Bee project......for kids and maybe beeks!

[USC Beeman in TN]

http://www.greatsunflower.org/

[annette]

Thanks I passed this information onto the 4H club.

[Finski]

.
Guite a urban story  the whole project.

first false is that natural bees are dying
second,  that you can affect on this with some sunflower.

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/nativebee.html
Introduction
There are more than 3500 species of solitary bees in North America. Also called pollen bees or native bees, these efficient pollinators often do the lion's share of pollinating crops. Pollen bees have a number of advantages over honeybees as pollinators. Many are active early in the spring, before honeybee colonies reach large size. Pollen bees tend to stay in a crop rather than fly between crops, providing more efficient pollination. Because they fly rapidly, pollen bees can pollinate more plants. Unlike honeybees, the males also pollinate the crop. Pollen bees are usually gentle, with a mild sting, and do not get disoriented in greenhouses

[Kathyp]

finski you are more of a wet blanket on this stuff than i am  :evil:

yes, it's a tree hugger project, but it's one that does no harm....and maybe some good.  i would not mind if the kids in my town all planted some bee plants.  it would be good for me.

 it would be good if people were more aware of what's around them and more careful about the pesticides they use.  they are less apt to spray the plants if the kids are counting the bees.   :-D

[Finski]

finski you are more of a wet blanket on this stuff than i am  :evil:

 

I hate those rubbish projects. Children learn only : THE SKY IS FALLING!!!!!!

Bristish beekeepers claimed 2 years ago that humankind is dying (if beekeeper society do not get 6 million pounds)

Even if you are a beekeeper you need not forget your brains.



.

[D Coates]

So many people jump on various popular bandwagons before actually considering where that bandwagon of the moment is respectively going.  Nothing will come of this.  If you want to plant flowers do so, pollinators of various stripes will come (literally).  This kind of stuff is what makes me VERY skeptical of various groups claims about their respective interests sky falling and what I need to do and donate to. 

"It's one that does no harm..."  Datawise it's garbage in garbage out, absolute rubbish.  Step 1.) Create a crisis and the sense of urgency, not matter if it's stretches the truth.  "in recent times the commercial beekeepers have experienced colony collapse."    Step 2.)  Offer additional unsubstantiated information that backs your crisis.  "Surprisingly, over 20% of our gardens never saw a bee!"  Step 3.) Now offer the solution!  "You can participate by getting annual Lemon Queen sunflower seeds from us"  Step 4.) Enjoy your grant money. 

If people are paying attention to the 4-step process overhyped claims make more and more cynics.  "Even if you are a beekeeper you need not forget your brains."  Finski, you are right on target.

[Davepeg]

I don't see any harm in this project.  Anything that gets kids outside in the fresh air instead of sitting inside watching TV or playing video games sounds good to me.  My son always was out in the garden with me, as a result he now has his own veggie garden each year and is starting to think more about how to grow things organically.  If this project turns one or two kids onto gardening and/or beekeeping - I think it's great.

[USC Beeman in TN]

I put it out there for what it's worth.  To some nothing, to others a chance to get kids involved and a little more knowledge.  Sometimes it the little things that get kids going in certain path.  So why not plant some flower seed, watch them grow and bloom, look for the pollenators and probably get bored and quit.  At least for a short time in their lives they will have been involved with something that does no harm nor promotes anything bad.

[tillie]

I've tried it for the last two years - it's hard to get a sunflower to grow before the birds eat the seeds!  I've been woefully unsuccessful - so I probably won't participate this year.

Linda T in Atlanta, sunflowerless

[USC Beeman in TN]

They come up wild in my yard from bird feeders behind the house across the street from me.  Just take a couple of seed, dig a little hole, put them in the hole, cover them back up and stop it with the heel of your shoe.  You must not be planting the seeds, just sowing them on top of the dirt.  Bird will eat them every time unless there is a couple of blown leaves or something similar to hide them from the birds.

Do you burn water too?  :-D

[Kathyp]

i pitch them in the horse manure pile along with the squash seeds from the year.  they do great.  had a problem with pigeons in the buckwheat last year, but took some planting stakes and put strips of tin foil on them.  that took care of the birds.  also got some but& ugly Polynesian streamers from the dollar store and stuck them out.

[Finski]

I've tried it for the last two years - it's hard to get a sunflower to grow before the birds eat the seeds!  I've been woefully unsuccessful - so I probably won't participate this year.

Linda T in Atlanta, sunflowerless

USA has many sunflower species and some are perennial. Some flower long time if you take developing seeds away.

Helianthemun rigidus continues flowering  several weeks if you take old flowers off and pertilize it.

Once I reared Helianthus anomalus because it makes flowers more and more in branches. But no bees or bumblebees or butterflyes visited there.



Species
Helianthus agrestis : Southeastern Sunflower
Helianthus angustifolius : Swamp Sunflower
Helianthus annuus : Common Sunflower, Girasol (Spanish)
Helianthus anomalus : Western Sunflower
Helianthus argophyllus  : Silverleaf Sunflower
Helianthus arizonensis : Arizona Sunflower
Helianthus atrorubens
Helianthus bolanderi : Serpentine Sunflower
Helianthus californicus : California Sunflower
Helianthus carnosus : Lakeside Sunflower
Helianthus ciliaris : Texas Blueweed
Helianthus cinereus
Helianthus couplandii : Prairie Sunflower
Helianthus cusickii : Cusick's Sunflower
 
Prairie Sunflower (Helianthus petiolaris)Helianthus debilis : Cucumberleaf Sunflower
Helianthus debilis ssp. cucumerifolius : Cucumberleaf Sunflower
Helianthus debelis ssp. debilis : Beach Sunflower, Dune Sunflower
Helianthus debilis ssp. silvestris : Cucumberleaf Sunflower
Helianthus debilis ssp. tardiflorus : Cucumberleaf Sunflower
Helianthus debilis ssp. vestitus : Cucumberleaf Sunflower
Helianthus decapetalus : Thinleaf Sunflower
Helianthus deserticola
Helianthus divaricatus : Woodland Sunflower
Helianthus eggertii : Eggert's Sunflower
Helianthus floridanus : Florida Sunflower
Helianthus giganteus
Helianthus glaucophyllus : Whiteleaf Sunflower
Helianthus gracilentus : Slender Sunflower
Helianthus grosseserratus: Sawtooth Sunflower
Helianthus heterophyllus : Variableleaf Sunflower
Helianthus hirsutus
Helianthus laciniatus : Alkali Sunflower
Helianthus laetiflorus
Helianthus laevigatus : Smooth Sunflower
Helianthus longifolius : Longleaf Sunflower
 
Willowleaf Sunflower (Helianthus salicifolius)Helianthus maximiliani : Maximillian Sunflower
Helianthus microcephalus : Small Woodland Sunflower
Helianthus mollis : Downy Sunflower, Ashy Sunflower
Helianthus multiflorus
Helianthus neglectus : Neglected Sunflower
Helianthus niveus
Helianthus niveus ssp. canescens : Showy Sunflower
Helianthus niveus ssp. tephrodes : Algodones Sunflower
Helianthus nuttallii
Helianthus nuttallii ssp. nuttallii : Nuttall's Sunflower
Helianthus nuttallii ssp. parishii : Parish's Sunflower
Helianthus nuttallii ssp. Rydbergii : Rydberg's Sunflower
Helianthus occidentalis : Fewleaf Sunflower
Helianthus occidentalis ssp. occidentalis : Fewleaf Sunflower
Helianthus occidentalis ssp. plantagineus : Fewleaf Sunflower
Helianthus paradoxus : Paradox Sunflower
Helianthus pauciflorus
Helianthus pauciflorus ssp. pauciflorus : Stiff Sunflower
Helianthus pauciflorus ssp. subrhomboideus : Stiff Sunflower
Helianthus petiolaris
Helianthus petiolaris ssp. fallax : Prairie Sunflower
Helianthus petiolaris ssp. petiolaris : Prairie Sunflower
Helianthus porteri : Porter's Sunflower
Helianthus praecox
Helianthus praecox ssp. hirtus : Texas Sunflower
Helianthus praecox ssp. praecox  : Texas Sunflower
Helianthus praecox ssp. runyonii : Runyon's Sunflower
 
Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus)Helianthus praetermissus : New Mexico Sunflower
Helianthus pumilus : Little Sunflower
Helianthus radula : Rayless Sunflower
Helianthus resinosus : Resindot Sunflower
Helianthus salicifolius : Willowleaf Sunflower
Helianthus schweinitzii : Schweinitz's Sunflower
Helianthus silphioides : Rosinweed Sunflower
Helianthus simulans : Muck Sunflower
Helianthus smithii : Smith's Sunflower
Helianthus strumosus  : Paleleaf Woodland Sunflower
Helianthus tuberosus : Jerusalem Artichoke, Sunchoke

[Finski]

.
I love to cultivate flowers and I have teached it to my boys too. But I have never planted flowers to save the world or bees.

I have education of researcher in biology and still I want to understand nature. That is interesting and inpired me since I was 3 years old and I collected dung beetles from cow poo.

But I am quite angry to people who do not want to learn about nature but they generate their stupid visions how one sunflower saves the globe.  PPPRRRRR 

This farmer is a real  bee salvador

[Davepeg]

Anything that gets the kids outside and learning is ok by me.  Let them plant sunflowers, plant a veg garden or hang around the hives.  They will be learning about how our world works and how all of nature is linked together. 

I used to plant a row of sunflowers just because I liked to see them turn with the sun movement during the day.  The bees, birds and squirrels get the seeds - that's ok with me.  One year I didn't plant any and a neighbor said her young daughter was disappointed not to see the flowers - I never even knew these people - but the next year I planted them again.  If it makes the neighborhood a bit "sunnier"  it's no big deal to plant a row.

Sunflowers are happy!

[VolunteerK9]

I'm all for anything that gets kids outside doing anything.  On a side note, it amazed me that alot of kids at the school I work at had never saw brown eggs before I started bringing them to the teachers. So we now have an incubator going in 1st Grade where they will know that chicken doesnt originate at Chick-Fil-A.

[lenape13]

I'm all for anything that gets kids outside doing anything.  On a side note, it amazed me that alot of kids at the school I work at had never saw brown eggs before I started bringing them to the teachers. So we now have an incubator going in 1st Grade where they will know that chicken doesnt originate at Chick-Fil-a.

We have people around here that are afraid of brown eggs. They ask, "What's wrong with them?"  You should see their reactions to the green ones... :jawdrop:

[luvin honey]

.
Guite a urban story  the whole project.

first false is that natural bees are dying
second,  that you can affect on this with some sunflower.

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/nativebee.html
Introduction
There are more than 3500 species of solitary bees in North America. Also called pollen bees or native bees, these efficient pollinators often do the lion's share of pollinating crops. Pollen bees have a number of advantages over honeybees as pollinators. Many are active early in the spring, before honeybee colonies reach large size. Pollen bees tend to stay in a crop rather than fly between crops, providing more efficient pollination. Because they fly rapidly, pollen bees can pollinate more plants. Unlike honeybees, the males also pollinate the crop. Pollen bees are usually gentle, with a mild sting, and do not get disoriented in greenhouses

Good points. Still, anything that gets kids interested in bugs and plants is good in my book.

Wish my 1000s of sunflowers had actually attracted honeybees, but it's incredible to see the swarms of other native bees and flying insects pollinating all our fruit right now!