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Professor Greg Reighard, Clemson researcher and international fruit specialist, explained that elderberries are primarily wind-pollinated. Although the flowers are extraordinarily showy, which you think would be a sign that they are attracting all sorts of pollinators, they don’t produce nectar so insect visitors are only collecting pollen. Still, their value to wildlife is high as the hundreds of dark purple fruits that each flower head produces are devoured by over 45 species of birds and racoons among others -- the Missouri Department of Conservation reports that a sharp-eyed naturalist even saw a box turtle eating fruits. But for people the entire plant contains compounds toxic to us, so this is one plant that grazers should not eat in the field. But properly prepared with heat, their berries have long been safely used for pies, wines and jellies.

Elderberry stems are semi-woody, the interior is filled with pith. The late John Fairey, renowned botany professor at Clemson, told students that this pith was used to pack delicate scientific instruments and still used by repairmen to hold tiny parts of jewelry and such. Mason bees and other insects, however, have long used the older hollow stems as places to construct egg-laying or brood chambers. So if you have elderberries in your yard, cut a few stems half way down every year to expose that pith-filled interior to cavity nesting bees. Another option is to put stems and other small branches or rotting wood in a mulch pile. Then you can order a Pollinator Friendly Habitat sign from the Xerces Society. Read their page about building a better mulch pile for more ideas about making your yard pollinator friendly.

Several years ago, our next guest’s company got its start by turning used cooking oil into biodiesel, first in the Midlands, then statewide. A few acquisitions later, they’re now doing it regionally and have expanded into other forms of organic recycling.Mike Switzer interviews Joe Renwick (BioJoe), founder and co-owner of Green Energy Biofuel in Winnsboro, SC.

The homebound segment of our population has certainly grown during the pandemic and that has resulted in more growth for companies that serve them.Mike Switzer interviews Charles McDonough, CEO of Interim Healthcare of the Upstate in Greenville, SC.

In case you didn’t know, our state has a program providing professional development and training for South Carolina-based film crews, production professionals, independent filmmakers, and students. It’s apparently the only one of its kind in the nation. And we just found out that two graduates of that program have recently had their short films accepted at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.Mike Switzer interviews Brad Jayne, a producer with Indie Grants, a collaboration of the SC Film Commission and Trident Technical College.

The cicadas are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two families, the Tettigarctidae, with two species in Australia, and the Cicadidae, with more than 3,000 species described from around the world; many species remain undescribed.

The wingspan of an adult is between 80 and 175 mm (3+1⁄8 and 6+7⁄8 inches). There is a high amount of variation within this species. The colors of the adult are always primarily yellow with red, brown, and purple blotches but can vary distinctly on this. Imperial moths (their many regional morphs, subspecies, and sibling species) range from Argentina to Canada and from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Coast.

On this episode of Spoleto Backstage, we highlight two passionate, exciting Romantic era sonatas for violin and piano, and hear some background about the pieces from the musicians who performed them at this year's Spoleto Chamber Music Series.First, we speak with Geoff Nuttall, violinist and the Charles E. and Andrea L. Volpe Director of Chamber Music for Spoleto Festival USA, about Robert Schumann's Violin Sonatas No. 1 in A minor, op. 105 1st Mvmt.Then, violinist Jennifer Frautschi joins us to discuss performing Camille Saint-Saëns' Violin Sonata No. 1 in D minor, op. 75.

An unusual bird, looking a little bit like a tanager, arrives in a listener's backyard. But, the coloring isn't right. The bird is an immature, male tanager, whose color quite different from a mature male's.

The female of this species lays her legs on land, often travelling a good distance from the water.