Party for the pollinators

By SFMS member Mario Gabiati

On August 13th, 2022, SFMS traveled east to Walnut Creek to join the Ruth Bancroft Garden in their celebration of pollinators! The free drop-in event also had representatives from the Mt. Diablo Beekeepers Association, the East Bay Municupal Utilities District (EBMUD), national and local support groups for monarchs and other flying insects with displays of live butterflies and caterpillars, a man with three different species of rescued live bats which were available for educational performances, and a very popular shave ice stand.

Before the start of the event, member Mario Gabiati collected some honeybee hive 'frass' (the detritus that falls out of a beehive, perfect for viewing under the dissecting scope), as well as flowers, insects and pollen. All proved to be excellent specimens with member Peter G Werner's expert sample prep, giving us slides of mixed pollen and excellent closeups of bee mouthparts under his dissecting scope. Member Janai Southworth of Pacific Plankton fame also brought her Zeiss scope where we had a live video feed of pollen balls that bees produce and carry on their hind legs.

The event had an attendance of about 300 people over the 3 hours, and they certainly kept us busy! Many people were amazed at the shapes of different kinds of pollen under the compound microscopes, and were shocked by the different impression they got seeing the intricate surface details of bees, wasps, and tiny flowers under the dissection scopes. Many of the attendees were children who had particular fun changing out samples in the dissection microscopes and the giant magnifying stands.

If you haven't had an opportunity to visit the Ruth Bancroft Garden, I highly recommend a visit. Just make sure you ask before collecting anything for your personal scientific endeavors!