The Poor Prole’s AlmanacOak Savanna Rising: Heather Holm on Native Pollinators and Fire-Dependent Landscapes
Most of us have heard “save the bees,” but which bees? Minnesota alone is home to hundreds of native bee species, and roughly 90% are solitary, nesting in soil, stems, and logs rather than hives. Pollinator conservationist, photographer, and author Heather Holm has spent years documenting these insects and the native plants they depend on. Her books Pollinators of Native Plants, Bees, Wasps, and Common Native Bees of the Eastern United States have earned the American Horticultural Society Book Award twice, and she founded Minnesota Native Bees, an online field guide to the state’s bees. Heather is also deeply involved in ecological restoration, including a 13-acre oak savanna restoration at Cullen Nature Preserve and the new Minnesota Oak Savanna chapter of The Prairie Enthusiasts. We talk about what makes fire-dependent ecosystems like oak savannas so valuable for pollinators, why prescribed fire can increase floral diversity and benefit bees despite its reputation, and how pollen specialists, ground nesters, and stem nesters fit into the picture. We also dig into overlooked habitat like leaf litter, logs, and stem stubble, and the “soft landings” concept for giving caterpillars and other beneficial insects a place to complete their life cycles beneath trees. Finally, we zoom out to the bigger questions that matter for agroecology: how diverse native habitat near farms can support crop pollination, what home gardens can and can’t accomplish when the surrounding landscape matters so much, and where a listener with a modest piece of land should start. Along the way, Heather shares some surprising natural history, from wasps that deserve a better reputation to bees with highly specialized relationships to single plants. Learn more at pollinatorsnativeplants.com and beesmn.org. For sources, transcripts, and to read more about this subject, visit: www.agroecologies.org To support this podcast, join our patreon for early, commercial-free episode access at https://www.patreon.com/poorprolesalmanac For PPA Restoration Content, visit: www.restorationagroecology.com For PPA Merch, visit: https://breadandrosespress.com/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
