The USGS Partners with Professional Beekeepers

Clint Otto, a research ecologist at the USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, partners with professional beekeepers in North Dakota to evaluate what plant species honey bees forage on and when. 

Society needs healthy bees and other insects to pollinate crops, but land use changes that decrease flower abundance can affect bee health and pollination services. Midwestern states are losing native grasslands and conservation lands that historically have provided abundant flowers for pollinators.