One Bee Thing: Prints Pollinators Are Loving This Fall

We here at ODP would like to consider ourselves friends of pollinators and we encourage treating them with kindness (as Mayor Pete recently did). This past week at New York Climate Week, I (Miro) had two honeybees land on me in one day without thinking much of it. Then yesterday I had a third honeybee land on me and this time I was stung. The reason I’m telling you this story is that like any good Millennial, I was wearing a leopard print for each of these pollinator encounters and I began to wonder if bees were attracted to my fashion choices? I did a little research and it turns out that the answer may be yes! This is according to Science Daily:

Flower colors that contrast with their background are more important to foraging bees than patterns of colored veins on pale flowers. Bees can identify, and are sometimes attracted to, patterned flowers over plain flowers. These patterns can increase the speed with which bees locate the nectar reward in a flower.

Caveat emptor friends! Trying to be trendy could turn out to bee the wrong choice.

Up Next

Idaho Governor Sign a Law Allowing Hunters To Kill 90% of the State’s Wolves

Idaho Governor Sign a Law Allowing Hunters To Kill 90% of the State’s Wolves

Idaho Governor Brad Little has signed a law that could allow private hunters contracted by the state to kill 90% of the state’s wolves. Those in favor of the measure, including lawmakers, ranchers, and hunters would like to reduce the state’s 1,500 wolves to 150, to bring down the number of attacks on livestock and deer. 

Why this Matters: This law is a step back for wolf conservation— Zoe Hanley of the Defenders of Wildlife said in a statement that this decision “marks a low point for gray wolf recovery in the U.S.” 

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One Giant Fishy Thing: A 100 Year Old Sturgeon in the Detroit River

One Giant Fishy Thing: A 100 Year Old Sturgeon in the Detroit River

Federal scientists doing routine sturgeon population survey work in the Detroit River last week got a HUGE surprise when they encountered a 7 foot long, 100-year-old female sturgeon. More than half a million sturgeon lived in the Detroit River in the 19th century, NPR reported.  Now there are believed to be only about 7,000 because […]

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Biden Administration Reverses Trump Rollback of Migratory Bird Treaty Act 

Biden Administration Reverses Trump Rollback of Migratory Bird Treaty Act 

On Thursday, the Biden administration proposed a new rule that would reverse the Trump administration’s weakening of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The act was weakened in 2020, allowing industrial operations and individuals to unintentionally kill many birds without accountability. 

Why This Matters: The world is facing a biodiversity crisis, losing more species each year than ever before.

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TOPIC: Animals Today's Articles

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