During my communications internship this summer with the Ohio Soybean Council, I had the opportunity to talk with many of the soybean researchers at The Ohio State University. One project that really piqued my interest is the soybean pollinator study by Dr. Kelley Tilmon, an entomologist at the OARDC campus.

Soybeans are self-pollinated and therefore have not garnered much attention from researchers in the past about how they affect pollinator populations. However, in recent years, researchers have begun to suspect that activity of these insects in soybean fields may actually result in a small yield increase. 

Dr. Tilmon and her team recently surveyed Ohio soybean fields during the flowering to mature pod stages. By using a simple device called a bee bowl which attracts bees by its yellow color, she collected over 48 different species of bees, plus numerous fly species that also act as pollinators. Wow, I had no idea that soybeans were that popular with pollinating insects! You can find out more about her study here: https://aginsects.osu.edu/news/ohio-soybean-pollinator-survey-update.Intent on seeing this for myself, I spent some time walking around soybean fields and found a variety of good and bad

Photo legend: These photos were taken in July 2018.  #1-2 = Grasshoppers.  #3-4 = Japanese beetles.  #5 = Firefly.  #6 = Dragonfly.  #7 = Mosquito.  #8 = Stink bug nymph.  #9 = Honeybee.  #10 = Bumble bee.  #11 = Sweat bee.  #12 = Tree frog.   insects alike (see photos), as well as an extra little surprise (#12).

Written by TPS Fellow Irene Gentzel