LAGUNA CANYON FOUNDATION
June 2010 E-Letter ___________________________________
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Good to the Last Drop (Bumblebee on South Stagecoach Trail), photo by Carolyn Friend, See Picasa Album.
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The pause is as important as the note.
~Truman Fisher, American composer, b. 1927
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With their fat, fuzzy bodies, bumblebees are among the most recognizable of the 19,000 known bee species worldwide. In the past, farmers ignored bumblebees because, unlike honeybees, they produce little or no honey and tend to nest in small colonies underground instead of larger, portable hives. Modern-day agricultural experts, however, now recognize bumblebee's vital role in pollinating certain types of crops, including blueberries and tomatoes, through sonication, or buzz pollination. By grasping with their legs or mouthparts and rapidly vibrating their flight muscles without moving their wings, bumblebees shake pollen out of flowers' anthers. The dislodged pollen is attracted to the bumblebee's electrostatically charged body and later groomed into pollen-carrying structures on its back legs. Scientists have found that buzz-pollinating bumblebees actually sound different. Their middle-C buzz is noticeably higher pitched than that of a bumblee in flight. The sound of buzz pollination in progress provides an audible reminder to KEEP IT WILD. (Click here to listen.) |
Help with wilderness restoration projects at the season's last Keep it Wild Volunteer Day, Saturday, June 19, from 8-11 a.m. For details, as well as printable calendars through September, visit LCF Events.
Laguna Canyon Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving, protecting and enhancing the South Coast Wilderness.
Help Us KEEP IT WILD
 
Questions? E-mail Ellen Girardeau Kempler, Communications Director, Laguna Canyon Foundation, lagunacf3@lagunacanyon.org
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