lystn

  Olivia Shangrow is an Awesome Rockstar Millennial and the biologist and operations specialist for https://www.rentmasonbees.com/ (Rent Mason Bees.) She completed her bachelor of science degree in biology from the University of Washington. She’s passionate about teaching the public about wild bees and her research focuses on increasing the value of rural and urban habitats for native insects. I can share information on the mason bee lifecycle, what to grow in your garden to support them, and the best ways to care for/host them in your backyard We’re up north of Seattle in Bothel, we do some propagation in Oregon too! We travel a lot but when we’re actually hands on in Washington Tell us a little about yourself. I’ve always been interested in bees my whole life, myself have been hearing the bees are struggling and our bee populations are down.  I just decided when I was finishing school I wanted to do more to help bees and that’s how I ended up running a https://www.rentmasonbees.com/ (program where I rent bees). I have to back up a little what made you want to go to college and get a science degree and what about bees? Watching Bee movie? I think I’ve always loved all types of animals! I can’t remember when I first decided that I thought bees were awesome!  I had heard of the honeybee before but I ended up I took a class in between high school and college where I learned about the Mason bee.  That opened up my world to something I never knew existed. When I went to college I went back and forth between different programs, I finally settled on biology that coupled my love for nature but would help me get a job in the future. I wanted something that was applicable and hands-on Anytime I got to do any kind of independent focus where I got to pick what I was studying I always chose bees When I was senior research project went out to one of the power pollinator patches stuck my head in big bushes of flowers and counting the bees Identifying honeybees bumblebees anything I could find had so much fun with all of those projects it landed after I was in college I ended up with a job in bees. I always say you never know what you are going to learn in college what jobs that you will learn about, I always tell them take any job you can to travel. I got to take a class in Olympia in Washington where we studied starfish and all sorts of cool sea anenomes. I love how you picked places to learn about bees. I don’t actually know anything about mason bees other then their a native bee? So sure, they’re a native bee found in the US there are a lot in the pacific northwest, their range is pretty broad. a bunch of different species 75 different kinds of bees around the area and we focus on one in particular blue orchard mason bee they are much different from honey bees! They’re what they call a solitary bee there’s no queen bee don’t live in a hive don’t make honey all females lay their own eggs Which makes them non-aggressive so you never have to wry about getting stung! super pollinators and visit up to 2000 flowers everyday she’s gonna be flying around visiting fruit trees bushes pollinating Really important for the overall health of our ecosystem because they are pollinating your backyard! So why renting them? What’s that all about. And a little about their lifecycle the reason why don’t make honey hang out in hive eating honey reserves instead the mason bees are going to hibernate inside their own cocoons in the winter time How their lifecycle works they’re hybrinating in winter hatch out of their cocoons mid to late march males and females completing their nesting activity to lay the next generation of bees looking for little holes in the backyard to lay eggs woodpecker hole hollow stem of bush in between siding of your house They’re gonna use those small holes that’s... Support this podcast