Beyond Honey Bees

2415 Route 100, Orefield, PA | Get Directions »
FREE

Dr. Anita Collins will introduce us to the more than 400 species of bee that call Pennsylvania home.  The characteristics that make a bee a bee will be described, including lots of photographs of this family of  insects.  Where they live and what they do and how to  provide homes for them are part of the presentation.  How to help them in your own landscape with native plants will also be covered.

Dr. Collins received her B.Sc. from The Pennsylvania State University and a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Genetics from The Ohio State University.  During her graduate training at OSU she studied honey bees and joined USDA Agricultural Research Service upon graduation.  For twenty years she studied the genetics of colony defense and alarm communication as it related to Africanized honey bees (Killer bees) including tours to Venezuela and Mexico.  Her latest research was to develop a system for the cryopreservation of honey bee germplasm (freezing semen and eggs).  Since retiring, Dr. Collins has been a collaborator with the US Geologic Survey on a survey of native bees east of the Mississippi, focusing on several sites in northeastern PA.  She is also an Adjunct Professor, Entomology, at Penn State.