Colletes thoracicus (Colletidae), Cellophane Bees

Posted on 2008-05-27 by admin

Update 2009.05.09: Cellophane Bees Return
Update 2008.05.28: Many thanks to John Ascher for the id!

While spending most of the weekend gardening, I discovered that the garden is home to a small colony of mining cellophane bees. At first I thought they Andrenidae, mining bees, based on photos and this description on BugGuide.Net:

Many small, ground-nesting bees observed in areas of sandy soil are members of the family, Andrenidae. Characteristics of this family (of which there are approximately 3000 species) are: Small size, 20 mm, (or smaller) brown to black in color, and nesting in a burrow in areas of sparse vegetation, old meadows, dry road beds, sandy paths. Although the nests are built in close proximity of one another, the bees are solitary (each female capable of constructing a nest and reproducing). Many species are active in March and April when they collect pollen and nectar from early spring blooming flowers. The female bee digs a hole 2-3 inches deep excavating the soil and leaving a pile on the surface. She then digs a side tunnel that ends in a chamber (there are about 8 chambers per burrow). Each chamber is then filled with a small ball of pollen and nectar. An egg is laid on the top of each pollen ball and the female seals each brood chamber. The emerging larval bees feed on the pollen/nectar ball until they pupate.
– Family Andrenidae – Mining Bees, BugGuide.Net

I contacted Kevin Matteson, contact person for the Bee Watchers 2008 project here in NYC. I wasn’t able to attend any of their orientation session last week, so I forwarded him a link to this post. He in turn forwarded the link to his “colleague at the museum.” Thus turned out to be John Ascher, a BugGuide contributing editor, and all-around big bee guy, who identified the species in the first comment below. Considering I don’t have a Ph.D. in Entomology, I don’t feel so bad.

[Colletes] are virtually indistinguishable from some of the Andrenidae mining bees. Colletes are honey bee size, and have dramatic black and white banding on the abdomen. Some andrenids have similar markings, but are usually slightly smaller. Colletes tend to nest in dense aggregations, while andrenids are not usually as populous.
– Genus Colletes – Cellophane Bees, BugGuide.Net

I noticed the first entrance mound a couple of weeks ago, shortly after I put up the bat house. I saw a discoloration on the ground directly below the bat house, and thought it might be guano. On closer inspection, I thought it was an anthill.

This weekend, I was doing a lot of work near that corner of the house, and the presence of bees was more obvious, especially when I started digging up and dividing perennials (Hemerocallis and Hosta) from a bed I was preparing for a new sunny native plant border.

I also noticed that the bees were entering and leaving what I had taken to be ant hills. Here’s the area where they’re all nesting. There are six entrance holes visible in this photo. There are a couple more hidden beneath leaves. The area is less than a square foot.

Here’s a closer view of the three entrances to the left. Zoom in and check out the leftmost one. There’s a little bee in there checking me out.

When I saw all this activity around numerous holes, I thought I might have a hive. Since they’re adjacent to the house, I was worried that they might move in. Before I did anything with them, I wanted to identify them to find out what they were.

To photograph this individual, I captured it in a plastic jug and placed it in the refrigerator for a few hours. When I retrieved it, it was inert, and I first feared I had killed it. When I took it into the backyard, where temperatures were still in the 70s, thankfully it slowly revived. I placed it on a piece of graph paper from my notebook for scale. The squares are 1/4″.

Here are two more views of the same individual. When I was done, I returned it back to the nesting area. Not realizing these are solitary bees, I thought it would return to the hive. It flew off, instead. I hope it returns and is able to find its own nest, again.

I want to take some more shots. I think I can get a shot of the wing venation without harming the individual. I’ll be more careful to not keep the subject away from its nest for so long next time. Maybe only a half-hour of chilling is all I would need to get my shots.

I’m not satisfied with the depth of field (DOF) in any of these shots. My macro lens has a focal length of 105mm (digital, around 150mm equivalent 35mm), which compresses DOF. Using the flash helped a lot. A tripod would be better. I’ll try some different options on my next attempts.

Links

Colletes thoracicus, Discover Life
Bee Watchers 2008
Family Andrenidae – Mining Bees, BugGuide.Net

May 28: Public forum on the Flatbush Community Garden

Posted on 2008-05-24 by admin

Future site of the (potential) Flatbush Community Garden

Since last November, when the vision for a community garden in Flatbush was first made public, a lot of meeting, brainstorming and planning has been going on behind the scenes. Yesterday, Sustainable Flatbush made the formal announcement for a public forum next Wednesday evening at P.S. 217:

Are you someone who loves all things green?
Have you always wanted to grow your own flowers, fruits, vegetables and herbs?
Here is your opportunity!
We have a potential space for a Flatbush Community Garden!

Come to a meeting to learn more!

WHEN: Wednesday, May 28, 2008, 6:00 – 8:00PM
WHERE: P.S. 217 Cafeteria, 1100 Newkirk Avenue, at Coney Island Avenue

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it. My Pest Management class at BBG started last Wednesday.

Food, drinks, and child care will be provided.
Get involved and grow!

For more information, contact:
Susan Siegel at: 718-282-5595
Anne Pope at: anne [at] sustainable flatbush {dot} org

Sponsored by Sustainable Flatbush (Fiscal Sponsor Flatbush Development Corporation)

Links

Flatbush Community Garden Meeting, Sustainable Flatbush
Flatbush Development Corporation

The Times discovers Kensington

Posted on 2008-05-24 by admin

“Pink Shell”, Coney Island Avenue, Kensington, Brooklyn

The “Living In” feature of tomorrow’s NY Times Real Estate section focuses on Kensington:

… a quiet, verdant area, just below Windsor Terrace, straddling McDonald Avenue and Ocean Parkway. The neighborhood, which is almost one square mile in size, has several long-established immigrant groups among its roughly 70,000 people.
– Name From London, People From Everywhere, New York Times, May 25, 2008

Even though it’s right across Coney Island Avenue from me, I have been neglectful of Kensington and haven’t spent much time there in the three years I’ve lived in Flatbush. Kensington and Flatbush both enjoy a rich diversity. With 7 lanes and no median, Coney Island Avenue serves as an (un)natural barrier between our neighborhoods. I have visions of more pedestrian-friendly streetscapes fostering streetlife along C.I.A. Maybe I’ll live to see that.

Once part of Flatbush, Kensington was developed after the completion of Ocean Parkway in 1875, according to the Encyclopedia of New York City. It was later named for the borough in West London; much of its housing was built in the 1920s. The wave of immigration that brought the neighborhood much of its ethnic diversity began in the 1980s.

Besides Church Avenue, smaller shopping districts can be found along Ditmas Avenue and Cortelyou Road, though the latter is not as developed in Kensington as it is in Ditmas Park, the neighborhood of Victorian houses to the east, where it is a major commercial street. A Food Town supermarket on McDonald Avenue recently expanded, to accolades from many residents.
…
Most of Kensington is a short walk from the southern tip of Prospect Park, including the park’s Parade Grounds, with its tennis courts and baseball and soccer fields. Prospect Park Lake is also close by. Kensington Stables, just outside the park, offers riding lessons.

Individual Plots, East 4th Street Community Garden, Kensington

Some Kensington Blogs and Bloggers

Bad Girl Blog
Kensington
New York City Garden
Porochista Khakpour

Links

Name From London, People From Everywhere, New York Times, May 25, 2008

Looking for love in all the wrong places

Posted on 2008-05-23 by admin

Bufo americanus, American Toad, by Henry McLin.

The NYC Health Department issued an alert today about an illegal aphrodisiac derived in part from toad venom. A man died last week after ingesting it:

The Health Department today warned New York City residents about an illegal aphrodisiac known as “stone,” which can cause serious poisonings and death. The product is also known as Piedra, Jamaican Stone, Love Stone, Black Stone or Chinese Rock. Last week, an area hospital alerted the New York City Poison Control Center that a man had died after ingesting the aphrodisiac. Similar products were linked to poisonings and deaths during the 1990s.

These products are banned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) but are imported illegally. Selling them in New York City is also a violation of the New York City Health Code.
– PRODUCT ALERT: ILLEGAL APHRODISIAC CALLED ‘STONE’ CAN CAUSE SERIOUS POISONING AND DEATH

Stone, a hard dark brown substance, is typically sold as a solid chunk less than a square inch in size. It may be packaged in a clear plastic bag with some labeling. The product is sold in some adult stores and can also be found in other neighborhood stores. Its active ingredients include several chemicals known as bufadienolides. They are derived from toad venom and some trees and can disrupt the normal rhythm of the heart.

Stone, a hard dark brown substance, is typically sold as a solid chunk less than a square inch in size. It may be packaged in a clear plastic bag with some labeling. The product is sold in some adult stores and can also be found in other neighborhood stores. Its active ingredients include several chemicals known as bufadienolides. They are derived from toad venom and some trees and can disrupt the normal rhythm of the heart.

Stone can cause serious heart problems or death when ingested, but can also be harmful when applied to the skin – its typical use. Symptoms of poisoning may include chest pain, abdominal pain and vomiting.

Links

Press Release

Flatbush Rezoning Proposal

Posted on 2008-05-23 by admin

Update, 2008.06.13: Read my report from the preliminary hearing.

457 Rugby Road, Ditmas Park West, Flatbush, Brooklyn

This was just a bullet in my listing of upcoming local events earlier this week. CB14 has scheduled a preliminary public hearing of DCP’s proposed zoning changes for the northern half of CB14, ie: Flatbush, for Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 7pm at Public School 249 at the corner of Caton Avenue and Marlborough Road.

CB14 just released additional information about the study area:

Brooklyn Community Board 14 has scheduled a preliminary public hearing to receive public input in the matter of the New York City Department of City Planning’s Flatbush Neighborhood Study proposes to make certain changes to the zoning map in the Flatbush section of Community District 14, which includes Coney Island Avenue to the west, Caton Avenue/Parkside Avenue/Clarkson Avenue to the north, Bedford Avenue/Nostrand Avenue/East 32nd Street to the east, and the LIRR tracks to the south.

I’ve sketched a preliminary map of the study area based on this description and the boundaries of CB14.

View Larger Map

At the hearing, the Department of City Planning will make a presentation on the changes currently under consideration. Following this preliminary public hearing, the Department of City Planning will submit a formal zoning map amendment for certification under the City’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). After which, Community Board 14 will hold a final public hearing to receive comment on the application.

DCP won’t publish maps or other details until their formal submission of the proposal to the ULURP process. Here’s what I know abut the latest draft of the proposal:

My neighborhood of Beverley Square West would be largely rezoned from its current R3-2 and R6 to R3X.
Ditmas Park West would be rezoned from R3-2 and R6 to R4A.

DCP’s justification for the R4A designation is that a larger percentage of existing structures within DPW would comply with R4A than R3X. Residents of DPW have started on online petition to call for the R3X designation instead:

We, the residents of Ditmas Park West and its environs, petition the City Planning Commission to adopt the R-3X designation as they consider rezoning. This would allow only one and two family detached homes and limit the floor-area-ratio to 50 percent. We feel this is the ideal designation to preserve our neighborhood as built.

I agree. I signed the petition with the following comment:

R-3X more accurately reflects the built environment of Ditmas Park
West (DPW) than either the existing R3-2 or the proposed R4-A. It
would also be consistent with the R3-X proposed for Beverley Square
West, where I live, which lies immediately north of DPW on the other
side of Cortelyou Road.

I believe that DCP’s measure of “compliance” is based largely on lot widths and existing expansions of homes, even if those expansions were not done in compliance with the zoning already in effect. In addition, with the Yards Text Amendment, the difference in zoning between R3 and R4 will have impacts not just on housing construction but on open space between buildings and the streetscape, properties which define neighborhood character at least as much as the homes themselves.

If you would like to speak at the public hearing, you may pre-register for time by calling the District office at 718-859-6357. You may, in addition, register at the hearing on the evening of June 12th.
If you have any questions regarding the above, please do not hesitate to call the Community Board 14 District office at 718-859-6357.

Links

There’s an article in Flatbush Life, but the new Your Nabe Web site is not making it available. Boycott all Murdoch media.
Flatbush Rezoning Push Not Sitting Well With Some Locals, Brownstoner, May 23, 2008
Rezoning Victorian Flatbush, Ditmas Park Blog, May 21, 2008

(Magi)Cicada Watch

Posted on 2008-05-21 by admin

Note: I’ll continue to update this as I learn more.

Photo of Brood XIV Magicicada septendecim taken May 18, 2008 in West Virginia by Jason Scott Means

I just learned (from News12 Brooklyn) that the 17-year cicadas are about to return to Brooklyn. There have already been sightings on Long Island, in Otsego Park in Deer Park. There have also been sightings to the north of the city, along the Hudson Valley.

Magicicada is the genus of the 13- and 17- year periodical cicadas of eastern North America. These insects display a unique combination of long life cycles, periodicity, and mass emergences. They are sometimes called “seventeen-year locust”s, but they are not locusts.
– Magicicada, Wikipedia

13 and 17 are prime numbers. Evolution “discovered” prime numbers.

Periodical Cicadas appear earlier in the year than our regular, annual “dog-day” Cicadas, which don’t show up until later in the summer. If they are still here, we should begin to see signs of them now, certainly by the end of May. They can be readily distinguished by their red eyes (dog-day Cicadas have black or dark brown eyes), darker bodies, and smaller size. For comparison, here’s a photograph I took of a dog-day cicada, Tibicen canicularis, in my backyard last October.

Dog-day cicada – Tibicen canicularis, Flatbush, Brooklyn, October 2007

17 years ago, in 1991, I still lived in the East Village in Manhattan. We didn’t have them there. I didn’t move to Brooklyn until the next year, 1992, so I just missed the last cycle. They won’t be here again until 2025. I’m hoping – yes, hoping – that I’ll be in the thick of things here: detached houses, lots of open ground, and just a half-mile or so from Prospect Park.

Periodical cicadas are identified by broods categorizing the species, cycle, and years and range of a particular emergence:

In any given area, adult periodical cicadas emerge only once every 13 or 17 years, they are consistent in their life cycles, and populations (or “broods”) in different regions are not synchronized. Currently there are 7 recognized species, 12 distinct 17-year broods, and 3 distinct 13-year broods, along with 2 known extinct broods, found east of the Great Plains and south of the Great Lakes, to the Florida Panhandle.
– Magicicada Mapping Project

Brooklyn is part of Brood XIV (Brood 14), one of the 17-year broods. We can expect to see (and hear) any or all of the three 17-year species in Brood XIV:

Three 17-year cicada species exist, each with distinctive morphology (shape and color), behavior, and calling signals:

Magicicada septendecim (L. 1758)

Magicicada cassini (Fisher 1851)

Magicicada septendecula Alexander and Moore 1962

– Magicicada species, Magicicada Mapping Project

All three species are on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as low risk, but near threatened, ie: close to being “promoted” to vulnerable species. Because they spend most of their lives underground, periodical cicadas are at risk from development which covers their routes to emergence at the surface. When they emerge, without sufficient woody plants – trees and shrubs – upon which to feed and lay their eggs, that generation will be irreversibly reduced for at least another 17 (or 13) years. Some broods are already extinct. Consider, for example, this observation from an unidentified entomologist:

Have you an ideal of the absolute in hopelessness? Well, let it be said that the house in which you live is comparatively new – built within 17 years. The ground on which ti stands was originally woodland. In the Summer of 1902 all the tree thereabouts were full of seventeen-year locusts. Eggs were deposited in the branches, the larvae came out, dropped lightly to the ground, and dug in. The long period of subterranean existence is almost ended. In the summer of this year the insects will start toward the light and air – and will come in contact with the concrete floor of your cellar! There may be another situation as hopeless, but certainly none more so.
– New York Times, June 23, 1919

You can help

If you see or hear periodical cicadas, you can report your observations online. The reporting page has photos so you know what to look for. Adult periodical cicadas are easily distinguished from our annual, “dog-day” cicadas by their red eyes, as shown in the lead photo above. The species pages, listed above, also have audio recordings so you know what to listen for.

[goo.gl]

Links

Brood XIV, Massachusetts Cicadas

magicicada.org
Cicada Central, University of Connecticut
Cicada Web Site, College of Mount St. Joseph, Cincinnati, OH
Chicago Cicadas
Magicicada, Wikipedia
Mathematicians explore cicada’s mysterious link with primes, Michael Stroh, Baltimore Sun, May 10, 2004

News

Hear that cicada chorus, taste that cicada crunch, Cape Cod Times, June 11, 2008
Cape is again abuzz, Boston Globe, June 10, 2008
New brood on its way to the top, Jennifer Smith, Newsday, June 8, 2008
Dogs rejoice, people duck: Cicadas are back, Columbus Dispatch, Ohio, June 7, 2008
City’s Giant Insect orgy, NY Post, June 5, 2008
After 17 years, cicadas ready to rumpus, Cape Cod Times, Massachusetts, May 31, 2008
It’s the year of the cicada, South Coast Today, Massachusetts, May 24, 2008
Noisy return of cicadas expected after 17 years, Jennifer Smith, Newsday, Long Island, May 22, 2008
Amorous singing cicadas grate on nerves, News & Record, Greensboro, North Carolina, May 20, 2008
Cicadas looking for love, Centre Daily Times, State College, Pennsylvania, May 19, 2008
Singing cicadas emerge in 13 states, USA Today, May 18, 2008
The cicadas are coming! The cicadas are coming … again!, Wilimington News Journal, Ohio, May 14, 2008
Cicadas coming to Clermont County, Community Press & Recorder, Kentucky, May 14, 2008
Coming Soon: The song of the cicada, New Albany Tribune, Indiana, May 10, 2008
The Kentucky Derby: Beware the Year of the Cicada, Minyanville, New York, May 2, 2008
Scientist awaits cicadas’ noisy return, UPI, April 25, 2008

Forbes discovers foodies

Posted on 2008-05-20 by admin

The story comes out of Associated Press, but I came across it first on Forbes:

High prices at the pump and the produce aisle have sent home gardeners into their yards with a mission: Grow-it-yourself dining. Sales of vegetable seeds, tomato transplants and fruit trees are soaring as enterprising planters grow their own food.
– As economy stumbles, gardeners turn to yard-grown produce, Ellen Simon, AP

One of Brooklyn’s own gets a quote:

GRDN, a shop in the New York City borough of Brooklyn [specifically, Boerum Hill], is getting a lot of questions about which edible plants can be grown on a fire escape, said staffer Cindy Birkhead. “There’s lots of interest in herbs, blueberry bushes, tomato plants, any transplants or shrubs that bear edible fruit.”

Sunset Park Garden Club Needs YOU!

Posted on 2008-05-19 by admin

Volunteers tend several gardens within Sunset Park. They need your help. The Chinese Garden was vandalized a few weeks ago:

There is now no sign of what was once a ceramic pagoda, a bridge, and a swimming dragon. The sparkling stream (created with glass beads) still exists, but many of the beads have been extracted. Apparently, some person (or persons) who dislike all things Asian-inspired felt it necessary to use a large boulder within the Chinese Garden to smash the decorations to pieces over two or three days. The items had been bought with a grant given to the Club.

Other difficulties the garden, which sits close to the 6th Avenue and 44th Street entrance, has experienced include plants stolen, a wonderful tree forcibly removed, and parents allowing children to romp about within the confines of the garden.
– Sunset Park Garden Club is looking for members, Best View in Brooklyn

And they need volunteers for ongoing weeding, planting and other maintenance of the multiple gardens in Sunset Park.

View Larger Map

On Saturday, members of the SPGC weeded, cleaned up, and replanted many plants. On Sunday, another member was continuing with the planting and spoke about replacing some of the glass beads in the stream. The lovely garden at the 7th Avenue and 41st Street entrance looks wild and wonderful, and it will also be tended to for weeding and cleaning. Eager and willing hands are always needed to continue the efforts. There are several areas of the park that are nurtured and cared for by the Club. No experience is necessary!

Contact information is available at Best View in Brooklyn.

Links

Sunset Park Garden Club is looking for members, Best View in Brooklyn
Sunset Park, NYC Parks & Recreation

Upcoming local events

Posted on 2008-05-19 by admin

It’s a busy season for tours and such. Here is a highly selective (ie: things I would go to, if I have the time and/or my schedule permits) list of (mostly) local events. Details for all these as I know them are in my Google Calendar in the sidebar.

Wednesday, May 21, 6pm, Prospect Park Audubon Center: Bee Watchers 2008 Orientation
Thursday, May 22, 3pm: Cortelyou Road Streetscape Project Ribbon Cutting & Opening Ceremony
Sunday, June 1, 12noon: Prospect Lefferts Gardens House Tour
Saturday, June 7 and Sunday, June 8: The 1st Annual Flatbush Artists Studio Tour (FAST)
Sunday, June 8, 11am: Brownstone Brooklyn Garden Walk (not Flatbush, but not to be missed if you’re interested in urban gardens and gardening)
Sunday, June 8, 1pm: Victorian Flatbush House Tour
Thursday, June 12, 7pm: City Planning Commission presents proposed zoning changes for Victorian Flatbush (northern half of CB14)
Saturday, June 21, 11am: Newkirk Avenue Block Party

I am always on the lookout for opportunities to visit and promote gardens in Brooklyn. If you are organizing or know of any garden walks or tours in Brooklyn and would like me to publicize it, please email me the details. My email address is in my profile, available in the sidebar.

The Bluebell Wood at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Posted on 2008-05-19 by admin

The Bluebell Wood at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden as it appeared last Thursday, May 15th, 2008.

One of the things that great public gardens offer is large-scale displays of which gardeners of more modest means, and space, can only dream. The Bluebell Wood at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is one such display:

More than 45,000 bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica ‘Excelsior’) are planted under a mature stand of oak, birch, and beech trees just south of Cherry Esplanade. In May, the bluebells burst into flower and create an enchanting woodland display.

I’d also like to know how much area they cover. It feels like an acre, but it’s probably “only” a quarter-acre. City gardeners don’t get much sense of garden space measured in acres. We’re usually dealing with space on the order of square feet.

These photos show how it looked last Thursday, when I also took the photos of the Osborne Garden. I don’t know how long this show lasts. I’ll be back there Wednesday evening for the start of my Pest Management class and see how it’s holding up.

The path in the photo above and immediately below leads to the meandering Cherry Walk and the two western entrances to the Japanese Garden.

This path leads from the formal fountain and roses – part of the Cranford Rose Garden – at the foot of the Cherry Esplanade.

Photos don’t do it justice. It’s hard to capture and adjust for the blue and light filtering through the trees. Morning or mid-day would probably be a better time for this than evening, when I visited.

Earlier in the Spring, it really doesn’t look like much at all.

Links

The Bluebell Wood, Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Flatbush Gardener

Urban Habitat Gardening with Native Plants

Colletes thoracicus (Colletidae), Cellophane Bees

Links

May 28: Public forum on the Flatbush Community Garden

Related content

Links

The Times discovers Kensington

Related content

Some Kensington Blogs and Bloggers

Links

Looking for love in all the wrong places

Links

Flatbush Rezoning Proposal

Related content

Links

(Magi)Cicada Watch

You can help

Links

News

Forbes discovers foodies

Sunset Park Garden Club Needs YOU!

Links

Upcoming local events

The Bluebell Wood at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

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Links