Dr. Orley, “Chip” Taylor started Monarch Watch about 30 years ago. So far, he and his group have managed to tag over two million monarchs so they can study the migration habits of this beautiful butterfly. His research has also determined where monarchs spend their time all year, the flyways they follow going from Canada to Mexico and back, when they start, when they arrive and how many weeks it takes them to travel this incredible distance. Chip and his team have determined how to produce milkweed plugs by the thousands to provide food sources for monarchs and make these available to buy. Chip talks about how habitat loss and climate change is a double whammy these butterflies face, and may not be able to overcome.

Improving life for the monarch will improve life for all pollinators. This is a fascinating discussion for this Pollinator Week! Listen today!

Links and websites mentioned in this episode:

• Monarch Watch Organization: https://monarchwatch.org
• Milkweed Market: https://monarchwatch.org/milkweed/market/
• Monarch Habitat Restoration: https://monarchwatch.org/bring-back-the-monarchs/milkweed/free-milkweeds-for-restoration-projects/
• Free Milkweed for Schools and Nonprofits: https://biosurvey.ku.edu/application-free-milkweed-nonprofits-and-schools/
• More Information about Milkweeds: https://monarchwatch.org/bring-back-the-monarchs/milkweed/milkweed-profiles/
• The Pollinators Movie: The Pollinators Movie

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Pollinator Week episodes are brought to you by BetterBee. BetterBee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. How do they do this? Because many of their employees are also beekeepers, so they know the needs, challenges and answers to your beekeeping questions. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, BetterBee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global Patties is a family business that manufactures protein supplement patties for honey bees. Feeding your hives protein supplement patties will help ensure that they produce strong and health colonies by increasing brood production and overall honey flow. Global offers a variety of standard patties, as well as custom patties to meet your specific needs. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode! 

We want to also thank 2 Million Blossoms as a sponsor of the podcast. 2 Million Blossoms is a new quarterly magazine destined for your coffee table. Each page of the magazine is dedicated to the stories and photos of all pollinators and written by leading researchers, photographers and our very own, Kim Flottum.

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We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: questions@beekeepingtodaypodcast.com

Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com

Thank you for listening! 

Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"