AWRENCE: According to a study released Wednesday by the Bee Informed Partnership , more than two out of five honey bee colonies died over the past year. Also threatened are native, solitary bees and people in Lawrence have already stepped up to help stop the growing problem.
Prosoco, a local construction company, teamed up with Clark-Huesemann Architecture this past fall in Lawrence to build the area’s first “bee hotel.” The idea is that many bees are losing their lives due to loss of habitat and that a bee hotel will provide them a quality living space. It’s made up simple but strategically placed holes within bamboo, wood and rolled up paper.
“Bee Hotels are to provide that habitat. So they’re little tubes so that they can crawl in individually and do their work and live,” said Kay Johnson, environmental manager of Prosoco.
The two firms secured an agreement with Kansas University to install the bee hotel at the university’s Field Station just outside of Lawrence. The companies both work on environmental friendly structures and wanted to give something back to the community for “Green Day of Service.” Although it was finished on May 2, the bee hotel project had been researched since last September.
“You use a lot of standard building principles you actually use in buildings. You turn the building away from the storms, rain and prevailing winds. You turn it towards the sun so in the morning the bees warm up before they go out and do their work,” said Steve Clark, owner of Clark-Huesemann Architecture.
Tesla driverless system to use updated radar technology
WASHINGTON: Electric carmaker Tesla announced Sunday it was upgrading its Autopilot software to use more advanced radar technology. In a...
