Pollinator Information

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Many kinds of animals are pollinators, including hummingbirds, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies and wasps as well as bees, but this website focuses mainly on bees because they are the most important pollinators of crops in our state, and they are also the focus of recent concerns.

The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station has responsibility for the state honey bee registration and inspection program (link to Beekeeper Information and Registration here) and also has active research and public information programs on plants used as sources of nectar and pollen by bees, pollination of crop plants such as pumpkin and winter squash, routes and levels of exposure of bees to pesticides, and the diversity of bees in Connecticut.

Factsheets and Reports:

Materials from the Conference, Creating and Improving Habitat for Pollinators, 2019

Materials from the Conference, Creating and Improving Habitat for Pollinators, 2018

Materials from the Conference, Creating and Improving Habitat for Pollinators, 2017

Materials from the Conference, Successfully Establishing Plants for Pollinators, 2016

Speaker Contact List
Planting Pollinator Habitat-- Dr. Cathy Neal, University of New Hampshire
Wildflowers for New England Meadows and Pollinator Plantings-- Dr. Cathy Neal, University of New Hampshire
Native Perennials by Competitive Level-- Larry Weaner
Establishing Pollinator Plantings-- Virginia Keith, Blueberry Hill Organic Farm
Establishing Pollinator Plantings Organically Handout-- Virginia Keith, Blueberry Hill Organic Farm
Estimating Costs of Pollinator Plantings-- Dr. Aaron Hoshide, University of Maine & Dr. Cathy Neal, University of New Hampshire
Bee Pasture Budget, UNH Example--Dr. Aaron Hoshide, University of Maine (Excel Format)
Detailed Bee Pasture Budget, UNH Example--Dr. Aaron Hoshide, University of Maine (Excel Format)
Questions for Estimating Cost of Pollinator Pasture-- Dr. Aaron Hoshide, University of Maine & Dr. Cathy Neal, University of New Hampshire
Information on Bees and Ways to Help Them
Xerces Habitat Assessment Guide for Farms and Agricultural Landscapes: http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/PollinatorHabitatAssessment.pdf
Xerces Northeast pollinator plant list: http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/NortheastPlantList_web.pdf
Xerces New England pollinator habitat installation guide: http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/InstallGuideJobSheet_NewEngland_CnsrvCvr.pdf
Ernst Conservation Seed pollinator mixes (although many of their seed ecotypes are from PA, so if you have CT seed sources you prefer, feel free to swap!): http://www.ernstseed.com/product-category/pollinator-favorites/
The Integrated Crop Pollination Project: www.projecticp.org (our resources page can be found here).

Natural Resources Conservation Service, a Source of Funding for Pollinator Habitat:

General information on pollinators

Cost share programs that provide funding toward pollinator habitat:

Environmental Quality Incentives Program

Conservation Stewardship Program

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2016 Pollinator Health Law

Public Act (16-17) does the following:

Puts some restrictions on the neonicotinoids insecticides that are most highly toxic to bees
Creates a Pollinator Advisory Committee from the staff of the Experiment Station
Requires a study of the Varroa mite attacking honey bees and an evaluation of the possibilities of breeding bees resistant to the mites
Requires the Experiment Station to create a citizen’s guide to model pollinator habitat
Promotes establishment of pollinator habitat by various state agencies and by utilities
Sets qualifications for the state apiary inspector

Technical Publications:

Stoner, K. A., Nurse, A., Koethe, R. W., Hatala, M. S., and Lehmann, D. M. (2022). Where Does Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Pollen Come from? A Study of Pollen Collected from Colonies at Ornamental Plant Nurseries. Insects, 13(8). DOI: 10.3390/insects13080744

Stoner, K. A. (2020). Pollination is sufficient, even with low bee diversity, in pumpkin and winter squash fields. Agronomy, 10, 1141. DOI: 10.3390/agronomy10081141 (PDF)

Sponsler, D. B., Grozinger, C. M., Richardson, R. T., Nurse, A., Brough, D. Patch, H. M., and Stoner, K. A. (2020). A screening-level assessment of the pollinator-attractiveness of ornamental nursery stock using a honey bee foraging assay. Sci. Rep., 10, 831. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-57858-2

Zarrillo, T. A. and K. A. Stoner. (2019). The bee fauna of an Atlantic coastal plain tidal marsh community in Southern New England, USA. J. Melittology, 86, 1-34. doi.org/10.17161/jom.v0i86.7334

Stoner, K. A., Richard S. Cowles, Andrea Nurse, and Brian D. Eitzer. (2019). Tracking Pesticide Residues to a Plant Genus Using Palynology in Pollen Trapped from Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) at Ornamental Plant Nurseries. Environmental Entomology.

Stoner, K., Eitzer, B., Cowles, R. (2017). Quantifying Exposure of Bees to Neonicotinoids in Nectar and Pollen of Nursery Plants.

Zarrillo, T. A., J. S. Acher, J. Gibbs, and K. A. Stoner. (2016). New and noteworthy records of bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila) for Connecticut. J. Kansas Entomological Society, 89, 138-157.

Stoner, K. A. (2016). Current Pesticide Risk Assessment Protocols Do Not Adequately Address Differences Between Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) and Bumble Bees (Bombus spp.). Front. Environ. Sci. DOI: 10.3389/fenvs.2016.00079

Stoner, K. A., and Eitzer, B. D. (2013). Using a Hazard Quotient to Evaluate Pesticide Residues Detected in Pollen Trapped from Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) in Connecticut. PloS One, 8(10). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0077550

Stoner K. A., and B. D. Eitzer. (2012). Movement of Soil-Applied Imidacloprid and Thiamethoxam into Nectar and Pollen of Squash (Cucurbita pepo). PLoS One 7(6). DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0039114.

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Additional Resources:

Portraits of a Few Bee Species Native to Connecticut

Connecticut Bombus Guide

Connecticut State The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station