Το Ημερολόγιο του Vermont Wild Bee Survey

Φεβρουάριος 14, 2023

Project Results

After 4 years of fieldwork, we have summarized what we we've learned and generated the first "State of VT's Wild Bees" - https://stateofbees.vtatlasoflife.org/

This report includes information gathered from hundreds of community scientists (including iNat observations). It also identifies 55 native bees that we've identified as species of conservation concern. More detailed publications are in the works, and future iNaturalist observations will continue to be used for a number of different projects.

For folks living in central Vermont, check out an upcoming talk that will summarize this work and showcase the incredible diversity of bees in the state.

March 8th at 6:30pm at North Branch Nature Center in Montpelier. Free (RSVP required) https://northbranchnaturecenter.org/event/stateofthebees/

Posted on Φεβρουάριος 14, 2023 0721 ΜΜ by beeboy beeboy | 0σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Μάρτιος 24, 2022

Talk tonight

Tune in tonight at 7pm to learn more about wild bees in Vermont and things you can do to promote bee diversity in your yard and around the state. Hosted by the Friends of Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge. Details and registration (free) here: https://val.vtecostudies.org/events/

Posted on Μάρτιος 24, 2022 1212 ΜΜ by beeboy beeboy | 1 σχόλιο | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Ιανουάριος 26, 2022

Help us out (from your couch)!

We are in the process of a writing a paper on the Bees of Vermont, and want your help!
Nearly half of the bee observations on here don't have the sex marked, and even if you don't know anything about bee ID, you can help with this. Below are two examples of groups where males and females are straightforward to separate. For maximum efficiency, click the link, then first photo, then the annotation tab, then use the keyboard shortcuts (s, f = female, s, m = male). While there you can add annotations for any flowers you recognize (interaction -> visited flower of). Each observation you mark will directly translate to a data point on at least one figure in our paper! Feel free to @beeboy if you have questions about a specific observation!

Agapostemon - yellow and black = male, all green or green and white = female
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?quality_grade=needs_id%2Cresearch&taxon_id=50086&without_term_id=9

Megachile - long, distinct hairs (often yellow) or pollen under the abdomen = female
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?quality_grade=needs_id%2Cresearch&taxon_id=52784&without_term_id=9

Posted on Ιανουάριος 26, 2022 0824 ΜΜ by beeboy beeboy | 0σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Ιανουάριος 11, 2022

Winter bee watching

Just because it's below zero outside, that doesn't mean you can't be learning about and contributing to our knowledge of VT's bees. Winter is a great time to revisit observations on iNaturlist to refine ID's and add annotations that increase the value of the data.

To learn more about the identifying process, check out VCE's latest "mission":
https://val.vtecostudies.org/missions/mission-identify/

Did you know from the identify window you can also add annotations?
In the "Annotation" tab, look for the "Observation Fields". There are thousands of fields to choose from, but for consistency, we recommend using those that begin with "interaction ->". In particular, "interaction -> visited flower of:" is helpful to document the flower that a bee was visiting. Your own observations are a good place to start, since identifying the plant is often easier with some memory of the observation/location. Not only is this useful information for bee biologists, it also allows anyone to explore the visitors of various plants. For example, here are 63 insects that have been marked as visiting goldenrod in VT: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=47&taxon_id=47158&verifiable=any&view=species&field:Interaction-%3EVisited%20flower%20of=48678

Helpful hint - You can change the flower of interested by replacing the last number in the URL with the number from the iNaturalist taxa page (ie https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48678-Solidago)

As always, feel free to reach out with technical questions regarding iNat.

Finally, if you find your self overwhelmed with bee identifications, here are eight common species that are relatively distinctive, without look-a-likes: https://val.vtecostudies.org/projects/vtbees/easy8/

Posted on Ιανουάριος 11, 2022 0645 ΜΜ by beeboy beeboy | 0σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Οκτώβριος 25, 2021

A bee film for a rainy week

If the rain and cold, has you missing bees already, check out this PBS program! Its from Britain, but the footage is unreal and the biology seems largely correct. Many of the genera feature (and a few of the species) also occur here.

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/my-garden-thousand-bees-about/26263/

Posted on Οκτώβριος 25, 2021 0209 ΜΜ by beeboy beeboy | 1 σχόλιο | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Σεπτέμβριος 03, 2021

9/3/21 Asters

Fall is definitely on its way, and while this might be the last regularly-scheduled target announcement, there will be bees to look for a month or more. In fact, at least two species are just getting started for the year - the Aster Cellophane Bee (Colletes compactus) and its apparent parasite the Autumnal Cellophane-Cuckoo (Epeolus autumnalis).
Photos and details of these two species, and two others associated with asters can be found here: https://val.vtecostudies.org/projects/vtbees/asters/

Stay tuned through the fall and winter for sporadic postings here related to Vermont bees. Happy Fall!

Posted on Σεπτέμβριος 03, 2021 0313 ΜΜ by beeboy beeboy | 0σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Αύγουστος 27, 2021

8/27/21 Goldenrods

They are hard to miss right now and one of the best bee flowers in the fall. Beloved by a number of specialist and generalist species, they are a great place to find rare cleptoparasites as well as common, relatively distinctive specialists. If you spend enough time looking at goldenrods, you will notice some have very few bees, while others are loaded. We still have a lot to learn about the exact needs of these bees. There are dozens of goldenrod species in the state and we know very little about the species specific preferences for any of these bees. Additionally, soil characteristics can play a big role in determining which bees are present at a site. In general, sandier sites will have high diversity, which means the best chance for finding interesting bees is often along rivers (either current or ancient).

As usual, images and descriptions for many of our goldenrod specialists can be found here:
https://val.vtecostudies.org/projects/vtbees/goldenrod/

Posted on Αύγουστος 27, 2021 0144 ΜΜ by beeboy beeboy | 0σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Αύγουστος 20, 2021

8/20/21 Fen Grass of Parnassus

If I had to choose one species to exemplify the goals of the VT Wild Bee Survey, it would be the Parnassia Miner (Andrena parnassiae). This previously poorly known species is a denizen of rich fens in the Northeastern US, with VT now accounting for a large percentage of the global records of this species. The only way to find this species is to find its host plant, which occurs primarily east of the Greens and in the Valley of VT.

If you are lucky enough to have the plant near you, the bee is likely present and relatively easy to ID from photos. Read more about it and see pictures here: https://val.vtecostudies.org/projects/vtbees/Andrena-parnassiae/

Posted on Αύγουστος 20, 2021 0523 ΜΜ by beeboy beeboy | 0σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Αύγουστος 13, 2021

8/13/21 Sunflowers

From the 12' plants in some gardens to the knee-high Woodland Sunflowers in hot, rocky forests, the genus Helianthus is diverse and abundant. The same could be said for its bee visitors. There are specialist bees in at least three genera, with several field-identifiable species that may occur in VT but haven’t yet been found. Its worth checking a variety of species and/or cultivars since there seems to be some segregation of the bees depending on the plant species/morphology.

https://val.vtecostudies.org/projects/vtbees/sunflower/

Posted on Αύγουστος 13, 2021 1219 ΜΜ by beeboy beeboy | 0σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Αύγουστος 04, 2021

8/6/21 Pickerelweed

The return of the warm weather this week means it's time to get back on the water! Next time you are headed out to a marsh, bring your net and/or camera and help us learn more about the distribution of two Pickerelweed specialists: https://val.vtecostudies.org/projects/vtbees/pontederia/

If you need ideas on places to go, explore the pickerelweed map on iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/52599-Pontederia-cordata

Posted on Αύγουστος 04, 2021 0247 ΜΜ by beeboy beeboy | 0σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο