May 01, 2023: Krystle Hickman on Native Bee Conservation and Photography

Join us by Zoom on May 1 at 7:30 (7:15 for chat) when Krystle Hickman discusses native bee conservation and photography. Expect stunning and rare photographs and insightful discussion that is sure to be fascinating. Zoom link is below.

Krystle Hickman is a National Geographic Explorer (https://explorer-directory.nationalgeographic.org/krystle-hickman), TEDx Speaker, Artist, Community Scientist, and Photographer based in Los Angeles, California. Through artful photography, Krystle strives to increase awareness of the decline in native bee species as well as highlight their biodiverse ecosystems. Her photography has been featured in The LA Times, magazines, children’s books, and scientific journals.

Krystle works with gardens like the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Arlington Garden, regularly photographing and documenting their native habitats. She also collects data on rare bee species in the Mojave Desert, the Sonoran Desert, mountain reaches, yards with native gardens, and more.

Krystle Hickman is the owner of BeeSip.com and Tweets @BeeSipOnline

An LA Times article featuring Krystle, and written by native plant journalist Jeanette Marantos is informative:
   Krystle Hickman is the epitome of single-minded. She’s polite and friendly with the reporter and photographer trailing her through the sand and rocks of the Acton Wash Wildlife Sanctuary south of Palmdale, but her distraction is apparent. There’s clearly something else buzzing in the back of her mind.
   Bees. But not the European-immigrant honey bees that live in hives and pollinate our crops. There are plenty of those hogging the fading rabbit bush blooms growing in thick gold clusters throughout this wash.
   No, Hickman is searching for a special California native bee, Triepeolus verbesinae, a parasitic wasp-shaped “cuckoo” bee, so named because its behavior is similar to cuckoo birds, which lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. Cuckoo bees go one better: The female Triepeolus lay their eggs in the nests of other bees… See the rest here.

Find a recording of the meeting on YouTube at https://youtu.be/OMgv-2d1tQY