WVII interviews student about research on foraging designs for bees
WVII (Channel 7) reported on research being conducted by a University of Maine student as part of a larger collaborative study on honey and maple production in Maine. Eight undergraduate students are working this summer on independent research projects as part of the study between UMaine and College of the Atlantic. Henry Laurita, a UMaine zoology major from Hope, Maine, is studying foraging design for bees. His hive is located at UMaine’s J. Franklin Witter Teaching and Research Center. “I’m looking at whether or not bees prefer certain arrays or certain patterns over other patterns,” Laurita said. “Hopefully, that could be used by farmers or growers when they’re planting gardens; they could use certain shapes or certain patterns. They could get increased honey yield and pollination because the bees would be visiting the patches more.” Laurita said he wants his project to benefit bees so they can help Maine’s ecosystem. Sara Velardi, a postdoctoral researcher at UMaine, said understanding beekeeping helps in ways of increasing food production in Maine. “Bees are extremely important in many different ways whether that be for crop production, whether that be for biodiversity and habitat health,” she said.