This past week I worked with Dr. DeBano on Monday and Tuesday at Starkey.  I worked on pan traps and timed handnetting while Dr. DeBano worked on collecting data relating to plant richness, blue vein traps (BVT), densiometer, and solar pathfinder.  We then began cleaning up all the whiskers and flagging at each site, as she will not be returning to Meadow Creek next year. I’m also officially done with all the field work, but I will be continuing to work on data entry and quality control. As all of the data has been collected, it must now be organized and analyzed. After that Dr. DeBano will work on completing three separate research papers to showcase all the work that’s been conducted over the last several years.

Since this is also my last blog post, I thought I should do a quick explanation of how each of the different projects influence each other and work towards the overall goal of seeing how agriculture and grazing affect native bee populations on the Zumwalt and within Starkey. Honestly, I’m as nervous for this blog post as I was for my first one. Mainly, I hope to give a solid, streamlined, explanation of the project. But it’s also hard to convey just how hard Dr. DeBano and her team have worked on this project.  It has been a massive undertaking, and I’ve watched her sacrifice personal time in exchange for long nights in the field or her office. But through it all, Dr. DeBano has stayed passionate. For example, it was refreshing to see her still get giddy over a pair of bumble bees gorging on thistle. She truly seems to have a love for knowledge, sharing, and research. While I don’t know what my own career path holds, I hope that I’ll have as much enthusiasm as she does for her work. 

Starkey

I only spent about four days at Starkey, so I’ll do my best on this part! Dr. DeBano has been collecting data for this project from the Starkey Experimental Forest for several years (since 2016 I believe). During that time she has worked within the Meadow Creek area, and has been collecting bees and conducting plant surveys from 3 separate pastures within that area.  The pastures are Star 2, Star 3, and Star 5. Within each pasture there are 4 different sites: All, DE, LS, and None. The names come from what is included, or excluded, from each site. For example, the All sites are open to all animals such as deer, elk, cattle, and whatever else roams into the area. While the DE sites are only open to deer and elk, LS is only for cattle, and None sites excludes all animals. Dr. DeBano said that cattle were only introduced to the sites in 2016. 

To see what bee species inhabit the pastures Dr. DeBano uses pan traps, BVTs, and hand netting to collect specimens. BVTs are similar to pan traps, except the trap is one large yellow and blue trap that sits a few feet off the ground, whereas there were three pan traps set on the ground around each transect’s backbone  The BVT is placed within the center of the designated transects. There is some controversy to the technique, as some scientists argue that its elevated height attracts bees from outside the research area. Dr. DeBano stated that she also hopes to compare the difference between BVTs and pan traps, and see if there actually was in variance in species. To see what flowers are blooming and available to pollinators, Dr. DeBano collects data on species richness and additionally goes along each line of the transect and counts how many of each blooming plant is present during the given time. The densiometer and solar pathfinder help record canopy cover and how much daylight is present on a given day. 

There has also been a lot of riparian restoration work conducted within Meadow Creek, and so our sites are shared with a few other research projects.  One of the projects is studying what grazes on willows, and which willow species thrive. Researchers at Starkey are also looking at how deer and cattle interact within the forest. But for Dr. DeBano’s project she is exploring how native bees are altered by herbivory. She wants to see what drives the bee communities and how agriculture influences their populations. By looking at what bees and forbs exist at the differing sites gives a better insight into what species are present. For example, there may be double the amount of bees and plants present at the None sites verses the LS sites.  Additionally, the cattle or deer and elk may be grazing on plants at a site that would otherwise support specific bees. She also records this data from April to September, and is then able to get a better idea of when various plants are blooming.

Zumwalt

There are a few similarities and differences to the work being conducted on the Zumwalt that should be noted.  For instance, we never used BVTs, densiometers, or solar pathfinders, but more work was done in regards to soil compaction, ground nesting bees, and ground cover. Dr. Morris also conducted a lot of research on non-native grasses and the effects of fire on grasslands. There are also 30 sites at the Zumwalt (as opposed to the 12 at Starkey), and they range from: grazed, burned, native prairie, old fields, or both. As for similarities, bees were also collected with hand netting and pant traps. Plant richness and blooming plant surveys were also conducted in the same fashion as Starkey.

Dr. DeBano is looking at how agriculture alters bee communities within the prairie. Because the prairie was historically cultivated, Dr. DeBano is able to look at how those sites compared to native fields. The cultivated fields have been left in passive restoration for several decades now, but the differences in plant communities is still visible from across the preserve.  For instance, the cultivated fields seemed to be full of more non-native grasses, and supported a smaller variety of forbs. 

Bees

As for the bee species, all of the bees are sorted and pinned, and then shipped to a taxonomist in Utah. And Katie’s thesis focuses on meta barcoding of bees that were hand netted in the field.  The data will be able to tell her exactly what flowers are within the pollen collected from the various bees. This will give them a better idea of what flowers each bee species takes advantage of. This is exciting, new science, and I’m eager to know what the data reveals! 

Because such little work has been done on the native bees in these communities, all of the data collected is beneficial. With this knowledge Dr. DeBano will be able to decipher how and if cattle and ungulates influence said bee communities.  This work can be used to alter grazing practices and restoration projects. I was honored to be picked for this internship, and I’m so grateful Dr. DeBano let me explore a variety of different projects. I also think it was great that I got to come on during the end stages of collecting data. I got to see all of the labor that’s already been put into this project, and was able to learn about patterns they had already begun to see. Besides the obvious sensory joy of spending my summer surrounded by charismatic bees, beautiful flowers, and one of the most phenomenal prairies in the west, I also got to spend a few months around positive, motiving thinkers. I hope my blog gave this project the recognition it deserves, and I also hope it inspired somebody to look at our grasslands through a different lense.

I did a little bit of everything this past week. Foremost, Scott and I had to reschedule our last Zumwalt trip after last week’s debacle. So we decided to head up to the prairie Monday morning, and returned late Tuesday night. During our short trip we worked on emptying emergence traps, and taking soil samples from grazed sites, human trails, and a control site. We used a penetrometer for the sampling and recording how many strikes it took to reach 20 centimeters in 5 centimeter increments.  We took samples on the trails and then one and two meters off the trail. We also took the samples in 50 meter increments and chose the locations by randomly selecting numbers from a stop watch. 

The emergence traps went as expected, with many of the traps being empty, destroyed, full of carcass beetles or plants. We then disassembled some of the unusable traps, and refilled the viable ones. On Monday we got to watch a massive herd of elk bugle and meandure into a wooded area on a ridge. I see elk often, but the sight and sound of them never loses its luster. And on the second afternoon Scott and I spotted two large canines on the next ridge. The figures were large and light.  We were enthralled at the thought of seeing two wolves on our last field week. Unfortunately, we were later disappointed to learn they were coyotes, as Scott had sent a photo of the animals to one of his friends who works with carnivores. Regardless, it was still fascinating to watch the two creatures stare back at us and then work their way up the ridge. 

On Thursday I worked on data sheets at home in La Grande. And on Friday I decided to break up the routine and went up to Hermiston to work on pinning bees.  I don’t think I’d been to HAREC in about a month! James has made a lot of progress on pinning, and so I helped pinning pan traps. I was surprised at how much bi-catch was in each sample, as it seemed like there were more moths than bees! I was also surprised at how quickly I got back into the rhythm of pinning. I then met with Dr. DeBano and Scott in the evening to catch up on data sheet progress and to make deadlines for the upcoming weeks. 

Dr. DeBano also gave me Monday off; which honestly felt needed after how personally draining this past month has been.  I had planned to go camping in the Wallowas but instead my boyfriend and I opted to go for a drive Sunday, and then went hiking in Eagle Cap Wilderness within the Wallowa Mountains today. We hiked up from Hurricane Creek to LeGore Mine.  I ended up at a little over 8,000 feet, which is the highest this Florida native has ever been! I share this not only because the mountain views were spectacular, but because one of the best parts was seeing the Zumwalt from the top. It felt so fitting to look across at that gorgeous grassland from the mountain. I love this corner of the west, and am constantly amazed at the geographical diversity. It was spectacular to see the river canyons and undulating bunchgrass hills from a granite peak. 

I will spend this next week with Dr. DeBano at Starkey, where we will be working on pan traps and plant transects. This will be my first overnight at Starkey, so I’m eager to see how the change of pace plays out.  Since I’m coming to end of my blog I hope to make my next post a giant summary and explain how each of the different projects tie into one another.

This past week I was suppose to work on data entry in La Grande, and then join Scott on the Zumwalt for two days of field work. I was excited to get back out to the prairie as I had thought the previous week would be my last visit. However, things took an unexcepted turn in my personal life as my boyfriend and I had to put our beloved senior lab, Sadie, to sleep. She was an exceptional companion and losing her the way we did was rather traumatic. So, long story short, I didn’t get much work done this week and I had to bail on Scott the morning we were suppose to be leaving. Dr. DeBano and Scott were not only exceptionally kind and understanding, but have given me the time and space to start healing.

I’m going to post a few plant identification photos (and a few insects). I’ll be back on the prairie with Scott on Monday and Tuesday, and will then spend the rest of the week pinning bees or working on data entry.

This past week I went to the Zumwalt with Dr. DeBano, Scott and James. We worked on the final sets of pan traps, plant sampling, and some minor soil sampling. On Friday, I joined Dr. DeBano and Scott at Starkey, where I helped Dr. DeBano with plant sampling while Scott hand netted bees and identified willows. 

We arrived at Summer Camp around 3pm on Monday.  Thankfully, the weather felt more like September than high summer, as temperatures hovered around 75 to 80 the entire week! While the breeze was occasionally stale, it felt like a gift compared to the previous summer. After getting settled at camp we began setting out pan traps. The pan traps are placed along the backbone of each transect, and are collected after 48 hours.  The traps are small containers painted with either yellow, white, or blue fluorescent paint and are filled with soapy water. We set out 10 sets of the 30 traps on the first day. 

On Tuesday, I partnered up with Dr. DeBano on plant sampling and quadrants.  I was the scribe, and as such got to record the various types and amounts of blooming plants found along each transect. It is the same data I have been entering for the last few weeks with Kaylee. I actually found it really enjoyable, since it helped reinforce my plant identification, and well…I like flowers. It was also interesting to see the difference between grazed and ungrazed sites, or burned and unburned sites. Most of what’s blooming is still Achillea millefolium, Pieride gardenii, and Erigeron corymbosus. 

As for the quadrant work I recorded the percentage of grass, bare ground, biological soil crust, feces, rock, or forbs within each sample.  The goal is to have the total equal to 100%. For instance, a sample could comprise of 25% forbs, 25% bare ground, and 50% grass. Dr. DeBano makes the estimates on all quadrants and transect sampling to avoid any bias. The quadrant is thrown about a meter from each whisker on the same transects we collect all the other data on. She avoids looking at where she throws the quadrant, so that she can eliminate any further bias.  

On Tuesday Scott and James witnessed quite the predator prey interaction. They described seeing a massive herd of elk near Harsin Butte acting strangely. The elk began panicking, bugling and separating. Scott and James then said they saw several canine figures below the herd. They’re fairly certain, due to the size and behavior of all parities involved, that they were watching a pack of wolves. Jealous is an understatement.

On Wednesday, Scott and I drove to The Nature Conservancy office in Enterprise to pick up a spare penetrometer.  We then went out to a few sites and measured soil compaction on obvious cow trails, then one and two meters off the trails.  We also measured soil compaction on Patti’s trail; which is a popular hiking trail near Harsin Butte. Scott was curious to see if there were any patterns from foot, and hoof, traffic at the sites. Around 3pm we then worked on collecting Monday’s pan traps.  We did however, get side tracked when we saw a large plume of smoke on the horizon. We drove up to Monument to get a better vantage point of the fire and to get cell service to call in the brush fire. Shortly after, we noticed a large amount of smoke coming from the Wallowa Mountains.  The larger fire near the mountains turned out to be the Granite Gulch Fire near Union. I went hiking Sunday in the Eagle Cap Wilderness and saw a large fire pop off within a drainage. Low and behold, it was the Granite Gulch Fire. I live about 10 miles from the 2,000+ acre fire, and it’s been exciting to see it transform over the last few days. 

Since the fire frenzy set us back at least a hour, Scott and I had to work until we could no longer see.  It’s important to keep the data uniform, and so we needed to collect the last two sites of pan traps. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and had to give up on the last sets.  We decided to retrieve them early the next morning and just made note of the added two hours of daylight. We did, however, get to see another phenomenal sunset while looking for the little pink and yellow whiskers hidden between all the bunchgrass. The clouds once again transformed from a cool gray, to magenta, to a soft violet. 

This past week I also decided to camp in the field behind Summer Camp.  The last several field trips I’ve opted to sleep inside the Doctor’s Cabin as it was pretty hot out and the whole house was available. I’m honestly a little embarrassed to admit that the sound of coyotes yapping generally sends shivers down my spine.  But since reading more about them in my free time this summer, and just generally seeing them more since working on the prairie, I’ve become more tolerant of the sound. It was finally enjoyable, or at least comforting to hear their sounds from all directions while I was going to sleep. It served as a reminder that I’m sharing this space.  The cackling coyotes have transitioned from a warning sign to one of comfort: in that it tells me the prairie is a thriving, healthy habitat. 

The next two days we worked on picking up the remaining pan traps, and then picking up all the whiskers and flagging from the field season. This upcoming week I will be joining Scott on Tuesday and Wednesday on the Zumwalt, where we will be working with the emergence traps. The rest of the week will be spent working on data entry back in La Grande.  

Not much new to share as I spent this past week in La Grande and worked on data entry. I spent part of the week inputting data at home, and the other part of the week working with Kaylee at EOU. We’re currently working on transferring all the hard copies to digital spreadsheets. Our focus right now is to transfer all the transect data and plant sampling. Each site at Starkey and on the Zumwalt gets recorded onto paper, is then counted, then recounted by somebody else for quality control, then entered into a spreadsheet, then recounted, and is finally ready for use.

Working with data sheets has reinforced the importance of spelling, clean handwriting, organization, and patience. Spelling and legible handwriting is crucial because it means the difference between inputting the wrong species or number. Organization is also important because if you aren’t careful you could easily mix up data within months, sites, or even years. And patience is imperative because it gives you clarity and focus. It’s tedious work, and even once I get into the rhythm of it I still need to take lots of visual breaks. I’m not sure if everyone else struggles, but my eyes get sore easily and begin to play tricks on me. For instance, 575 ends up reading as 557. So, I’m trying to double check as best I can, and to be kind with myself.

I will also say that the data entry has helped with pronunciation and spelling of all the various species. We’ve also already noticed many of the plants occur at every, or most sites. For instance, Achillea millefolium seems to be a staple at each transect. It’s also interesting to see many of the plants go into bloom. For example, Geranium viscosissimum (sticky geranium) seemed to rapidly increase by the end of June. We also noticed the wide variance in species richness from Starkey verses the Zumwalt. In the grand scheme of things the two areas are relatively close in proximity, but so vastly different in diversity!

I will be back on the Zumwalt this week with Dr. DeBano, Scott, and James. We should be back in town Thursday evening, and I will be joining Scott at Starkey Friday. Since, I didn’t take any glamorous photos of data sheets or Excel I’ve decided to post a few more flowers that are common on the prairie.

This past week I went back to the Zumwalt to finish up soil sampling with Scott and Kaylee. One of the work vehicles broke down near Meacham, so the other crew borrowed the Suburban that we normally take into the field (the same one that had a flat tire the previous week). Thankfully, Dr. Morris (La Grande campus) let us borrow one of her trucks for the week.  It is an older manual, three seater truck; which her crew has affectionately knick named Lurch. Scott then met Kaylee and me in La Grande in our crew’s Impala. Because I have limited experience with manual transmission I opted to drive the Impala out to the prairie. And since the Impala has minimal ground clearance we only drive it up to summer camp. So, the rest of the time was spent squeezed into Lurch.

After we set up camp and got settled into the new (to us) truck we began finishing up all the soil sampling at the remaining plant transects, and then went to the emergence traps. From the outside, the emergence traps look like miniature tents with a wire casing.  But they are actually used to collect data about ground nesting bees and other various invertebrates. The traps are set out each spring and then collected near the fall. They are all in the same vicinity, but spaced 90 meters apart. Inside each of the traps are two plastic containers used to trap the insects, with one of the containers full of alcohol. In total there are 40 traps, and 38 of them were set out on the prairie this spring, as two of them were unrepairable. 

This is also the second year Dr. DeBano has used the emergence traps, so the project is still in the early stages.  Scott stated that they weren’t especially successful with the data collected last year. Unfortunately, this year seems to be even less fruitful.  Of the 38 traps installed on the prairie we’ve already had about 15 destroyed by cattle so far. The cattle are a different breed than last year, and have been especially curious. The cattle gnaw on the wire and inevitably get their horns stuck. I’ve seen the wire casing thrown meters from the trap. Some of the actual fabric has been torn as well.  The cattle have also tried to consume the plastic whiskers used at the plant transects. While frustrating, at least the lost or moved whiskers are cheaper and easier to replace than the emergence traps.  Scott has spent countless hours constructing and repairing the emergence traps, so I do feel bad that he is seeing little reward for his efforts. In addition to curious cattle, some of the traps were also infested with carcass beetles or various plants.  The carcass beetles feast on the other insects, and thus make the data useless. And because the traps act as tiny green houses, they become a heaven for various grasses and forbs. These plants then crowd out the trap and non of the insects are captured in the traps.

Despite the setbacks, there was still a lot to learn. For instance, the traps are surrounded by a wire shell, and are then held in place with T posts. The traps that were rectangular seemed significantly less sturdy than the prism shapes. I’m not sure if this is from the change in shape, or change in material, but whatever it was it kept the cows at bay. The traps are also set out where Heidi Schmalz did a research project for her thesis a few years ago.  She worked on classifying the various soil types on the prairie, so our data collected over the last few weeks was used in part to recreate her study. Unlike the plant transects locations, where we purposely collected VWC and soil compaction a few meters from the whiskers, we collected data from within the emergence traps. This is so that we could get data for the exact location.  

The prairie continues to change each week as well.  While this past trip was exceptionally hot and dry, it was still considerably cooler than a year ago.  And as for biomass, all that seemed left was mostly yarrow, crispy buckwheat, and ventenata. We did see many more deer, elk, and birds of prey. And the coyotes were vocal as ever. There’s also still many bees roaming the prairie, and it’s quite fun to see them still gorging on the remaining forbs. I realized that I moved to Oregon one year ago this week. It feels like a far cry from western Washington, let alone Florida. It is truly special that I get to live and work in such a unique place. I’m also currently reading American Serengeti by Dan Flores, and his portrayal of grasslands is only helping to increase my admiration for the landscape and animals that inhabit it. This next week I will be doing data entry with Kaylee, and will then be joining Scott at Starkey and possibly the Umatilla River for willow identification. 

This past week I stayed on the Zumwalt with Scott and Kaylee to work on soil sampling.  And let me just say, we had quite a roller coaster ride. We left La Grande around 9AM on Tuesday and arrived at Summer Camp sometime before noon. We stopped at camp to unload all of our gear before heading out to the field sites, and it was then that I noticed we had a flat of all flats.  We, mostly Scott, then worked on putting the spare on during the heat of the day. After we got the Suburban back in working order we all agreed it would be best to drive back to Enterprise and get the old tire patched up. The Zumwalt is comprised of dirt roads for miles and is full of notoriously bad pot holes, jagged rocks, and rivets.  In addition, we frequently traverse the Salt Road, which is more of a riveted trail than a road that’s only driven during the field season. As such, we decided we didn’t want to get an additional flat tire deeper into the preserve. So, we drove to the closest Les Schwabb and Scott called Dr. DeBano. She then decided we should get all new tires and an alignment. We then walked around bustling Enterprise, and stopped at a local restaurant while we waited for the mechanics to finish.  

When we finally got back to the prairie we decided to get at least one site completed.  Somebody way up above must have felt our frustration because we then got to see one of the most glorious sunsets I’ve seen (and I’m a Florida native).  A large storm began rolling in, and I’m sure we all thought the universe was going to continue its gruel joke and rain on us. But instead, the storm broke apart and then the entire Zumwalt was bathed in warm orange light while sunbeams showered the hills.  The dark blue clouds contrasted with the warm grass. Eventually, the orange sky turned purple and magenta on the horizon and eventually a cool blue overtook the prairie. The Seven Devil Mountains then emerged from a storm and the bright rock contrasted perfectly against the dark storm clouds. All the while we were working next to a Graze site, so I got to admire the most picturesque cattle.  After we completed the sampling we decided to go up to Monument to get a better view. Monument are two large man made cairns. TNC speculates that they were made by ranchers generations ago as a directional marker. As such, you can see Monument from most of the prairie, and vice versa. Later that night we all sat outside to star gaze.  The cross in the Milky Way was visible, and it was nice to watch for shooting stars. While cliche, feeling so small is always grounding.  

The next day we got up early and hit the ground running around 7:30 AM.  Our goal was to complete soil sampling at about 20 sites for the week. The only tools we took out were a HydroSense II and a Penetrometer.  The HydroSense II looks more like a stud finder with two metal prongs attached. You stick it into the ground and it then reads back the VMC, volumetric water content percentage, and conduction. The Penetrometer is a large metal pole with a 5-10lb weight that you slam into the ground.  The bottom on the pole has 4 markings on it that indicate 5cm increments. You drop the weight and count how many times it takes to go 5 cms, culminating in a 20cm reading. The point of the task is to record how compact the soil is, so the most strikes it takes the more compact the soil. Our guide tool for the HydroSense II broke at the first site, so we all agreed that Scott would be in charge of the readings for the remaining sites.  Since the reader is an extremely expensive piece of equipment we didn’t want to be responsible for its downfall. As such to break up the task Kaylee and I took turns between tampering the soil and being a scribe. Of course, I ended up getting my finger caught between the metal and sliced my finger open. After a few explicitis were yelled I got bandged up and went back to work. 

The data collected will be used to compare soil characteristics between sites.  For instance, it seemed like the old fields were rockier and more compact than native fields.  It is speculated that this is because these fields were once cultivated and have had no restoration efforts.  Scott said that he thinks those sites haven’t been plowed since the 1950s, which makes it’s impressive that the soil is still so compact after 70 years.  Prairies and deserts are notoriously unforgiving when it comes to soil disturbance, so I wasn’t especially surprised. In parts of Oregon you can still see sheep trails in the hills from decades ago. We also didn’t see much rhyme or reason to the moisture content and conduction though.  For instance, we would get a reading of around 7% and then 13 feet down the transect would get 30%.  We did take all of our readings on the transects that are used for pan traps and frequency data. We made sure to be within a meter of the markers, but not directly on them.  Since people frequent those transects it might create biased data if you take readings directly on the whiskers. 

On our last day we ended up near Duckett Barn.  There is a field of veetch near the barn, and I have never seen so many bumble bees! We stopped for about 10 to 15 minutes and just admired them, and snapped photographs of the charismatic insects. While it was bittersweet to see a nonnative plant creep into the prairie, it was fascinating to watch all the bees. My personal highlight, however, happened on our way out of the preserve.  As we were driving we saw a badger cross the road! I’m pretty sure I started smacking Kaylee and talking gibberish. The badger then crossed the road and started bounding through the next field. We see badger holes all over the Zumwalt, but I have yet to see one in the wild. I was as elated as I was when I saw the wolf. I’m so grateful I get to work with Dr. DeBano on pollinators, but I seem to lose total control when it comes to Mustelids and Sciuridaes.  A career goal of mine is to work with Black Footed Ferrets. But first, I need to perfect my volume control.

Despite the flat tire, smashed finger, and sore ankles I feel like we had a very productive week.  Considering the setbacks I’m impressed we still completed 21 sites. We will be going back to the Zumwalt next week to finish our soil work. Dr. DeBano will also be joining us so we might assist with her data as well.  I’m becoming more familiar with the layout of the prairie, and it’s fun to see it transition each trip. The awe of the Zumwalt has yet to warn off of me. I’ve worked a variety of jobs, but I suspect that this internship will feel special for a long while.

This past week was spent between Hermiston and my own house in Union.  Dr. DeBano, Katie, and Scott all traveled down to Davis, California for a conference, while James and I stayed at the lab in Hermiston. I worked on pinning more bees until Wednesday as James worked on prepping for the next field week.  I then went home with a binder full of data sheets that need to be checked, and eventually met up with Kaylee, a fellow BES intern, at the library to work on spreadsheets.  

Admittedly, the hardest part about this whole internship is being away from my boyfriend and pets for most of the week.  I previously worked as a FF/EMT for a few years, so while I’m no stranger to being away, I do get home sick.  Additionally, I recently moved to a century farm in Union, and I found out one of my pet chickens passed away while I was last on the Zumwalt.  Since my personal life has felt a little hectic, I was relieved when Dr. DeBano said I could do data entry from home.  I’m happy to say I feel recharged and I’m eager to spend the next two weeks out in the field.

As far as pinning bees goes, I feel like I’ve improved quite a bit.  I still struggle with the extremely small bees, but I’m getting there.  Dr. DeBano checks in with me one on one at least once a week while I’m in Hermiston. This week she and I watched a few tutorial videos (thanks Youtube!) on pinning bees.  I slowed down even more with the little bees and tried to really steady my hands. Hopefully, my shift in technique showed. It’s important to keep the specimens uniform for identification and presentation. Regardless of the destination, you should want your specimens to be museum quality. Plus, if you just glue a wing to the pin it could easily fall off. The whole process actually feels pretty Zen once I get into a rhythm too.  I’ve decided to approach quality control and data sheets with the same mindset as pinning. While the work can get momentous, it is important and once I get situated I can work at it for hours. 

Scott, Kaylee, and I will be going out to the Zumwalt for the next two weeks to work on soil sampling. I know next to nothing about soil, so I’m actually pretty excited to get some hands on experience. It will also be nice to break up the routine of hand netting one week and pinning the next.  When I’m back in the lab in August I hope to get quality photos of some of the most common bees, and some of the pesky flies that look so similar, that I’ve been pinning and create a similar post to the plant identification. 

As promised, here’s a few more common plants found on the Zumwalt Prairie:

This past week I went back to the Zumwalt to assist with more field work.  I accompanied Katie for her last days of field work, in which we collected more bees with the hand nets.  This week, however, proved to be a little more difficult than the first as much of the prairie had begun to turn brown.  We also faced the challenge of high winds, storms, and grazing cattle at some of the sites.  All these factors resulted in less bees, or at least less than favorable catching conditions. Regardless, it was still nice to be out in the field and take note of how the prairie was transitioning out of late spring to high summer.

The pre-established sites on the Zumwalt range from Old Prairie (cultivated at some point) or Native Prairie, and Graze (cattle approved), Burn, Both, and Control.  During my first week back in June I noticed little difference in the amount of bees present from site to site, but this past week the differences were stark.  For instance, in regards to bees present, I noticed the most difficultly on recently grazed sites.  At first I thought this might be from the recently disturbed soil, but Katie stated that the soil compaction actually seems to have little effect on the ground nesting bees, so perhaps the flowers the bees favor are now absent.  Many of the invasive annual grasses, like ventenata, where also becoming easier to see.

Our last site for the week proved to be the most fruitful though, we collected all the required specimens and then some in less time than it took to collect even a quarter of the amount at prior sites. Since this week was fairly similar to my first week on the prairie, I’ve decided to include a couple examples of the different forbs we frequently see on the Zumwalt. It’s been interesting to see the colors on Zumwalt shift from purple lupin and yellow cinquefoil to mostly white yarrow and pink fairy in such a short amount of time.  I will continue to showcase a few each week, and will keep it simple by including the scientific name, family, common name and photograph. This next week I will be back in Hermiston pinning many more bees and assisting with data sheets.  And, as an added bonus I added two beautiful insects that Jame’s found while hand netting.

Scientific name: Clarkia pulchella, Family: Onagracea, common name: Pinky fairy, Elkhorns clarkia

Scientific name: Lupinus sp. Family: Fabaceae, common name: lupine (Zumwalt has Lupinus caudatus and Lupinus sericeus present)

Scientific name: Geranium viscosissimum, Family: Geraniaceae, common name: Sticky geranium

Scientific name: Achillea millefolium, Family: Asteracea, common name: yarrow

Scientific name: Erigeron speciosus, Family: Asteraceae, common name: showy daisy

Female Mormon cricket

Male Mormon cricket

Bumble bee flying through vetch

My second week was split between Starkey and Hermiston.  I spent the first day with Scott in the Starkey Experimental Forest near La Grande.  I joined him to do timed hand netting on dog woods and hawthorns, where we attempted to collect as many bees as possible within 10 to 15 minutes.  Once collected we then approximated how many flowers were on the shrubs we had just trapped bees on.  One of the shrubs had over 1,000 flowers! I also joined Scott to various sites were he was identifying different willows.  Towards the end of the day we went to see if we could collect bumble bees from Engelmann Spruce.  We ended up collecting quite a few bees, which was surprising.  It was neat to see the bees taking advantage of the spruce instead of flowers.  Scott said that the behavior is not well researched, so I was glad to help him collect specimens. I also saw a ton of vetch, wild  rose, thistle, and (what is perhaps my new favorite flower) elephant head lousewort

Elephanthead lousewort at Starkey Experimental Forest.

My first bee pinned!

The rest of my week was spent at the lab in Hermiston.  While there I learned how to pin bees. Once pinned the bees are eventually sent off to Utah to be identified.  Over the course of the week I organized and pinned several pan traps from Starkey.  The pan traps are the multicolored containers that attract all types of bees, butterflies, flies, spiders, etc.. The insects are stored in a freezer until they are ready to be sorted and pinned.  As such, the first step is to dethaw the insects.  This was done by putting the contents of each pan trap into a mason jar with hot water and some Dawn dish soap.  I then shook the jar to loosen up the mess of insects.  After doing that for about five minutes, I rinsed the contents with more water.  I kept a mesh screen over the jar so none of the insects were lost in the human powered spin cycle.  The next step was to dry the insects, which was simply done with a generic blow drier until all the water is evaporated.  Dr. DeBano said that bumble bees, Bombus, can sometimes only be differentiated by their fur color so it’s critical that they’re completely dried when pinned.  If the bees are wet, or still have soap residue on them, the fur can become matted.

Bi catch from a pan trap before examining all specimens under a microscope.

Once I was confident all the insects were dried I placed them into a petri dish and began sorting out all the bi catch.  It was interesting to see the variety of bees and bi catch per site.  For instance, some batches seemed to only have bumble bees and mosquitoes, while others were full of wasp and sweat bees. A lot of sweat bees look similar to flies, so I ended up using the microscope, and Scott and Dr. Debano, to check.

As far as the actual pinning goes, I had to be careful not to place the pin directly through the thorax, as this will pop the specimen’s head off.  Instead, I placed the pin slightly to the right to protect the bee and to create a uniform look. Once the bees are too small to have a pin placed into them I used nail polish as an adhesive to attach the bees to the side of the pin.  Within the box bees are organized from largest to smallest, and arranged with enough space to keep their wings protected.

Various bees post pinning. They will eventually be shipped to Utah to be identified.

All in all, I ended up pinning several hundred bees over the week.  I was previously studying fine arts in school and have done taxidermy as a hobby, so the pinning felt like a nice blend of my interest.  It was also really helpful to get to look at the bi catch and bees under a microscope. Osmia (mason bees) and Halictidae (sweat bees) were absolutely beautiful. The sweat bees looked almost iridescent under the microscope.  It was an enjoyable week, and I was eager to get the opportunity to examine the bees up close.  On my off days, I’ve already noticed myself spotting more bees than before. This upcoming week I will be back on the Zumwalt Prairie for four days of field work.