Florida is rest home to over 315 mintage of aboriginal wild bees , which thrive on bloom for selection . But some bee are in critical decline . While the public is increasingly concerned in conserving pollinator and in pollinator - favorable horticulture , a 2020 University of Florida survey express a knowledge gap in consumers ’ power to identify a range of bee pollinator — the plant to which they ’re attracted .
Knowing that the Florida - Friendly Landscaping ™ ( FFL ) program at UF developed an online and mobile app . The BeeGardens app help the public discover bee and bee - well-disposed plants in their yard .
The app was designed to aid the public quickly access information about more than 85 bee - friendly plants , which attract 12 types of bees . The app also gives tips on how to comprise these plant life into landscapes .
“ The app was built for the homeowner using the FFL plant database to raise cognizance of how landscapes can be design to digest bees year - round . “ It is similar to the FFL butterfly app , but this one is specifically for bees , ” said Sandra Wilson , a UF / IFAS prof of environmental horticulture and lead author of a new bailiwick on the app ’s effectiveness in bookman scholarship .
Since it was plunge , the BeeGardens app has averaged more than 1,200 unique visit per calendar month , revealing its popularity and broad use . That ’s 22,673 unique users from across Florida and beyond , Wilson said .
Despite all those online users , Wilson desire to explore how the app could improve students ’ self-confidence in identifying bee and pollinator - friendly plants . To do the study , mental faculty were awarded a UF / IFAS College of Agricultural and Life Sciences grant for length education advance .
For this project , Wilson tested undergraduate students in two course of study within the Department of Environmental Horticulture in 2021 and 2022 . In the class — Annual and Perennial Gardening and Florida Native Landscaping – students increased their ability to name bees and pollinator - friendly plants .
That ’s good news for those trying to increase pollinators in landscapes . A late ASK IFAS written document showed circumstances of people desire to establish a pollinator - well-disposed landscape , but few actually do so .
“ These findings should further boost the world ’s confidence in pick pollinator - well-disposed plant for their landscape painting , using the BeeGardens app , ” Wilson say . “ The more pollinator we have , the well we can support our native biodiversity and food organization . ”
rootage : ifas.ufl.edu
