UNH Today

Visitors to this year's N.H. Farm and Forest Expo in Manchester, N.H., will have a chance to see what the accommodations are like for bees buzzing around UNH's Woodman Farm. A rendition of UNH's Bee Hotel, which is part of a research project at the N.H. Agricultural Experiment Station (NHAES), will be on display.

The bee hotel, which won't have any guests, will be part of the UNH booth featuring information about the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, and the experiment station. The expo runs Friday, Feb. 6, and Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester.

NHAES researchers Sandra Rehan, assistant professor of biological sciences, and Cathy Neal, cooperative extension specialist, along with Woodman Farm staff, constructed a bee hotel at Woodman Farm as part of the research project that focuses on sustainable solutions to problems affecting bee health that will assess for the first time the Granite State's bee species.

Expo attendees can learn more about Rehan's research as well as other agricultural and forestry research during the NHAES education session from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6. The education session will be held in the Webster Room at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester.

Those interested in forest resource management can learn about how scientists are using lasers to track forest inventories; forested buffers and vernal pools; invasive "alien" shrubs in Granite State forests; restoring New England's native rabbit; white pine needle defoliation in the Northeast and how different sources contribute nitrogen to Great Bay. This session is ideal for foresters, wildlife managers and those who enjoy the Great North Woods.

In the farm session, researchers will discuss the nuts and bolts of nutrition of winter squash; the bees' needs: diversity and sustainability of native pollinators; new strategies for increasing forage productivity; foliar pathogens in perennial ryegrass and breeding strawberries for enhanced ornamental value. This session will be of interest to farmers and producers, agricultural land managers, and enthusiasts of local food.