General Public Information

• Economic Value of Insect Pollination Worldwide Estimated at U.S. $217 Billion, Science Daily, September 15, 2008

• 'The Value of Honey Bees in the Mid-Atlantic Region' - Honey bee pollination of crops in the Mid-Atlantic region is valued at $131 million (this link will take you to a pdf file of the brochure). (7/2008)
  
  
• 'The Value of Honey Bees in Pennsylvania' (brochure) (7/16/2007)

• The Birth of a Queen Bee - video taken at Warren Miller's Happy Valley Honey Farm in Mingoville, PA (RealPlayer needed)

Gardening Information to Encourage Pollinators: Promote honey bee and other pollinator health  by planting a Pollinator Garden-- Developed by the Penn State Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener program

Our pollinators need increased pollen diversity to help bolster their resistance to disease, pesticides and other stresses. Establishing pollinator-friendly gardens will have a big impact on pollinator health.  Penn State Master Gardeners are reaching out to gardeners across the state and country to help them plant native gardens through a project by a gift to Penn State Entomology by the  ice cream manufacturer Haagen Dazs. The program focuses on encouraging homeowner to add plants to the landscape that provide food and shelter for pollinators.  48 demonstration gardens have been established across Pennsylvania to educate homeowners so they can have their property certified as pollinator friendly. To be certified, homeowners will need implement pollinator friendly practices such as planting native flowering plants, provide nesting sites for pollinators, eliminate pesticides when possible, and provide water.  (Contact the State Coordinator of the Master Gardener program, Ginger Pryor at gmp4@psu.edu for more information.)
Publications for download (pdf files):

• Pollinator Friendly Garden Series (pdf)
• Gardening for Pollinators (pdf)
• Pollinators and their Threats (pdf)
• Pollinator Food (pdf)
• Animal Pollinated Plants (pdf)
• Manmade Bee Nests (pdf)
• Nesting Habitats (pdf)
• Hymenopotera Stings (pdf)

       More Pollinator Publications

• Pollinator Partnership - New Ecoregional Planting Guides (4/2009)
• Pollinator Friendly Gardening, Penn State Master Gardeners
• Attracting Beneficial Insects with Native Flowering Plants - Michigan State University
• Conserving Native Bees on Farmland - Michigan State University
• Ecologically Based Farming Systems, Michigan State University

       Powerpoint Presentations

• Pollinators - Michigan State University
• Native plants - Michigan State University
• Natural enemies - Michigan State University