Our Bee Biologist, German Perilla, is investigating the competition between native bees (mason and leaf cutter bees) and the European Honeybee (Apis millifera) for food resources.. 

The European Honeybee has become an integral part of our food industry with its documented history going back to the1600's in North America.   The purpose of German's native bee pollinator research is to determine a means of identifying the bee "carrying capacity" of different habitats in the Northern Piedmont--how many bees can a given habitat or plant community sustain? 

This sustainable agriculture approach would enable us to know how many European Honeybee colonies could be located in an area without having a detrimental effect on our native bee populations, thus supporting the honeybee industry while conserving our natural native pollinator resources.

As an aid to other newly emerging bee researchers, German will be posting tutorials on subjects ranging from how to do a bee species survey to building your own equipment.  Check back periodically to see what is new!

Native Bee Research

ES Honeybees