Request for Suggestions: Artificial Flower for Nectar Dispensing

[Alixandra Prybyla]

Dear hive mind,

I am running an experiment this spring/summer on two wild Bombus pratorum and Anthophora plumipes populations, and it requires that I provision each bee with sugar water/artificial nectar after sampling. I have been searching for a specific artificial flower cluster with nectar-provisioning capabilities I saw advertised some months ago, but I have had no luck in finding it again. It seemed to be a specialty product--I remember it being advertised specifically for bees in the garden. It looked a bit like the image I have scribbled and attached to this email! 

If anyone has any ideas of where I can find this feeder, please let me know. 

Alternatively, if you know of any similar feeders, I would appreciate any tips! My priorities are being able to swap out/clean the artificial flowers after each use so as not to spread disease or parasites, I would like feeders that are specially made for wild bees and not ones stuck in honeybee hives (unless they are also fit for purpose), and artificial flowers that come in purple or pink so I can blend the fake ones in amongst some Pulmonaria sp. or Geranium sp. are a plus but not necessary. 

That being said, any feeders you use and find to be reliable would be great to know. 

Thank you all in advance. 

Warmest wishes,

Alix

[Pilliod, David]

Alix,

I suggest you reach out to Jon Koch at USDA.  He has a nectar recipe that works well.

We have been experimenting with artificial flowers for collecting bee eDNA.

David

David S. Pilliod

Supervisory Research Ecologist

USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center

230 N Collins Rd, Building 3

Boise, ID  83702

Phone:  208-387-1363 (office)

Email:  dpil...@usgs.gov

Website:  https://www.usgs.gov/staff-profiles/david-s-pilliod

ORCID:  0000-0003-4207-3518

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From: beemon...@googlegroups.com <beemon...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Alixandra Prybyla <alixandr...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2024 6:47 AM
To: beemon...@googlegroups.com <beemon...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] [Beemonitoring] Request for Suggestions: Artificial Flower for Nectar Dispensing

 

 

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