The Buzz: Spring 2010
Welcome to 2010!
Thanks to your help 2009 was an epic year for The Great Sunflower Project. With over 50 thousand participants we are reaching our goal of documenting bee pollination in the US and developing strategies to protect and restore native bees where they are threatened. Building on the momentum from 2009, we are excited to get going this spring! We have made some changes that I want to share early in the year.
First, we are simplifying our sampling protocol
There are now three steps:
1) count the number of flowers on your plant with pollen;
2) record all bees (not just the first 5) your sunflower for 15 minutes; and
3) enter the data online.
You do not need to write down temperatures or the number of other sunflowers in your garden.
We have very few people who see five bees in 15 minutes and the analysis of the data becomes much simpler if everyone samples for the same length of time. So, if you can, grab your favorite beverage and write down what time you started and a time for each bee that visits. We are in the process of modifying the data entry form on the website to reflect these changes. It isn’t quite finished though.
The second big change is that we are asking that people get their own Lemon Queen sunflower seeds. With 85,000 people signed up, it is becoming difficult to raise enough money to mail seeds. So, we are asking that you get seeds from a local store or from us for $3.00 Click here to get them from us. This covers our cost for shipping and packing. Many of you wrote to say you were receiving crushed seeds so, we wanted to change to padded mailers and increase the number of seeds in a packet this year. This substantially increases our cost of mailing.
If you do pick up Lemon Queen variety sunflowers at a local nursery, you can download instructions and data sheets right here.or from the home page.
Renee Shepherd, our seed guru, says sunflower seeds shouldn't be planted until night temperatures stay above 55 degrees so, we'll start sending seeds out in March but will time it so you get them a bit before it is appropriate to plant.
Free seeds for children. We have set aside money to support kids programs and school groups participating. Contact me at sfbee@sfsu.edu and we’ll make arrangements to get you seeds for free.
We don’t want cost of seed to be a barrier to participating - yes we haven’t been able to raise money to sustain supporting free seeds for all, however, if you can’t find seeds locally or afford to get them from us, send us an addressed stamped envelope and we’ll send some seeds back to you.
I’ll be sending out some summaries of last year’s data in the next newsletter and some updates on what we are learning about bees.
Think Spring and Bee Well!
Gretchen
The Queen Bee
Comments
squirrels
For Doris Straw.
I would try chicken wire to keep out the squirrels. It is cheap and easy to work with if you can build it up high enough si they cannot get in. It is worth a try.!!
Eileen
New member
Hi, everyone! I got a late start as I planted seeds at the end of May after seeing The Great Sunflower Project mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle. Our first sunflower blooms just arrived. We generally have a solid bee population as we have mature lemon and orange trees around our house. Today's count: 1 bee. After reviewing the Bee ID pdf, I believe it is a honey bee. I posted a picture here and to the flickr group. What a great idea and project!
What a lucky man he is. He's
What a lucky man he is. He's got talent and looking good. The type that woman want. architecture services, The Community Engine, Butik baju impor,
Pacific Northwest Weather = Late Sunflower Blossoms
I live 40 miles south of Seattle and this spring and early summer was very wet and cold. We did not get above 70degrees here until middle of June. The Lemon Queen Sunflower seeds I planted in May and early June either rotted or the plants died because they were too wet. I finally was able to get 5 plants to grow that I planted late June and early July. None of them have flowers yet but looks like one will have a flower soon. I do have bumble bees, honey bees, and mason bees in my garden. They are attracted to the chives, lemon oregano, basil, and cilanthro blossoms. They are doing a good job on my blackberry plants also.
my yard
Hello-
My flowers were doing great until about two weeks ago. I have caged my flowers
at the base as I have squirrels and rabbits in my yard. About two weeks ago one
of the neighborhood squirrels jumped off the fence and ruined all of my sun
flowers that were about to bloom. I went our an propped some of them up hoping
that they may grow again. Some did and were thriving until this AM when the
squirrel did this again. At this point I don't know if I will have any data for
you this year from Minneapolis due to the squirrels devastation. Any
suggestions for next year? I really want to grow sunflowers and help out your
project but it looks like I will not have any data this year. On a good note I
have seen lots of bees in my back yard on other plants. I have black snake root,
echinacea, bee balm, and meadow rue blooming now and see bees happily buzzing
around these plants every day.
My Sunflower Garden
Gretchen, I found lemon queen seeds at our local Fleet Farm Store with no problem. I planted them and just as they were forming plants the local squirrels dug them all up. So, I won't be able to purchase any more seeds this late in the game. Our city has a real problem with squirrels. I have a three foot fence around the garden, but that did not deter the little pests. Sorry, I will try a different strategy next year, unless you have a suggestion. Doris Straw
This past week-end I went to
This past week-end I went to our local Lowe's store and found an ample supply of the Lemon Queen Sunflower seeds available. The cost is $1.25, and they are Ferry-Morse seeds. I live in Pennsylvania.tiffany jewellery
Supporting all the seeds
Supporting all the seeds they needed will make them benefit from it. May is here and with it comes May Day gardening. You've heard the same old song and dance about planting gardens, why gardens are good for you, why they are good for our economy, how they help you be self sufficient, and so on. So why not talk about something new today, seed bombs! This is something I just learned about, and I am going to take my kids out tonight to do this. Put a bunch of seeds that are native to your area, into a biodegradable material of some sort such as cheese cloth and throw them into an empty area. Forgotten parks, empty lots, anywhere with dirt where the seeds won't get dug up. You have just helped our environment by having fun, so go out and bomb some empty lots!
Lemon Queen Sunflowers
I work for a small organic seed company in Indiana called Nature's Crossroads (www.naturescrossroads.com). We sell Lemon Queen sunflowers and have been spreading the word about this project as part of our efforts to support pollinators. Actually, we're giving away free seeds with every order in April and May and Lemon Queen sunflowers are one of our choices. I'd like to find a way to help subsidize those who need seeds but I shipping costs are certainly a concern. Gretchen, feel free to contact me to see if we might be able to help out with some sort of seed donation or sharing of shipping costs. It's maggie "at" naturescrossroads.com.
Sunflower seed type
Hi,
I was able to find a Lemon Leopold ( Helianthus annus) Sunflower from Livingston seed co. at my neighborhood nursery. Is it the same as the Lemon Queen variety or do I need to keep looking?
Thank you.
planting
I just planted my seeds yesterday. Hopefully they will grow without problems. My package had just a few seeds though so i may get more. bought at the local True Value store, Salem, VA.
Other flowers
I am going to try to grow the Lemon Queen sunflowers but I will also be growing a lot of others. I have Bee Balm going now, dill and many others that I will have that should attract many insects. Would it complicate the process too much if I was to have myself and my 3 children count at the same time on different flowers and report all of the findings? I would of course report the types of flowers and try to identify the insects as best as I can on all of them.
Another countries
If I am living in another country, Can I participate in this project?
I suggest you can do it some test to check the knowledge of participants. This way, they can do it properly.
For example: you can use this test maker to create it online
seeds
Ls
I also found the Lemon Queen annual seeds by Ferry Morse, but I purchased mine at Theisens. I was glad to see that they should be alright.Can't wait to give them a try.
Where to buy your seeds.
This past week-end I went to our local Lowe's store and found an ample supply of the Lemon Queen Sunflower seeds available. The cost is $1.25, and they are Ferry-Morse seeds. I live in Pennsylvania.
Where to buy the seeds
I found my seeds at Home Depot for $1.99. There is almost 70 seeds in the packet. Tama Marks
Lemon Queen Sunflower seeds
Hi,
Just last week, our family was able to buy these seeds from WalMart at a low cost, about $1.00. We live in upstate NY.
Lemon Queen Sunflowers
Gretchen, I have several other kinds sunflowers that grow in my yard either from seeds that fell the previous year or from seeds in my bird feeder. The bees love them and I can definitely count the bees on them. Does the project only need to use lemon queen?
Lemon Queen sunflowers
I was able to get Lemon Queen sunflower seeds at Dollar General---3 packs for $1.00. They are American seeds from Plantation Products in Norton, Mass.
Germination was very good.
Other sunflowers
Alot of the other sunflower varieties are bred not to have pollen or nectar (people don't like the pollen on their tables or tablecloths). Bees will visit a plant with a lot of nectar or pollen more often than one with less so, it is best that you use lemon queen. Having said that, if you do use another variety, just write down the variety in the comments and we'll match those data up together.
plant guilding
Hi,
I'm wanting to establish a "three sisters" guild with sunflowers instead of corn. Would that work for your research if I use the sunflowers that you suggest? I would plant sunflowers, beans and squash. If that won't work for you, I could plant a few sunflowers just by themselves near the guilded ones. I'm hoping to use them to remediate the soil in my front yard in preparation to having a permaculture garden there maybe next year.
thanks
Judy
Seeds from last year
I harvest the seeds from the lemon queen sunflower last year. Do you think I can use that to log here?