Mason bee is a name now commonly used for species of bees in the genus Osmia, of the family Megachilidae.  Mason bees are named for their habit of using mud or other "masonry" products in constructing their nests, which are made in naturally occurring gaps such as between cracks in stones or other small dark cavities. When available, some species preferentially use hollow stems or holes in wood made by wood-boring insects.  Species of the genus include the orchard mason bee O. lignaria, the blueberry bee O. ribifloris, the hornfaced bee O. cornifrons, and the red mason bee O. bicornis.  The former two are native to the Americas, the third to eastern Asia, and the latter to the European continent, although O. lignaria and O. cornifrons have been moved from their native ranges for commercial purposes. Over 300 species are found across the Northern Hemisphere.  Most occur in temperate habitats within the Palearctic and Nearctic realms, and are active from spring through late summer.  Osmia species are frequently metallic green or blue, although many are blackish and at least one rust-red.  Most have black ventral scopae which are difficult to notice unless laden with pollen.  Historically, the term mason bee has also been used to refer to bees from a number of other genera under Megachilidae such as Chalicodoma, most notably in "The Mason-Bees" by Jean-Henri Fabre and his translator Alexander Teixeira de Mattos in 1914.  Solitary bees produce neither honey nor beeswax.  They are immune from acarine and Varroa mites, but have their own unique parasites, pests, and diseases.  The nesting habits of many Osmia species lend themselves to easy cultivation, and a number of Osmia species are commercially propagated in different parts of the world to improve pollination in fruit and nut production. Mason bees used for orchard and other agricultural applications are all readily attracted to nesting holes--reeds, paper tubes, nesting trays, or drilled blocks of wood; in their dormant season, they can be transported as intact nests (tubes, blocks, etc.) or as loose cocoons.  As is characteristic of solitary bees, Osmia species are very docile and rarely sting when handled (only under distress such as when wet or squeezed); their sting is small and not painful, and their stinger is unbarbed.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason_bee    

Literary Hub  March 17-23, 2024  On March 20, 1990, Stephen Carrie Blumberg was arrested at his home in Ottumwa, Iowa, and charged with stealing over 23,600 rare books and manuscripts, mostly Americana, from at least 268 libraries and museums around North America.  At the time of his sentencing, the collection, which included first editions of Uncle Tom's Cabin and Leaves of Grass, was valued at $5.3 million (equivalent to about $12.5M in 2024).  The FBI had to hire a 40-foot tractor to haul all 19 tons of it to Omaha.  It was the product of over two decades of thievery.  Blumberg had been diagnosed with a schizophrenic personality disorder at the age of 15, and during the trial, the defense’s psychiatrist testified that Blumberg believed the government “was trying to prevent the ordinary man from having access to seeing these rare works of beauty.  He would somehow liberate and preserve them and thwart this government plot.”  (This was, according to Nicholas A. Basbanes, who interviewed Blumberg for his 1995 book A Gentle Madness, the first time bibliomania had been used in a court of law as part of a defense of not guilty by reason of insanity.)  “I figured I was the mere custodian of those books,” Blumberg told Philip Weiss, who profiled him for Harper’s Magazine in 1994.  “I would keep them, share them, pass them on to somebody else . . . Who really has the right to possess knowledge?”  Blumberg stole books, Weiss wrote, like a “cat burglar.”  “He would avoid alarm systems, or set them off a couple of times and observe the security response.  He'd squirmed through ventilation ducts and the eight-inch gap between the top of a caged enclosure and the ceiling.  At some libraries he had shimmied up the cable of the book dumbwaiter to get from open areas to restricted ones.”  He used fake IDs to pose as faculty.  He knew how to take apart a lock.  He was a master of his craft, such as it was—until the FBI caught up with him.  Blumberg was convicted in July 1991 on four counts of possessing and transporting stolen property.  He served 4 and a half years before being released (and promptly returning to burglary).  But you've got to give him credit—he is currently listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most prolific book thief of all time.  

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Nov. 15, 2023 released a new version of its Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM), updating this valuable tool for gardeners and researchers for the first time since 2012.  USDA’s Plant Hardiness Zone Map is the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine which plants are most likely to thrive at a location.  The new map—jointly developed by USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Oregon State University's (OSU) PRISM Climate Group—is more accurate and contains greater detail than prior versions.  It is available online at https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/.  In addition to the map updates, the Plant Hardiness Zone Map website was expanded in 2023 to include a “Tips for Growers” section, which provides information about USDA ARS research programs of interest to gardeners and others who grow and breed plants.  The 2023 map is based on 30-year averages of the lowest annual winter temperatures at specific locations, is divided into 10-degree Fahrenheit zones and further divided into 5-degree Fahrenheit half-zones.  Like the 2012 map, the 2023 web version offers a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based interactive format and is specifically designed to be user-friendly.  Notably, the 2023 map delivers to users several new, significant features and advances.  The 2023 map incorporates data from 13,412 weather stations compared to the 7,983 that were used for the 2012 map.  https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2023/usda-unveils-updated-plant-hardiness-zone-map/   

http://librariansmuseblogspot.com  Issue 2792  March 22, 2024