In North America, there are approximately 4,000 species of wild bees that are critical for pollinating plants in our forests, gardens, and fields.  At the 14th Annual Berkshire Biodiversity Day (or Bioblitz), Aliza Fassler will talk about the diversity of bee species in New England and how to help them in yards and gardens.

Aliza will go into where bees go during winter, how to tell a bee from a wasp, how to tell a native bee from a honey bee, and what native bee species one might see in their yard. Additionally, she will discuss how we can better manage our forests to support wild bee communities, something she’s been studying through her ongoing PhD research.

DATE: Sunday, September 24

TIME: 10:00 AM – 10:45 AM

LOCATION: April Hill (Greenagers), 62 N Undermountain Rd, South Egremont, MA

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Aliza Fassler is a Graduate Researcher at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, studying wild bees. She grew up in Greenfield, Massachusetts, with a love for forests, and she is passionate about sharing her love for wild bees and other insects. Aliza’s PhD research focuses on improving habitats for wild bees as part of sustainable logging practices in the Lower Midwest. This research could help improve open flower-rich habitats for wild bees in forests all over the Midwest.

This presentation is one of many taking place during this year’s Berkshire Bioblitz that’s taking place on September 23–24, from noon to noon, at April Hill Education and Conservation Center, the headquarters for Greenagers. In addition to the presentations, there will be guided walks and demonstrations led by experts, all of which are free and open to the public. The four slideshow presentations, which range in topics from spiders to fungi, will each last for approximately half an hour and be followed by a Q&A. Click here to learn more about this program and other planned activities.