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Recruits Sought for Bee Census
Researchers in California are recruiting volunteer “citizen-scientists” from across the country for the first-ever national census of bees. Participants receive a free package of native sunflower seeds to plant in a sunny spot and agree to spend a half-hour on two Saturday mornings every month tracking the bees that visit their flowers.
“Sunflowers are easy to grow, easy to watch bees on, and bees love them,” said Gretchen LeBuhn, the San Francisco State University biologist who dreamed up the census. Using the same seeds of native sunflowers standardizes data and ensures that native bees are attracted to the flowers.
While the perils of the domesticated honey bee – actually an import from Europe – have been well-documented, LeBhun fears that native bees may be in even more trouble. “We need to know where bees are doing well and how parks, gardens, natural areas and all sorts of habitats affect our bees,” LeBuhn said. “Once we get a good picture of where bees are pollinating poorly, we can start to design ways to help them.”
Close-up photos of various bees, from bumblebees to carpenter bees, are posted with tips on identifying individual bees and participants complete online forms to document which kinds of bees visited their flowers.
For more information, visit www.thegreatsunflower.org.