The BUZZ: Join Us for the Great Bee Count on Saturday, August 11!
Greetings citizen scientists! Our poll results are in, and, at last count, some 46% of you have sunflowers up and blooming. About one-third (34%) are still waiting for blooms (or encountered an gardening mishap), and another 21% didn’t plant sunflowers this year.
Those of you lucky enough to have sunflowers in bloom are diligently sending in your bee observations. Congratulations to all those who have already had the opportunity to observe, collect and report their data. Well done! Without your thoughtful observations, we would not have the wealth of information that we have to date.
To see results from the project using data reported up to 2012, have a look here: http://www.greatsunflower.org/results#map - you can zoom in on your area, see averages by type of garden and trends by year. Great stuff, and all because of your participation!
It’s important that you keep sending in data, so please join us and thousands of others across the country in The Great Bee Count on Saturday, August 11th.
Even if you do not have blooms on your sunflowers by August 11th, you can still be enjoy, learn and be part of the project by observing bees on other plants that you may have in bloom. Cosmos, tickseed, bee balm and echinacea, are all on our list, so you can collect data on these if your sunflowers are not blooming yet. And, it’s okay if your sunflower hasn’t bloomed yet. They will in time so you can make your 15 minute observation when they do open up.
And, this year, in support of the Great Bee Count, YourGardenShow.com will present a special online live broadcast "Double Feature" on August 11th, from 10am - noon EST (7am to 9am PST). First hour: a special "Ask Ian" Q&A show about pollination and pollinators followed by an hour of moderated interviews with bee experts talking about our pollinator friends. Join us for this one day event!: http://www.yourgardenshow.com/ask-ian
As you can see from our map, bees are declining in certain areas, and there are some areas where we have no data. Could that be your garden? The more we know, the more action will be able to be taken to preserve and enhance pollinator habitat.
Join us on August 11th!
Freddy B
Comments
Unable to Activate "Garden" Field
I have tried to enter info in the "Garden" several times, with no success. Although I have entered all of the other date regarding my bee count, it will not be accepted. I keep receiving a message stating that the "Garden" field info must be supplied. Help!
To register your Garden
Just log in and go to "My Account" then "Garden" and click on "Add a garden" - this will give you a screen to set up your garden including conditions and location. Without that, we can't use your data - so the system does not provide this option.
Once your garden is registered, go back and enter in your bee count. That way we'll know where your observations were made.
Thanks again for taking the time to do this!
Best,
F
host plants for bees.
We have a great abundance of purple coneflowers and joepye and mints that are heavily visited by bees. Are these okay to record data from??
Yes! Coneflowers (echinacea)
Yes! Coneflowers (echinacea) are one of our approved observation plants (see instructions on our home page). Pick a flower - observe - and send in your data!
Rain date for the Great Bee Count
Howdy,
The weather forecast for August 11th is for thunderstorms and rain throughout the day, here.
Is there a rain date for The Great Bee Count, if Saturday is a washout?
Jess
Yes! Try counting on Aug
Yes! Try counting on Aug 19th and lets hope the weather cooperates. If it does not, you can make observations anytime, and send in your data. Just note the date and time.
Thanks! and stay dry