Pollination | A Pollinator Health Podcast

 Dr. Melathopoulos talks with Dr. Hannah Gaines-Day (University of Wisconsin–Madison) about WiBee (W-I-B-E-E), an app created after conversations with Wisconsin apple growers who wanted to know whether wild bees provide enough pollination or if honeybee rentals are needed. The app has users stand still and record insect visits in a standardized 3x3-foot area for five minutes, tallying easy-to-identify functional "morpho groups" (honeybee, bumblebee, large dark, small dark, green bee, and non-bees) while also logging weather, habitat, and flower abundance. Validation work compared Wibee visitation rates with pollen deposition in apple and cranberry, finding a tight relationship in cranberry but not apple due to pollen source ambiguity; a follow-up will test relationships with fruit set, and pumpkin data are pending. Wibee has been widely adopted by Master Gardeners, has generated about 15,000 publicly viewable surveys, and may be compared with camera-based monitoring in future work. Essential Links: WiBee Of