2 Million Blossoms - The Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode of 2 Million Blossoms, host Dr. Kirsten Traynor sits down with Dr. Anke Dietzsch from the Institute for Bee Protection at the Julius Kühn Institute, Germany's Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants. Anke discusses her extensive research on the effects of pesticides on bee health, focusing on both honey bees and native wild bees. She discusses the challenges of conducting field experiments across various habitats in Germany and highlights the importance of using diverse monitoring techniques to accurately assess bee populations.

Anke also shares her insights on the complexities of working with solitary bees, particularly in understanding their unique behaviors and how these species interact with invasive plants. Her work emphasizes the critical need to broaden our understanding of different bee species to ensure effective risk assessments and conservation efforts.

Listeners will gain a deeper appreciation for the nuanced world of bee research and the vital role these pollinators play in our ecosystems. Tune in to explore the fascinating intersections of agroecology, toxicology, and pollinator protection with one of the leading experts in the field.

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Thanks to Betterbee for sponsoring today's episode. Betterbee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

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Music: Original 2 Million Blossoms Theme, by Oscar Morante / Mooi Studios; Guitar music by Jeffrey Ott; Faraday by BeGun;

2 Million Blossoms - The Podcast is a joint audio production of Protect Our Pollinators, LLC and Growing Planet Media, LLC

Copyright © 2024 by Growing Planet Media, LLC

In this episode, host Dr. Kirsten Traynor welcomes bee scientist Dr. Mazi Sanda from Cameroon. Dr. Sanda, who currently resides in Germany as part of the PLAN4BEE project, shares his journey into the world of bees, starting from his childhood fascination with insects to his professional research at the University of Ngaoundere. He provides a captivating overview of beekeeping traditions in Cameroon, discussing the prevalent use of traditional woven hives and the gradual shift towards modern Kenyan Top Bar Hives.

Dr. Sanda delves into the rich diversity of honey flavors and the challenges faced by Cameroonian beekeepers, including habitat loss, agricultural intensification, and predation by honey badgers. He also highlights the unique cultural relationship between humans and the greater honeyguide bird, a tradition that is now fading.

This episode offers listeners a deep dive into the practices, challenges, and cultural aspects of beekeeping in Cameroon, underscoring the importance of preserving these traditions and supporting local beekeepers.

Listen today!

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Thanks to Betterbee for sponsoring today's episode. Betterbee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

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Music: Original 2 Million Blossoms Theme, by Oscar Morante / Mooi Studios; Guitar music by Jeffrey Ott; Faraday by BeGun;

2 Million Blossoms - The Podcast is a joint audio production of Protect Our Pollinators, LLC and Growing Planet Media, LLC

Copyright © 2024 by Growing Planet Media, LLC

In this episode, Kirsten talks with Monika Maeckle. Monika runs the Texas Butterfly Ranch, which is more a state-of-mind than a physical place. She is a writer, Master Gardener, pollinator enthusiast and has tagged countless Monarchs that pass through the famous Texas funnel on their journey south. Monika and Kirsten chat about the migratory path of monarchs, how their incredible journey turned into an inspiration during the Covid pandemic, and how we can all improve the plight of these beautiful butterflies.

Note, we briefly discussed the incredible rebound of the western population, which migrates along the California coast. The population had crashed to about 2,000 butterflies in 2020, but miraculously leapt back up to viability with almost 250,000 butterflies in 2021. No one is quite sure why and if the population will hold steady, as insect populations are notoriously volatile. Tune in to learn more.

For more information, check out:

• texasbutterflyranch.com
• https://texasbutterflyranch.com/2022/01/27/monarch-butterfly-population-volatile-unpredictable-with-a-ray-of-hope/

If you liked today’s episode, click on the link to follow us and never miss an episode!

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We thank Betterbee for their sponsorship of today's episode. BetterBee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, BetterBee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

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Music: Original 2 Million Blossoms Theme, by Oscar Morante / Mooi Studios. Guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

2 Million Blossoms - The Podcast is a joint audio production of Protect Our Pollinators, LLC and Growing Planet Media, LLC

Fran Mahoney is crazy about elephants. And to help protect elephants, she’s enlisted the help of over 144 honey bee colonies. In Tanzania, elephants face massive poaching threats. Subsistence farmers often turn in elephants to poachers, because they fear the hungry mammals will destroy their crops. Fran Mahoney founded Wild Survivors to create sustainable solutions to human-elephant conflict.

In today’s show, learn more about her creative solution using honey bees that is turning farmers into elephant advocates and beekeepers.

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We thank Betterbee for their sponsorship of today's episode. BetterBee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, BetterBee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

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Music: Original 2 Million Blossoms Theme, by Oscar Morante / Mooi Studios. Guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

2 Million Blossoms - The Podcast is a joint audio production of Protect Our Pollinators, LLC and Growing Planet Media, LLC

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Elke Genersch a microbiologist from the Institute for Bee Research in Hohen Neuendorf outside Berlin, Germany. She switched from cancer research into honey bee diseases about 20 years ago and has made a name for herself investigating how American Foulbrood and Deformed Wing Virus function. We delve into the details of this bacterial disease and how varroa mites have allowed viruses to change, using the current Corona pandemic to help explain parallels.

So, if you geek out on detailed scientific explanations and want to understand a bit more about molecular biology, tune into this detailed episode with one of Europe’s leading honey bee virologists.

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Learn more about the 2 Million Blossoms and about protecting our pollinators at: https://www.2millionblossoms.com/

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We thank Betterbee for their sponsorship of today's episode. BetterBee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, BetterBee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

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Music: Original 2 Million Blossoms Theme, by Oscar Morante / Mooi Studios. Guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

2 Million Blossoms - The Podcast is a joint audio production of Protect Our Pollinators, LLC and Growing Planet Media, LLC

Dear Listeners:

As you may know, I launched my print magazine 2 Million Blossoms with exuberance and crazy enthusiasm. Since I first dreamt up the magazine in 2019, I have produced two years of magazines, four issues in 2020 and another four issues in 2021. All together over 800 pages entirely about pollinators. Many late nights after I stopped working on my “real job”, the one that pays my bills, I spent countless hours to hone, smooth, and delineate the content of 2 Million Blossoms. My goal always to help authors clearly communicate their stories. Judging from reader reactions, the magazine has been hugely successful, often read cover to cover.

Despite my best efforts, multiple forces have worked against me resulting in the difficult decision that the autumn issue is my final quarterly issue.

But don’t despair! When one door closes, another opens. And I am taking some time to reflect and reboot.

2 Million Blossoms won’t disappear. Rather I plan to refocus and restrategize. Unlike newspapers, the content we publish is timeless. Instead of seeking annual subscribers, I will instead focus on creating standalone issues and books on specific themes.

This podcast will definitely continue, as I believe we need more discussions on sustainability and how we can green our planet. In addition to refocusing on the podcast, I will build out my 2 Million Blossoms email newsletter, working to bring you relevant content and my own interpretation of the latest pollinator science every month.

My hope with both the Newsletter and 2 Million Blossoms – The Podcast was and continues to be to build a bridge between science and practice, to distill complicated topics into entertaining stories that don’t dumb down the detail. What I try to bring to both my readers and listeners is an eclectic mix of science, art, and culture. I try to highlight the diverse voices involved in protecting our pollinators and our planet, often reaching out to up and coming scientists, less heard voices, and people with unique backgrounds.

We need diverse perspectives because we all approach fact finding with our own inherent biases. When the only ones asking the questions share a similar background, the blinders of their upbringing cause them to miss out on different interpretations.

I thank you sincerely for joining me in this journey thus far. Here is to a revamped version of 2 Million Blossoms, where we can celebrate the many ways we are helping pollinators survive and thrive.

Don’t be afraid to dig in the dirt!

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Learn more about the 2 Million Blossoms and about protecting our pollinators at: https://www.2millionblossoms.com/

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We thank Betterbee for their sponsorship of today's episode. BetterBee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, BetterBee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

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Music: Original 2 Million Blossoms Theme, by Oscar Morante / Mooi Studios. Guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

2 Million Blossoms - The Podcast is a joint audio production of Protect Our Pollinators, LLC and Growing Planet Media, LLC

Have you ever wondered about the bee biodiversity in other countries? In this episode, meet Dr. Michael Orr, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, where he has worked for the last three years. Michael is a taxonomist and ecologist, who has studied the aggregations of the sandstone excavating bee, the tiny Anthophora pueblo.

Listen as Kirsten talks with Michael and learn why these bees spend so much time and energy to create nest holes in the pueblo walls.

He just recently published an important paper on global bee distribution and on the show, we discuss how our collection strategies both historically and currently contain inherent biases. Many species sit in drawers waiting to be fully described as type species.

Listen today and learn how bee taxonomists and digitization of collections is moving our understanding of bee diversity forward.

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Learn more about the 2 Million Blossoms and about protecting our pollinators at: https://www.2millionblossoms.com/

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We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. BetterBee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, BetterBee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

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Music: Original 2 Million Blossoms Theme, by Oscar Morante / Mooi Studios. Guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

2 Million Blossoms - The Podcast is a joint audio production of Protect Our Pollinators, LLC and Growing Planet Media, LLC

In this episode, Kirsten chats with Cindy Moore, owner of Sweet Cindy’s Honey Farm, a commercial beekeeping operation in upstate New York and Florida. She runs bees with her husband on the east coast and they ship out bees to California for almond pollination. She’s sweet, sassy, and makes commercial beekeeping look glamourous. On this episode we chat about how her not-yet-husband lured her away from a farm stand to help work bees, the effort and care she puts into marketing her products, and the inspiration her grandmother is to her work ethic.

Listen today for a perspective on commercial beekeeping from a woman who fell into the profession and now can’t let go.

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Learn more about the 2 Million Blossoms and about protecting our pollinators at: https://www.2millionblossoms.com/

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We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. BetterBee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, BetterBee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

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Music: Original 2 Million Blossoms Theme, by Oscar Morante / Mooi Studios. Guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

2 Million Blossoms - The Podcast is a joint audio production of Protect Our Pollinators, LLC and Growing Planet Media, LLC

Meet botanical artist and scientific illustrator Erin E. Hunter, who splits her time between her own fine art paintings that capture the magic of the natural world and technical illustrations for the academic science journal Annual Reviews. She’s been quite successful, snagging a few artist-in-residency stays at our National Parks. One of her most enjoyable subjects to draw are pollinators on their favorite plants and so of course, we chatted at length about how she became dazzled by these flower visitors.

Her friend Erika Beyer first introduced her to the book The Forgotten Pollinators during grad school. She’s been greatly inspired by John Cody, whose paintings force people to stop and admire giant moths.

In this episode, we chat about artists, books, and appreciating the natural world, how art differs from assignment, and what ends up in her sketchbooks. Tune in for a little inspiration.

Links to Erin Hunter’s website, examples of her painting, and artists that inspire her:

http://www.eehunter.com

https://www.instagram.com/erinhunterart/

Her artist friend from grad school who introduced her to The Forgotten Pollinators:

https://erikabeyer.com

John Cody, who paints the giant moths: 

https://www.johncodygallery.net/product-category/prints/

Margaret Mee, botanical artist:

https://www.botanicalartandartists.com/about-margaret-mee.html

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Learn more about the 2 Million Blossoms and about protecting our pollinators at: https://www.2millionblossoms.com/

_____________________

We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. BetterBee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, BetterBee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

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Music: Original 2 Million Blossoms Theme, by Oscar Morante / Mooi Studios. Guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

2 Million Blossoms - The Podcast is a joint audio production of Protect Our Pollinators, LLC and Growing Planet Media, LLC

Thank you so much for downloading this episode – our 13th. While some people are superstitious about such numbers, we’re here to celebrate this “luckiest” of episodes. It’s hard to know when you start a new journey, where it will lead. In this episode, I talk about what we’ve learned so far, some of the beauty we’ve seen and the challenges that lay ahead. Climate change is arguably the biggest – impacting everyone and everything on the planet. From you and me, to the tightly woven relationship between plants and pollinators.

What can you do? There is much and all it takes is awareness and some sacrifice of the some of the things we believe we ‘need’. I challenge you to think about that…what is really needed. Is it worth the cost… the environmental cost?

Thank you for listening and for reading our 2 Million Blossoms magazine. Share both!

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Learn more about the 2 Million Blossoms and about protecting our pollinators at: https://www.2millionblossoms.com/

_____________________

We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. BetterBee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, BetterBee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

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Music: Original 2 Million Blossoms Theme, by Oscar Morante / Mooi Studios. Guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

2 Million Blossoms - The Podcast is a joint audio production of Protect Our Pollinators, LLC and Growing Planet Media, LLC