The secret of wild bees in cities | Kris Braman | TEDxAtlanta

Transcriber: Code The Future Reviewer: Emma Gon If I were to ask you to imagine your world without bees. Some of you might be happy. No more pests buzzing around, no more chance of being stung. Some of you might simply be unconcerned. But full disclosure, I've been working with insects for over 40 years now. And I have to tell you, I have become obsessed with the bees.

Spain. Even delicacies like Ecuadorian coffee and chocolate benefit from bees. And I dont know about you, but I need my coffee and chocolate. So think of bees as that first domino in the food chain. Bees help plants survive and we all know that plants are important, because they produce food and oxygen. So for those of you that also like to eat food and breathe air, Im

here to tell you our bees are in trouble and we need to do something about it fast. Now, when most of us think of bees, we think of the iconic honey bee. And honeybees do produce high quality food - honey. But they represent just a tiny fraction of all of the bee species. For example, in Georgia alone, we have 540 bee species. Let me show you

a few of my favorites. First, the bumble bees. Now, these stout, hairy, robust bees are usually yellow and black. And they have the rare, among insects, capability to thermal regulate, meaning they can raise their own body temperature just by shivering to the minimum temperature required for flight. Now theres our bumble bee on a thistle next to a sweat bee. Obviously much smaller and they have shorter

tongues than most bees. They're attracted to perspiration where they receive precious moisture and salts. Next are the leafcutter bee, so aptly named because they cut half moon sections from plants and roll them into these little cigar shaped cylinders where they rear their young. And who wouldnt love these flying jewels? The metallic green bees are very common in urban areas. They're about half the size of honeybees.

Theyre easy to spot with those flashy green colors, but they can sometimes be mistaken for flies. Now, there are many things that can contribute to the decline of our bees, but loss of habitat through urbanization is recognized as a major driver. By the year 2030, urban land cover will have tripled compared to what it was in the year 2000. Sounds like bad news for bees, doesnt

it? Despite the economic value of these biotic pollinators, $488 million in Georgia alone. The perception persists that cities are bad for bees. My question is, is this always true? Is there anything we can do? Or are we doomed? In the next few minutes, I hope to convince you that we can offer our bees a better life in the city and that you have a very important

role to play in their success. In our efforts to better understand the effects of urbanization on our wild bees, my former graduate student, Amy Janvier and I undertook a research survey, a survey of people's backyards. We had three questions we wanted to answer. First, how many bees are there? Second, how many different kinds of bees? How many species? And third, could we relate landscape context, meaning

abundance of trees nearby, intensity of development or even proximity to farms to that bee abundance and diversity? Tragically, during the midst of our study. Amy lost her life in a terrible car accident. But despite their grief and a global pandemic, Amys mother and aunt loaded their cars with Amys bee samples and brought them to us. And then a small team of fellow students and faculty finished

that project and published the results in Amys honor. So that Amys passion for pollinator protection would live on. Well, what did we learn? We were overwhelmingly surprised at the diversity we found. And you may be surprised to know that we documented 110 different species on these residential landscapes. Many, Im sure, just like your own backyard. We also learned that the number of solitary bees and specialist

bees like squash bees and cavity dwelling bees, all increased with increasing development and urbanization. And not only that, the number of soil dwelling species and some of the social bee species increased with increasing forest remnant in the city. So while not all insects respond equally to urbanization, ultimately we concluded that the secret of city is trees. In hindsight, this makes perfect sense. Historically, much of the

eastern United States was forested, and this, of course, is where our bees originated. So now lets take a look at some of these bees in their natural habitat. And what youre going to see is a slow motion video of bees emerging from the soil in the spring. Beautiful sight. They emerge by the hundreds. Does this frighten you? Or fascinate you? Most of our wild bees are

soil dwelling, and when they emerge in the spring, it creates quite a spectacle, a spectacle that few people get to observe for obvious reasons. They're usually running in the opposite direction. But notice the people that are filming this event, theyre not dressed in these all white protective suits and they don't appear to fear being stung. Insects, like other animals, often are more afraid of us than

we are of them. And unlike mosquitoes, wild bees are usually very docile. Theyre interested in nectar and pollen, not blood. Another thing that may not be quite so obvious is that these bees are seeking out areas of thinning turf to make their homes. What a great excuse for the lawn police that object to the bear sight of your yards. Tell them those bare spots are intentional,

its where you keep your bees. And invite them to come check it out. I am happy to report that the conservation needle in recent years has moved slightly in the right direction, and weve discovered that the best way to get people involved is for them to have a direct, positive experience with plants and bees. Weve done a few simple things, in order to promote pollinator spaces

and encourage best management practices. Weve raised awareness of factors that can negatively affect our bees. Identified dozens of pollinator friendly plants and created planting guides. Created avenues like the Annual Pollinator Census for public participation in citizen science. Worked with local officials to add pollinator gardens to existing green spaces. Partnered with schools to enhance STEM programs. There are so many different ways that you can be involved.

And so far in Georgia, under Becky Griffin's leadership, this has resulted in over 20,000 participants who created more than 2000 new pollinator gardens in 100 different counties. And countless face to face positive interactions. So find ways to be involved. That Pollinator Census, for example, only takes 15 minutes of your time. On a global scale, forest cover is especially important to conservation planning for these mixed use

landscapes. Forest cover has an especially strong effect on wild bees. And again, nearly a third of the bees are forest bees from the eastern United States. But say you live on a small space in the city and you want to protect pollinators, but you dont know how to start. Well, first things first. Bees need what we all need: food, water and a place to rear their

young. So let me give you five things that you can do. First, lets tolerate a little messiness in our yards and gardens. Some of us can already check that box. Again, leave some bare spaces in your yard, great excuse for the lawn police. Make sure your bees have access to water. Third, when youre trimming up the stems at the end of the season, leave a few

stems for the nesting bees. Fourth, instead of a formal garden, go for the cottage garden with a riot of color all season long. And fifth, plant more trees for the bees. Now, I am completely persuaded that you can be the change that keeps Amys dream alive and protects our pollinators. So be positive. Be involved. Small changes lead to huge positive impacts for our bees. And remember,

were codependent. We need them as much as they need us. And the bees are counting on you to go out and spread the buzz. Thank you. (Applause)