UC Davis Doctoral Candidates Honored by Orchard Bee Association

Two UC Davis doctoral candidates active in the Orchard Bee Association (OBA) received major recognition at the organization's recent three-day meeting on the UC Davis campus. 

Abigail "Abby" Lehner, a USDA-NIFA (National Institute of Food and Agriculture) Predoctoral Fellow in the lab of pollination ecologist Neal Williams, professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (ENT-NEM), was named OBA's "Top Contributor of the Year" for her work on the Houdini fly, a newly introduced invasive parasite of solitary cavity-nesting bees. She was also re-elected treasurer.

Alexia "Lexie" Martin, a member of the lab of community ecologist Rachel Vannette, professor and vice chair of ENT-NEM, was elected vice president of OBA. President is Nina Tran of Rent Mason Bees, Bothell, Wash.

The two UC Davis doctoral students delivered presentations during OBA's session on "Pest and Pathogen Disturbances and Distribution."

Abbie Lehner

Lehner presented a talk on "Pest and Pathogen Disturbances and Distribution: Establishment Potential of the Houdini Fly Across the United States." Lehner, who began working with native bees in 2017 in upstate New York, holds a bachelor’s degree in biology in 2018 from Union College, Schenectady, N.Y.,, where she studied bee communities in native and restored habitats at the Albany Pine Bush Preserve. She completed her master’s degree in biology in 2022 at Utah State University, where she examined how bee diversity at Pinnacles National Park, located in San Benito and Monterey counties.

Lexie Martin 

Martin discussed "Non-Native Horn-Face Bees (Osmia cornifrons) as Possible Disease Reservoirs for Native Blue Orchard Bees (Osmia lignaria)." She is currently researching pathogen spillover between mason bees and honey bees but is broadly interested in the impact of microbes on bee health. She received two degrees in 2021 from the University of Texas, Austin, where she investigated the spatial orientation of bacteria in bumble bee guts. She obtained a bachelor's degree in biology (focus on evolution, ecology and behavior) and a bachelor's degree in chemistry. 

Neal Williams

Professor Williams delivered a presentation on "Summer Heatwaves Affect the Survival and Subsequent Reproduction of Surviving Blue Orchard Bees" at OBA's session on "Osmia Resilience Across Changing Landscapes." A member of the ENT-NEM faculty since 2004, Williams is internationally recognized for his research on bee and pollination biology. He is a newly elected Fellow of the Entomological Society of America. He was named a Chancellor’s Fellow (2015-2020), and a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences (2019).

The OBA meeting also included a display of bee specimens from the Bohart Museum of Entomology.

The last day of the conference featured "Grower Day," and took place at the UC Davis Student Farm Ecological Garden, where the OBA members taught the attendees how to implement mason bees in gardens or orchards. Among those attending were members of the UC Davis-based California Master Beekeeper Program (CAMBP), founded and directed by bee scientist Elina Niño, Extension professor of apiculture and a member of the ENT-NEM faculty.  The Niño lab is gearing up for its "Great Native Bee Count: Mapping California’s Bee and Plant Connections." The project, to be launched next spring,  aims to document the relationships between bees and the flowering plants that sustain them. Community scientists will participate by taking images with their cell phones of the foraging bees . Records show there are 1600 bee species in California, some 4000 throughout the United States, and more than 20,000 bee species throughout the world.

About Osmia

Osmia lignaria, commonly known as the orchard mason bee or blue orchard bee, is among 4000 native bee species in North America. It nests in reeds and other tubelike natural structures. The bee pollinates almonds and blueberries, and a variety of stone fruits, including apples, pears, cherries, apricots, and plums. Osmia is used commercially in agricultural operations, especially in almonds and early blooming-fruit trees, and occupies handcrafted "bee blocks."  Considered efficient pollinators, they are able to forage in cooler temperatures than honey bees. Gardeners often set up "bee condos" or "bee hotels" for them in their landscapes.

About the Houdini Fly

The Houdini fly, the kleptoparasitic fly, Cacoxenus indagator, is a species of fruit fly native to central and southern Europe. The adult lays its eggs in the stored pollen of a mason bee's newly constructed nest.  The fly larvae feed mainly on stored pollen, but may also eat the bee larvae. This fly is commonly known as the Houdini fly for its ability  to escape through the mud wall of the cell. The small brown fly (wing length 2.5mm) has clear wings and large red eyes. 

OBA was launched in 2011 by a team of independent businesses, orchard managers, and researchers "to accelerate the production and use of orchard mason bees (specifically, Osmia lignaria, O. cornifrons, O. cornuta, and O. rufa) in various spring crops and orchards."