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
3) to determine which of these species are more likely to use “bee hotels” (the artificial nesting cavities that are commonly sold in catalogs to promote bees).
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
3) to determine which of these species are more likely to use “bee hotels” (the artificial nesting cavities that are commonly sold in catalogs to promote bees).
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)
Project Partners
Carol Heiser (Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Habitat Partners Program) will be partnering on this project to provide a joint training opportunity for VMNs that will be announced in summer 2007. Carol.Heiser@dgif.virginia.gov (804-367-6989)
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)
Project Partners
Carol Heiser (Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Habitat Partners Program) will be partnering on this project to provide a joint training opportunity for VMNs that will be announced in summer 2007. Carol.Heiser@dgif.virginia.gov (804-367-6989)
How To Get Involved
The volunteer application period for this project is now closed. We have all the volunteers we need for 2016. Almost 200 applications were received, and 85 sites were chosen for the project this year.
Those volunteers were 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/3gIvOppmZ1Vvlp603 by Thursday, February 23 to be considered for the 2017 field season. Researchers will notify you of your selection as soon as possible, and a training webinar will occur Tuesday, February 28th.
The Project Leaders will select volunteers through a short survey that will be used to identify 100 suitable research sites across a wide region of the state that includes areas in and around Blacksburg, Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, Harrisonburg, Manassas, Richmond, and Winchester. Therefore, volunteers from ~8 Master Naturalist Chapters could be involved in this research. We’ll be looking for in-town locations (i.e., yards) as well as more rural sites to place “bee hotels” and “bee bowls.” Of particular interest will be properties that are near or adjacent to forested areas. 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 (provided by the Project Leaders) placed by the project area. 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.
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 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.
The volunteer application period for this project is now closed. We have all the volunteers we need for 2016. Almost 200 applications were received, and 85 sites were chosen for the project this year.
Those volunteers were 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/3gIvOppmZ1Vvlp603 by Thursday, February 23 to be considered for the 2017 field season. Researchers will notify you of your selection as soon as possible, and a training webinar will occur Tuesday, February 28th.
The Project Leaders will select volunteers through a short survey that will be used to identify 100 suitable research sites across a wide region of the state that includes areas in and around Blacksburg, Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, Harrisonburg, Manassas, Richmond, and Winchester. Therefore, volunteers from ~8 Master Naturalist Chapters could be involved in this research. We’ll be looking for in-town locations (i.e., yards) as well as more rural sites to place “bee hotels” and “bee bowls.” Of particular interest will be properties that are near or adjacent to forested areas. 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 (provided by the Project Leaders) placed by the project area. 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.
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 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 Survey Project Proposal Form (MS Word) |
| Mason Bee Research Flyer (PDF) |
| Mason Bee Project Training Presentation Slides (28 Feb 17) |
Mason Bee Project Training Webinar: Stream the Webinar or Download the Webinar
