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Browse by Author: Elsa Youngsteadt
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What is a Bee Hotel?

By: Elsa Youngsteadt, Meredith Favre

This is the first chapter in the collection, How to Manage a Successful Bee Hotel. It covers the benefits of bees, pollination in cities and towns, and how bee hotels can support native bees.

Bee Hotel Design and Placement

By: Elsa Youngsteadt, Meredith Favre

This chapter of, How to Manage a Successful Bee Hotel, describes building materials and features of different bee hotels. It covers tunnel size, shelter, shade, orientation, navigation, and other features.

The Bees of North Carolina: An Identification Guide

By: Hannah Levenson, Elsa Youngsteadt

Identifying bees on the wing is known to be tricky. The Bees of North Carolina: An Identification Guide is a beginner’s resource designed to help quickly and generally identify native bees in North Carolina. Developed by experts at NC State Extension, it provides an overview of some of the most common groups of bees in the state. The guide will help users learn to recognize bees according to key characteristics and, eventually, according to their overall appearance.

How to Manage a Successful Bee Hotel

By: Elsa Youngsteadt, Meredith Favre

This collection describes how to design and build a bee hotel to support native pollinator species.

Cicada Killer Wasp

By: Steven Frank, Elsa Youngsteadt Entomology Insect Notes

This Entomology Insect Note describes the biology and control of the cicada killer wasp, a beneficial insect that can also be a pest of lawns and turfgrass.

Appendix 3. Plants that Produce Hollow or Pithy Twigs and Stems Used by Nesting Bees in Eastern North America

By: Elsa Youngsteadt, Meredith Favre

Appendix 3 of the collection, How to Manage a Successful Bee Hotel, provides a list of plants that create hollow or pithy twigs and stems that can be used as a source of nest materials for bee hotels.

Measuring Impervious Surface Cover with the Pace to Plant Technique

By: Steven Frank, Adam Dale, Elsa Youngsteadt

Impervious surface cover increases tree stress and reduces tree condition. We developed an impervious surface threshold to help tree care professionals select planting sites where red maples will thrive. In this publication we describe how to estimate impervious surface cover, on site, with the Pace to Plant technique.

What If Bee Hotels Aren’t Actually Good for Bees?

By: Elsa Youngsteadt, Meredith Favre

This chapter in the collection, How to Manage a Successful Bee Hotel, responds to critiques of bee hotels and their impact on bee populations.

Appendix 4. Building Plans for a Simple Bee Hotel Shelter

By: Elsa Youngsteadt, Meredith Favre

Appendix 4 in the collection, How to Manage a Successful Bee Hotel, provides detailed building plans for constructing a simple bee shelter.

Appendix 1. Bee Hotel Checklist

By: Elsa Youngsteadt, Meredith Favre

This appendix to the collection, How to Manage a Successful Bee Hotel, summarizes the best practices suggested throughout the document.

Meet the Residents

By: Elsa Youngsteadt, Meredith Favre

The second chapter in the collection, How to Manage a Successful Bee Hotel, highlights some of the common occupants of bee hotels in North Carolina and their nesting requirements. It also details the seasons when adults are most often active (foraging and building nests) and describes body sizes and tunnel diameters.

Appendix 2. Plants with Leaves and Fibers Used as Construction Materials in the Nest Interior

By: Elsa Youngsteadt, Meredith Favre

Abstract 2 of the collection, How to Manage a Successful Bee Hotel, lists plants that may be used in nesting materials for bees.

Appendix 5. Additional Resources

By: Elsa Youngsteadt, Meredith Favre

Appendix 5 of, How to Manage a Successful Bee Hotel, provides a list of additional resources about bees, wasps, and pollinator gardening.

Impervious Surface Thresholds for Sustainable Urban Tree Planting and Landscape Design

By: Steven Frank, Adam Dale, Elsa Youngsteadt

A foundation of IPM in urban landscapes is to put the right plant in the right place. This reduces plant stress and thus the long term costs of pest management. Impervious surface cover is linked to red maple condition and scale insect infestations. This publication describes impervious surface thresholds to use when selecting sites for planting red maples in urban landscapes.