Have you ever stopped for a moment to think about where all our food comes from, and how it came to be? Well, if you know anything about ecology and life on this planet, you’d know that a vast majority of all that food either directly or indirectly comes from the work of pollinators. Without them, there would be no fruit, no squash or pumpkins, no berries and jam, no cattle or turkey feed so no meat…they literally are the reason we’re able to eat so much of this deliciousness. So today I’m sitting down with Emilie Usher, an urban bee-keeper and flower fanatic to chat all about our most beloved pollinators, bees. We tend to immediately think of honey bees here, but it turns out our native wild bees all around North America play massive roles not only in the health of our agriculture industries, but the functional ecology of the lands we all live amongst, and are incredibly important to biodiversity and our future on this planet.

So why are bees so important? Do they like certain flowers more than others? How long do they live? Do they all live in hives? Do they all sting? Whats going on with those flashy green bees I see from time to time? Let’s dive into this tiny, fascinating world with Emily here and learn all about these awesome little critters.

Learn more about Alveole

Each episode of Nerdy About Nature makes a donation to a non-profit of the guests choosing using funds from ⁠Patreon⁠ supporters, and in this episode Emilie opted to support The Xerces Society!

Nerdy About Nature is an independent passion project that relies on support from folks like you.  If you’re enjoying this podcast and videos, help me keep making them by joining the ⁠Patreon⁠ family for 1$ a month or more!

Wanna ask a question?  Want community?  Wanna engage?  Do it all as a Patreon member, it’s easy!

You can also make a one-time donation, get NAN merch, resources and more information at ⁠www.NerdyAboutNature.com⁠

Learn more about this episodes sponsor, ⁠Hoka & their Anacapa 2's