The Great Sunflower Project

As we head into a season of celebration, it’s important to remember that every third bite of food we consume during the holiday season is the result of a hard-working pollinator. We think that during these festive times, it’s great to take opportunities to learn about bees and the work they do, and to pass this information on to others.

One way to do that is to order our fabulous Beautiful Bumble Bee note cards.

One of my favorite bees is the species “Bombus”, commonly known as bumblebees. Most bumblebees are large and easy to spot as they roll in pollen, gathering nectar.

This year, we are proud to announce that the Great Sunflower Project is producing a set of note cards featuring beautiful bumblebees in action, illustrated by Noel Pugh. Noel’s bees, while colorful and fun are completely accurate scientifically, and compare amazingly well with the bumblebees we see in our gardens every day.

As Autumn rolls around again we stop to reflect at a point in the year when the days are starting to get shorter, the air brisker, the nights a little longer. Sunflowers and other garden plants that have been working hard to blossom this year may still have a few weeks or months of blossom time, depending on where you live. So, if you still have blooms, don’t forget to pick a day for your observation and send in your data. We still need more observations this season to make our next map bigger, better and more accurate.

Finally our sunflowers bloomed here in foggy Northern California. Tight green buds guarded by row after row of pennant-shaped leaves gave way to full-flowered glory. Some flowers have already faded away and are now growing fat with seeds in the summer sun. Sunflowers didn’t come by their name by accident. They literally follow the sun with their broad round heads. Their buds and leaves, in their natural position, are oriented toward the East so they can catch the first rays of dawn.

I would bet that all across the country, sunflowers have now finally bloomed. I know ours have here along the foggy Northern California coast, and even those in the Pacific Northwest have opened. We are hoping that both you and the bees in your area take advantage of these beautiful blooms and join us for the Return of the Great Bee Count on August 20th . Of course, you can make your observations anytime, as often as you can, but if you haven’t yet participated this summer, mark your calendars for August 20th now.

Thanks to your help, the Great Bee Count and Bee-a-thon on July 16th were a resounding success. Throughout the day, Great Sunflower Project participants all over the country took time to make a 15-minute observation. Meanwhile, hundreds tuned in to the worldwide online webcast to learn the latest information about bee conservation.

Greetings citizen scientists!

Summer is now in full swing and gardens are buzzing with activity. Your sunflowers have survived birds and slugs, unseasonal rain and dry spells. Some of you have sunflowers in bloom and are diligently sending in your observations. Congratulations to all those who have already had the opportunity to observe, collect and report their data. Well done! Check out our “Leader Board” on the homepage of the Great Sunflower Project website. (www.greatsunflower.org) to see our top data collectors. We’ll update this each week, so keep up the great work.