Bees in the woods: Enhancing habitat during harvest activities

(upbeat acoustic guitar music)

- Welcome.

In this video we're going
to talk a little bit

about how harvests,
like in this clear cut,

and other forest practices might create

some good pollinator habitat

and also recognize what it is

that makes good pollinator habitat

so that you can do things to improve it

or protect it on your property.

Clear cuts.

Important part of
forestry in Western Oregon

and they're often ugly.

At least many people tell me so,

but probably not if you're one

of Oregon's hundreds of native bees.

In fact, this might
look pretty good to you

if you're one of them.

Many of our native bees do really well

in these disturbed conditions
where we have forests

rebounding after some
disturbance like a clear cut.

So what is it that bees need or like?

Well, two key building
blocks of bee habitat

are nesting resources
and flowering resources.

Let's talk about each.

Nesting resources vary
according to the type of bee

but most of our bees in Western
Oregon are solitary bees.

They have individual nests in homes,

as opposed to the more familiar honey bee

which forms very, very large colonies.

Most of our solitary bees in Oregon

are actually ground nesters

and so they look for and need bare ground

often to dig tunnels in
which to lay their eggs

and raise their brood.

We also have a group of
bees who prefer to nest

in wood debris in little
crevices or tunnels in the wood.

So a lot of the debris
left behind in a clear cut

is actually good nesting habitat

for many different kinds of bees.

And many different plants
also have pithy cores

that can be hollowed out and
used as nesting sites as well.

So the other key building
block for pollinator habitat

is flowering resources.

Obviously bees are using
flowers to collect nectar

and also pollen to feed their brood,

so having a abundance of
flowers of many different types

over a long season is
the best possible way

to provide a diversity of habitat

for a wider variety of native pollinators.

Point here is after a
disturbance like a clear cut,

that site can really be
providing a lot of the habitat

requirements that our
native pollinators need.

Having different species is important

in a number of different ways.

Flower shape is important

because different bees
are built differently,

have different sizes of bodies

and have different sizes of tongues.

And having different types of flowers

and different flower
shapes allows more bees

to take advantage of that resource.

Remember, under the Forest Practices Act,

you're required to successfully
replant forest trees

after a harvest and sometimes
that puts that objective

in competition with the objective

of meeting some habitat
requirements such as pollinators.

So while the disturbance
does create some opening,

some opportunities, some
of our other practices

can actually undermine
some of those advantages

habitat-wise that are created.

For instance, we will often be going on

and doing some weed control
to allow our forest seedlings

to get established and grow.

And how we choose to do our weed control

can have quite an impact
on the floral resources

or the nesting resources that are there

at the site for the pollinators.

It's worth thinking about
the practices you do

in your normal forestry operations,

such as clearing brush, site preparation

and weed control as steps
that you could perhaps modify

to maintain or enhance habitat
quality for pollinators.

(upbeat acoustic guitar music)