BACKYARD BUMBLE BEE COUNT July 13-21, 2019

Join us for the first annual Backyard Bumble Bee Count! Use iNaturalist to upload your observations. You’ll be supporting others committed to conserving the endangered rusty patched bumble bee and all bumble bees. Every bumble bee count submitted during the 9-day period helps researchers learn more about how bumble bees are doing and how to protect them and the environment we share. Saturday, July 13, through Sunday, July 21, 2019

Anyone, anywhere in North America can take part in this citizen science project that will help document bumble bee occurrence and relative abundance. On the iNaturalist app or website, under projects, search for “Backyard bumble bee count.” Under the project banner, click “about” to learn about the project specifications and terms. Then, click “join” and you’re in! You can start making observations on or after July 13 through July 21.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Go to: https://backyardbbcount.wixsite.com/bumblebeecount

iNaturalist traditional project site: https://bit.ly/2InJlTn

iNaturalist collection project site: https://bit.ly/2xCxUlS

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BACKYARD BUMBLE BEE COUNT July 13-21, 2019

Find Bumble Bees, Photograph, Count and Share!

The bumble bee count runs from July 13 to July 21, 2019. During this time we are asking you to:

1. Go to iNaturalist and become a member of the Backyard Bumble Count Projects (there are 2 projects listed– “traditional” project will request additional information about your observation and “collection” project will require only photo).

2. Look for bumble bees at a site (like your back yard, your favorite park, a property you manage).

3. Take a photo of each species of bumble bee that you see.

4. Count the number of each species that you see. If the numbers are high, estimate the number.

5. Document the amount of time that you spend at the site observing, photographing and counting bumble bees. Whether you spend a few minutes in your backyard and snap a photo or you go to multiple sites, recording your observations over many hours, you can participate and your infor-mation is important.

6. If you move to a different site (a different part of your property or park), consider it a new site and observe, photograph and count bumble bees at that site.

7. Within the Backyard Bumble Bee Count Project either via the app or on your computer, upload your photos and enter your data. Remember to “select” project to be able to enter your data.

Note: the Backyard Bumble Bee Count runs from July 13 to 21. Only images taken and data collect-ed during those days can be added to the Count.

For Traditional project, each observation will include:

Bumble bee species (you can use “what did you see? View suggestions” to determine potential species identified)

Sex of the species (unknown is an option)

Number of that species, by sex, observed

Flower or plant that the bees are visiting (if you are unsure on flower species, often potential plant species will be recommended when viewing potential bumble bee species). If they are visiting multiple plants, list the one that the most bees are on.

How much time you spent observing at this location.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Go to: https://backyardbbcount.wixsite.com/bumblebeecount

iNaturalist traditional project site: https://bit.ly/2InJlTn

iNaturalist collection project site: https://bit.ly/2xCxUlS