WABI, WVII cover tour of gardens installed by researchers at landfill
WABI (Channel 5) and WVII (Channel 7) reported on a public tour of a garden and wildflower plot installed at the Pine Tree Landfill in Hampden by University of Maine researchers in an effort to support the native bee population. “Maine is a very heavily forested state, and we don’t find many bees in the forest unless there is an opening in the canopy. They tend to be in open habitats such as fields, meadows, roadsides and so forth. And so to capitalize on this existing open habitat seems to make a lot of sense,” said Alison Dibble, a research professor of pollination ecology at UMaine. There are as many as 270 native bee species in the state which can benefit from an increased abundance of flowers, WABI reported. Dibble encourages people to plant their own gardens at home and try to avoid mowing the dandelions for as long as possible, according to WVII. She said even an extra week will make a difference.