Bee Hunt participants use digital photography to record and study the interactions between plants and pollinators, following rigorous protocols to ensure high-quality data. The data collected will help provide a better understanding of pollinators' importance in growing food and maintaining healthy natural ecosystems. Bee Hunt is open to anyone, anywhere, whenever pollinators are flying. In North America, depending upon your location, you can start as early as March and go as late as November.
There are four ways to participate in Bee Hunt:
1. Inventory pollinators at your site with photographs
2. Compare species in two patches
3. Provide nesting sites for mason bees and study when they are active
4. Use bowls and soapy water to collect insects for a more complete inventory of species
Bee Hunt is a great way to teach and learn about pollination ecology and other aspects of natural history. Bee Hunt is a participatory science project. It's your research. You are the scientists. By following the project’s methods, you will collect and contribute high-quality data.