I think it's time

Now that there are a few more people truly interested in Gardening For Wildlife over here, time to check out this site-
http://www.springerlink.com/content/1572-9753/

Look for Number 2 / June, 2006 Special Issue: Insect Habitats
Once the new page opens up click on Biotope Associations and the Decline of Bumblebees
Note the comments,

Thank you Equilibrium
For bringing that to my attention.

A lot of very interesting reading.

Just throwing in something completely irrelevant yet interesting -- did you know the quaint name for bumblebee is dumbledore?

no brigidlily
I did not know that. We don`t get them here.
Might be to hot.
Here`s one for you.
What was the First name for Butterflies?

I know! Butterflies were first called Flutterflies!

diggerette
How right you are.
We need You at http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/675556/
Come on over ang give it a try.
Add a Question if you like.

Equilibrium,

Quoted:
Our results concur with previous suggestions that bumblebees are generally not habitat specialists, so that the conservation of most bumblebee species could be achieved by restoration of flower-rich unimproved meadows.

I don't understand what unimprove means. If you are restoring something you are improving it. Please explain.
Thanks,
Adele

Sorry about that, it was hard to get to the entire article that far back to be able to read the excerpt in context. Here's all of what was written,

Thanks Equi-May I call you that? I read the article and still don't understand the usage of unimproved. I will plant a flower rich garden and hopefully that will help the population of bumblebees in my community.
Thanks for the bringing that to my attention.
Adele

Yes, it was hard digging that up by trying to find it on the index. When I read your post, I figured other people might be having difficulty getting to it.

Unimproved, as used above, basically means a meadow that hasn't been claimed for agricultural use. What is suggested above is to consider using species of plants that are indigenous to a local region in consideration of habitat loss due to construction for housing as well as any other reason why land would be "improved". In other words, we need to consider using what space we have to plant wisely. Example... with habitat destruction so common these days, any plant we plant should be wisely chosen. If the good people of New Zealand plant an Asian species... that's one less space to plant an indigenous species that could support local fauna. Sometimes, it's not how much we have but how we utilize what we have. Quality not quantity.

Oh, Equil, you'll have Hobbes (whoever makes the best economical use of the land deserves to own the land) spinning in his grave!

GOOD FOR YOU!!!!!!!!

I have to do something with my ditch, as the bare spots are eroding (of course). Do bumblebees like ditch lilies? I've put a border of them toward the top of the ditch. I'd like to scatter wildflower seeds along the slope, but I can't make my part of the ditch too unlike the rest of the ditch. AND OF COURSE the rest of the ditches in my 'hood are SA GRASS... grrrrrrr....

Equil-Thank you defining unimproved.
Oh yes, I support the concept of planting native species. I do have some questions about native planting-1. Do I need to eliminate exotic plants that are already well established on my land?2. How much of a fanatic do I have to be? Isn't some immigration of exotic species allowed , if it does not harm? What do you think about this?
Adele

The ditch lily question I can answer. I personally wouldn't plant them because they are documented as being capable of naturalizing. There are other plants more than capable of controlling erosion in that area that are considerably more wildlife friendly that could create a real show stopper for you that would better meet the needs of indigenous fauna. If you plan to scatter wildflower seeds in that area for wildlife, please consider creating your own mix of natives for the local fauna. All too frequently exotic invasives that naturalize end up in many of the readily available "wildflower" mixes. One thing to remember, the word naturalize is almost exclusively used to describe exotic, or rather introduced non-native species. Native plants don't naturalize. They belong in the environment.

You are both asking tough questions. I have many non-native plants here planted up in tight around my home. Most were well intended gifts. I can't say this enough but I am not a purist. I will not knowing plant anything that is deemed invasive or overly aggressive anywhere on my property however I will not plant anything that isn't native in any of the natural areas of my property. I personally will not go out of my way to eliminate an exotic plant if it isn't invasive. Lord knows I've got enough invasives still present here to get rid of so no sense running myself ragged nuking everything that is introduced. There are many well behaved exotics that mind property lines so I have no intentions of dealing with them until at such time as I've gotten a better control of the invasives that I inherited when we bought this property.

Gardeners need to determine where their line in the sand exists. It will be different for you than it is for me. I don't have time to be a fanatic but there are those who do. I do the best I can by researching every plant gifted to me or that I purchase these days which generally "weeds" out plants that are documented as being invasive. I do this by searching for the plant using the Latin name. If I make a mistake and find a plant is getting a tad bit too aggressive, I waste it. I guess the question more so should be how much of a fanatic do you want to be? Where do you want to draw the line? These are very personal decisions that need to be made based on one's own experiences and beliefs.

I feel bad for skirting the answering of your questions but they are so difficult for me to answer because I obviously garden for wildlife so the vast majority of plants I personally purchase are natives because these species co-evolved together over tens of thousands of years.

Equilibruim-I like the way you think. Your name suits you. I sway between the two choices-native or not. Invasive- that's easy- out you go. My policy is to go native but sometimes it's hard to say no to a beautiful well behaved exotic plant and then I feel guilty. So I would say that 90% of my garden is native to the northeast.

Back to bumblebees. I think I'll create a burrow for them in a unused part of the property.I noticed over the years a general decrease in insects, except for mosquitoes.

This message was edited Dec 22, 2006 5:41 PM

This message was edited Dec 22, 2006 7:07 PM

Equi- Thanks,I'll order some bees, buy a block. dig some burrows and see what happens. It's a little strange that you're the 3rd person to suggest this idea to me. So, I think it's something that needs to be done.
Bring back the bees!
Adele

Hey diggerette, Great! Be very careful selecting your block site. There are some tricks to the trade regarding placement so to speak.

Hey brigidlily, I had to go and look up your Hobbes reference. At first I ran into a lot of Calvin and Hobbes and I couldn't make the connection but then I ran into Thomas Hobbes and his theory of colonialism. Neat!

Lauren

Equi-I'll be certain to read up on placement of my block site beforehand. Thanks again.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6400179.stm

Branches-Thanks for the article. I hope they figure out the mystery of the disappearing bees.
I'm going to follow Equilibrium's advice and start with "nice mason bees". I hope they like their new home and stay for a while.