Virtual bee conference a buzz with quirky facts
TORONTO, October 14, 2020 – How does animal dung protect against Asian Hornets? Do aging honey bee queens create mutated drones? These are just two of the questions presenters at this year’s virtual, one day bee conference (BeeCon) at 91ÑÇÉ« will discuss.
Yellow-banded bumble bee on dandelion. Photo by Victoria MacPhail, 91ÑÇÉ«
BeeCon is an annual free symposium for local, national and international bee biologists to present and discuss their work on a wide range of bee-related topics, including behaviour, genomics, ecology, and conservation. It’s hosted by the , 91ÑÇɫ’s newest organized research unit, which connects experts from biology and conservation to math modelling across the University.
This year’s virtual event will take place Friday, Oct. 16, from 9:15am to 5pm.
The event will feature talks from Ontario researchers ranging from the conservation genomics of bumble bees to beneficial microbes and modelling pollinator foraging.
Symposium talks will include the following:
9:30 am – Biology of Some Weird Beetles Parasitic on Bees in Ontario with Nora Romero of 91ÑÇÉ«
11 am – Keynote speech: Leveraging Symbionts to Protect Wild and Managed Pollinators with Quinn McFrederick of the University of California
1:45pm – Insights into the phylogeny and biogeography of the cleptoparasitic bee genus Nomada with Katherine Odanaka of 91ÑÇÉ«
2:15 pm – The Effect of Aging Honeybee Queens on the Mutation Rate of Drones with Dova Brenman-Suttner of 91ÑÇÉ«
3:15 pm – Tool use by Honey Bees: Apis cerana Bees Defend their Colonies from Attacks by Giant Asian Hornets with Animal Dung with Gard W. Otis of the University of Guelph
4:15pm - Community Science Adds to Our Knowledge About Bumble Bee (Apidae: Bombus) Distribution, Status, & Natural History Information: A Comparison of the Bumble Bee Watch Program to a Database of North American Researcher-Collected Records with Victoria MacPhail of 91ÑÇÉ«
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91ÑÇÉ« champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91ÑÇÉ« students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world’s most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91ÑÇÉ« U is an internationally recognized research university – our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91ÑÇÉ« is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni. 91ÑÇÉ« U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.
Media Contact:
Sandra McLean, 91ÑÇÉ« Media Relations, 416-272-6317, sandramc@yorku.ca
