgia citizen has the date marked on their 2019 calendar. We have already been asked a few questions so I wanted to answer those most frequently asked:

What is the Great Georgia Pollinator Census? The Great Georgia Pollinator Census is a statewide project where all Georgia citizens will be asked to count pollinators on either August 23rd or 24th of 2019. Training and all supporting information will be provided through the website, https://GGaPC.org, closer to the August 2019 date.

How will it work? Each citizen scientist (YOU) will choose a favorite pollinator plant that is blooming in their garden for counting. You will count all the insects that land on that plant during a 15-minute period. After you tally the counts, you will upload your data to the webpage. Very simple. The data will be used for researchers to see a snapshot of which pollinators are at work in Georgia on those dates.

Do I have to be an entomologist to participate? NO, definitely NOT. We will be asking you to place the insects you see into one of eight categories:

Carpenter bees
Bumble bees
Small bees
Honey bees
Wasps
Flies
Butterflies
Other insects

The online training, conducted and posted online in 2019, will teach you how to tell the difference between flies, bees, and wasps. We will give you the tools to understand the basic skills needed to place insects in the categories. It will be very simple and straightforward. Of course, we will be available for any questions.

Can school groups participate? ABSOLUTELY! One of the reasons for the August date is to make sure school groups do participate. We will have lesson plans available for teachers use. We have conducted smaller censuses and school groups have really enjoyed the activities. The teachers can tie the census to their STEM activities.

If you are a teacher and have a lesson plan on pollinators that you want to share we would love to put the plan on our website and to feature you on upcoming social media. Just email me at beckygri@uga.edu to submit a lesson or for more information.

What about families? Can my small family participate? OF COURSE. The census is set up so that individuals can count in their gardens.

Will groups be holding special events around the census? YES, the State Botanical Garden in Athens and the Coastal Botanical Garden in Savannah have already started planning special events. Other gardens will follow. Also, contact your local UGA Extension office to see what they have planned.

Starting in January 2019 we will have supporting social media so that as you get ready for the census you will have fun, and educational, snippets to use in classrooms or in family discussions.

Why are you announcing the census so early? So that everyone can mark those dates on their calendars. And, it gives those who don’t have a pollinator garden time to design and plant one! (https://ugaurganag.com/pollinators)

What can we do now to get ready for the census? Plan and plant a pollinator garden, check the webpage and bookmark it (https://GGaPC.org), and contact me at beckygri@uga.edu if you have any questions.

Be part of Georgia pollinator history. Mark your calendar! Happy Pollinator Week 2018!

Becky Griffin