Bee happy: Eighth graders plant native wildflowers in Cane Run watershed

Posted on October 29, 2015 by southernipmcenter

By Carol Lea Spence, University of Kentucky

Buzzing with excitement, 200 or so students swarmed off school buses and onto the farm.

The entire eighth grade class from Leestown Middle School in Lexington spread out along a tiny tributary of Cane Run Creek on the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment’s Spindletop Farm. Under the direction of UK undergraduate and graduate students, staff and alumni, the middle-schoolers’ mission was to plant native wildflowers and wetland plants that will entice a variety of pollinators, including seriously threatened honeybees, as well as improve water quality in the heavily impaired Cane Run watershed.

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Specialty Crops Research Initiative RFA is out, deadline Dec. 3

Posted on October 29, 2015 by southernipmcenter

The FY 2016 Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) Request for Pre-Applications (RFPA) is now available for public viewing.  

Deadline: December 3, 2015 at 5 PM Eastern Time

Funding Opportunity Page: http://nifa.usda.gov/funding-opportunity/specialty-crop-research-initiative-scri.

Grants.gov Page: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=279870.  This page includes a synopsis of the funding opportunity, a link to the full announcement (RFA) and the application package.

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Honey bee film to be shown in North Carolina theater

Posted on October 29, 2015 by southernipmcenter

In Charlotte Observer

by Lisa Thornton, Charlotte Observer

Do you like apples, watermelon, onions and cherries?

Thank a honeybee, because according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, they, like other pollinators, are responsible for more than 70 percent of those crops and plenty of others.

But honeybee numbers have dwindled in recent years, and although experts don’t agree why it’s happening, advocates such as Concord Wildlife Alliance are taking measures to boost the honeybee population. They’d like the community to join in, too.

The alliance will present the film “Vanishing of the Bees” Nov. 5 at Davis Theater in Concord. The free event will also feature a panel discussion with pollinator experts following the documentary.

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