498: Jaime Pawelek on Pollinator-Friendly Habitats.
Encouraging landscapes and gardens with plants favorited by native bees.
In This Podcast:
We’ve heard about bees on previous podcasts, but Jaime Pawelek, a taxonomist who identifies bees and unnamed species, is sure to teach you something new! We go outside of the typical honey, carpenter, and mason bee discussion and into some unique varieties like a sweat bee. Jamie shares details on how bees collect pollen and nectar, their motivation, seasonal needs, and environmental needs to bring these pollinators to your garden. Learn more on how to plant garden bees! Don’t Miss an Episode!! Click HERE to sign up for regular podcast updates
Our Guest:
Jaime is the owner of Wild Bee Garden Design and has been studying native bees for nearly 15 years. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Conservation and Resource Studies in 2008. At the university, she worked in the Urban Bee Lab with Dr. Gordon Frankie for several years where she learned about the close relationships of bees and plants by observing their interactions all across California.
With the information she learned, and started designing gardens full of native and drought tolerant plants for homeowners and businesses to help them create valuable pollinator habitats. She currently works as a taxonomist identifying bees for various researchers around the country.
Listen in and learn about:
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- Her time studying bees at UC Berkley with Gordon Frankie
- The 20,000 species of bees around the world
- Sweat bees and how to identify them
- The huge variance in size of bees
- Hive bees vs solitary bees
- How to plant for native bees, considering what the plant provides and their flowering season
- The role of bees in nature and ecosystems
- Bees vs wasps
- How bees collect pollen using static electricity
- The seasonal nature of bees and their lifecycle
- How to encourage ground nesting bees and cavity nesting bees in your garden
- Providing water for honeybees and mason bees
- No-till organic bee gardening and understanding the impact of pesticides
- How to observe your garden and the bee interactions
- Helpabee.org and what it teaches
As well as:
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- Her failure – Failing her first semester of college because she didn’t advocate about what she wanted to learn.
- Her success – Making a living doing what she loves to do.
- Her drive – Curiosity about the natural world.
- Her advice – If you plant it, they will come!
Jaime’s post on our Blog:
Jaime’s Book recommendations*:
Our Native Bees: North American’s Endangered Pollinators and the Fight to Save Them by Paige Embry
How to reach Jaime:
Website: wildbeegardendesign.com
Email: wildbeegardendesign@gmail.com
*Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase, we will earn a nominal commission at no cost to you. We offer links to items recommended by our podcast guest as a service to our audience and these items are not selected because of the commission we receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether you decide to buy something is completely up to you.UrbanFarm.org/wildbeegarden
Yes, I am quite biased as well as very proud, as I am Jaime’s Mom. Her accomplishments were all self-based, Jaime was her very own advocate. One of her most amazing accomplishments has been the last year or two, Jaime’s home is waste free! I am overwhelmed with the amount of work that is required and the effort it takes. So proud and pleased!