Native Blue Orchard Bee Monitoring Campaign
Bee hotel
Project Overview and Purpose
This citizen science project seeks to gather much-needed field data about the status of native blue orchard bees in a large region of Virginia and to determine possible competition with non-native bees. The primary goals of this project are the following:
1) to track the distribution of an invasive bee species that seems to be spreading quickly in the mid-Atlantic;
2) to track the distribution and abundance of a native species (the blue orchard bee) that we’re concerned is becoming less common in the region; and
The project also has a potential educational component, because volunteers who participate will have an opportunity to do public outreach that raises awareness about the research and underlying conservation issues.
This citizen science project seeks to gather much-needed field data about the status of native blue orchard bees in a large region of Virginia and to determine possible competition with non-native bees. The primary goals of this project are the following:
1) to track the distribution of an invasive bee species that seems to be spreading quickly in the mid-Atlantic;
2) to track the distribution and abundance of a native species (the blue orchard bee) that we’re concerned is becoming less common in the region; and
The project also has a potential educational component, because volunteers who participate will have an opportunity to do public outreach that raises awareness about the research and underlying conservation issues.
Project Leaders and Contacts
Kathryn (Kate) LeCroy, Graduate Student, University of Virginia, masonbeemonitoring@gmail.com, (205-907-8890)
T’ai Roulston, Research Assoc. Professor, Environmental Science, University of Virginia, thr8z@virginia.edu (540-837-1758, ext. 276)
Kathryn (Kate) LeCroy, Graduate Student, University of Virginia, masonbeemonitoring@gmail.com, (205-907-8890)
T’ai Roulston, Research Assoc. Professor, Environmental Science, University of Virginia, thr8z@virginia.edu (540-837-1758, ext. 276)
How To Get Involved
Volunteers will be chosen through the following process:
Interested volunteers should read the project proposal form (below) and must complete a short application survey available at https://goo.gl/forms/cg4DTkALU4YpuYd22 no later than Thursday, February 7. Participants will be selected soon after the survey closes on February 7th, and webinar training will occur in mid-February (time and date will be announced in an email by January 2019.)
The Project Leaders will select volunteers through a short survey that will be used to identify 100-120 suitable research sites all over Virginia. Volunteers from all Virginia Master Naturalist chapters are invited to apply for involvement in this research. We'll be looking for in-town locations (i.e. yards) as well as more rural sites to place "bee hotels". Private and public property are both acceptable areas for research, provided that there is written permission to use the public property and there is educational signage placed by the project area provided by the Project Leaders. Project Leaders will provide the introductory background information in an online training webinar for volunteers who are selected from the survey pool. Project Leaders will also provide all materials needed for the research. Volunteers will be expected to do the following:
1. Attend a training webinar in late February led by the Project Leaders to learn about the study system and field protocols
2. Agree to place an artificial nest ("bee hotel") on your property and examine it weekly to see if a nest cavity is active. A Project Leader may ask to visit your property to examine the habitat and experimental setup. Project Leaders will maintain frequent communication with all participants via an e-mail group to answer questions, to remind participants of procedures, and to share content received from fellow participants. At the end of the study, the bee hotel will be collected by Project Leaders (volunteers cannot keep the bee hotels). There will be a daily-updated database that volunteers can view to see what kind of bee species were found from their project.
How To Report Your Hours
If you are participating in this project, please first make sure that the project is approved by your chapter. A project proposal form (updated for 2019) is provided below to make the process easier. You may edit the proposal to fit your particular chapter's needs. Once it is approved, the project should be entered into your chapter's Volunteer Management System so that it appears on the list of project choices.
Volunteers will be chosen through the following process:
Interested volunteers should read the project proposal form (below) and must complete a short application survey available at https://goo.gl/forms/cg4DTkALU4YpuYd22 no later than Thursday, February 7. Participants will be selected soon after the survey closes on February 7th, and webinar training will occur in mid-February (time and date will be announced in an email by January 2019.)
The Project Leaders will select volunteers through a short survey that will be used to identify 100-120 suitable research sites all over Virginia. Volunteers from all Virginia Master Naturalist chapters are invited to apply for involvement in this research. We'll be looking for in-town locations (i.e. yards) as well as more rural sites to place "bee hotels". Private and public property are both acceptable areas for research, provided that there is written permission to use the public property and there is educational signage placed by the project area provided by the Project Leaders. Project Leaders will provide the introductory background information in an online training webinar for volunteers who are selected from the survey pool. Project Leaders will also provide all materials needed for the research. Volunteers will be expected to do the following:
1. Attend a training webinar in late February led by the Project Leaders to learn about the study system and field protocols
2. Agree to place an artificial nest ("bee hotel") on your property and examine it weekly to see if a nest cavity is active. A Project Leader may ask to visit your property to examine the habitat and experimental setup. Project Leaders will maintain frequent communication with all participants via an e-mail group to answer questions, to remind participants of procedures, and to share content received from fellow participants. At the end of the study, the bee hotel will be collected by Project Leaders (volunteers cannot keep the bee hotels). There will be a daily-updated database that volunteers can view to see what kind of bee species were found from their project.
How To Report Your Hours
If you are participating in this project, please first make sure that the project is approved by your chapter. A project proposal form (updated for 2019) is provided below to make the process easier. You may edit the proposal to fit your particular chapter's needs. Once it is approved, the project should be entered into your chapter's Volunteer Management System so that it appears on the list of project choices.
Project Resources
| Mason Bee Project 2019 Proposal Form and Description (MS Word) |
| Mason Bee Research Flyer 2019 (PDF) |
| Mason Bee 2018 Training Webinar Slides (PDF) |
Mason Bee Project Training Webinar Recording from 28 February 2018: Watch the video