Drones and Mapping Drone Congregation Areas with Julia Mahood (S5, E42)

Today, we talk with Julia Mahood, a Master Beekeeper in Georgia. Julia is fascinated with drone honey bees and especially Drone Congregation Areas. To find out more about DCA's, she is on a quest to find as many as she can across her Georgia community. She started by reading all she could find, then went looking using an artificial queen lure on the end of a very tall stick. That didn't work. She switched to weather balloons and that much better, so eventually she started using mechanical drones, with cameras and lots of range. Some of what she's found so far hasn't been reported before she started this quest. She's finding them now and has created an online map so others can contribute – as a citizen science effort to locate as many as possible. But there's more. She also works with the Georgia Department of Corrections teaching beekeeping in one of their women's prisons. Find out more about Drone Congregation Areas and teaching beekeeping in prisons by listening today! We hope you enjoy the episode. Leave comments and questions in the Comments Section of the episode's website. Links and websites mentioned in this podcast:  Julia's MapMy DCA Website: https://mapmydca.com/ Beekeeping Today Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@beekeepingtodaypodcast Kim's Climate Change Blog: https://www.growingplanetmedia.com/blog Honey Bee Obscura: https://www.honeybeeobscura.com ______________ This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global offers a variety of standard and custom patties. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode!  We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. Betterbee's mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. 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 Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: https://www.strongmicrobials.com We welcome Blue Sky Bee Supply as a sponsor of the podcast! Check out blueskybeesupply.com for the best selection of honey containers, caps, lids, and customized honey labels. Enter coupon code PODCAST and receive 10% off an order of honey containers, caps, lids, or customized honey labels. Offer ends December 31, 2023. Some exclusions apply. Thanks for Northern Bee Books for their support. Northern Bee Books is the publisher of bee books available worldwide from their website or from Amazon and bookstores everywhere. They are also the publishers of The Beekeepers Quarterly and Natural Bee Husbandry. _______________ We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments in the show notes of this episode or: [email protected] Thank you for listening!  Podcast music: Be Strong by Young Presidents; Epilogue by Musicalman; Walking in Paris by Studio Le Bus; A Fresh New Start by Pete Morse; Wedding Day by Boomer; Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott Beekeeping Today Podcast is an audio production of Growing Planet Media, LLC Copyright © 2023 by Growing Planet Media, LLC