Natural Sciences

Vermont Bumblebee Survey

Project Goal:

Document the relative abundance and distribution of bumblebees (Bombus) and the eastern carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica) across Vermont

Your Role:

Select a site and monitor it for bee activity, collect some specimens as required and report your findings.

Website:

Visit the website for details and to sign up.

Project Bumble Bee

Project Goal:

Track the status of five bumble bee species to determine whether their population is in decline and where current populations live.

Your Role:

Create habitat that bumble bees prefer, report activity near nesting sites.

Website:

Visit their website for further details.

Bumble Bee Watch

Project Goal:

Track and conserve North America's native bumble bee population.

Your Role:

Learn how to identify and find bumble bees, photograph them and report your observations. You can go one further and create ideal habitat for bees, stop using pesticides and spread the word.

Website:

Visit the website for details and to sign up.

Spring Beauty and the Bees

Project Goal:

Determine: which pollinators are most important to rare plants; which pollinators influence the evolution of floral traits; and which pollinators are most important for increasing crop yield.

Your Role:

Locate a patch of spring beauty (Claytonia virginica or Claytonia caroliniana), observe the flowers for pollinator activity, record your data over the course of 3 - 4 weeks while the flowers are in bloom and submit your results.

Website:

Visit the website for details and to sign up.

Native Buzz

Project Goal:

Learn about the nesting preferences, diversity and distribution of solitary bees and wasps.

Your Role:

Build your own nesting site, monitor your site for bee activity and report your findings.

Website:

Visit their website to see others' reports.

The Great Sunflower Project

Project Goal:

Gather information about urban, suburban and rural bee populations to assess the status of bee populations and the impact that a decline could have on the pollination of flowering plants.

Your Role:

Observe sunflowers for pollinator activity, records your observations and submit your data to the website.

Website:

Visit the website for additional details.

Bee Hunt!

Project Goal:

Assess whether pollination by bees is in decline and if climate change is causing a mismatch between bloom times and pollination.

Your Role:

Find bees and document them with photographs, GPS location, a description of the habitat and additional details about the environment. Visit the Bee Hunt! website for details, and upload your data.

Website:

Visit Bee Hunt! for futher details.

ZomBee Watch

Project Goal:

Determine where in North America, the zombie fly, Apocephalus borealis is parasitizing honey bees, determine how often honey bees leave their hives at night.

Your Role:

Collect honey bees that are stranded under porch lights or on sidewalks. You can also set up a light trap and test for presence of zombie fly infection. Upload your results to the ZomBee Watch website.

Website:

Zombee Watch website