Karla Salp
Communications
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| Dr. Karen Wright demonstrates how to net bees. |
The air was chilly last Saturday as over a dozen people of
various ages and backgrounds gave up a weekend to trudge out in hiking boots to
a remote meadow near Sequim. The early morning, the fact that it was a weekend,
and the distance from home for many of them proved that the group was truly
passionate about the day’s work: learning to document the state’s native
pollinators.
Oh, did I mention they are also all volunteers?
These dedicated few are some of the first to join and volunteer
for a new project at the Washington State Department of Agriculture: the Washington
Bee Atlas. The goal of the project is to document the state's native bees
under the guidance of the WSDA’s first melittologist, Dr. Karen Wright.
Fun and fascinating – collecting native bees
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Volunteers scout for bumblebees to catch and
release with their insect nets. |
Half of the volunteers were new to the project, but everyone
was in high spirits, chatting about how they came to be involved. The day
started by teaching new volunteers how to take and upload pictures of flowers to
iNaturalist to record what the bees
were pollinating and where.
Next was learning to net specimens. As the morning was cool,
only bumble bees were out, which gave the participants an opportunity to
practice “catch and release” with the fuzzy fliers, learning the “figure eight
swoop” to ensure the specimens stayed in the net.
Now swinging the pros, volunteers next learned how to safely
“charge” the collection vials, net a bee, and put it in the vial for euthanization*
and preservation. Luckily, as the day warmed, the native bees became more
active and the group had luck finding and netting over 20 species from that
single location!
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| Logging plant types and location in iNaturalist |
Last on the list was learning how to pin specimens so they
could be preserved and later identified to species. The group found this is
none too easy as some bees are extremely small. Once the specimens are
identified, all of the data will be available on an online public dashboard.
Everyone was quick to pick up the basics needed to collect
bees. It was a fun and funky group to be around. Everyone was fascinated by the
bees they were finding, sometimes surprised when it came to pinning the bees
that bees they thought were the same while collecting proved to be different
when they took the time to pin and preserve them. Many stuck around to collect
at another location in the area on Sunday.
“Anyone can learn to collect native bees in less than a day.
Field work is a fun way to learn about the pollinators around us while
improving our collective knowledge about our bees and how they interact with
our environment,” Dr. Wright said.
Why native bees?
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Dr. Wright shows how to situate the antennae
when pinning so they don't accidentally
break off later |
Very little is known about Washington’s native bees. We
aren’t sure how many species are in the state and we can’t say whether they are
doing well or declining. It is impossible to say how various changes — from
agriculture to changes in climate to urban sprawl — are affecting them.
The map below shows known sightings of what is believed to
be about 600 species of native bees in Washington. It amounts to about one dot
per species believed to be in the state. In other words, we know almost nothing
about native bees as a whole and there are many large areas in the state with
no records at all.
The Washington Bee Atlas aims to change all that. Dr. Wright
is responsible not only for training the volunteers and running the program,
but for identifying all the bees that the volunteers collect as well.
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| Longhorned bee on flower |
The project does not collect bumble bees (which are already
tracked in the
Pacific Northwest
Bumble Bee Atlas) or honey bees, which are not native.
A successful model
While the program is new to Washington, the Washington Bee
Atlas is not reinventing the wheel. The program is modeled on the Oregon Bee
Atlas, which has been in place for several years. In fact, the two programs are
collaborating. The Oregon Bee Atlas has developed such a thorough virtual training
that Washington’s Bee Atlas volunteers will be taking it as well.
Once fully trained and certified, the volunteers will be
able to collect under WSDA’s bee collection permits for the research project.
(Did you know you have to have permits to collect wildlife in Washington?)
Volunteering with the bee atlas
To participate in the Washington Bee Atlas, volunteers must
complete training to ensure they can properly identify and collect only native
bees.
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Volunteers living their best life and swinging
their insect nets! |
Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis, although
training opportunities and field days may be limited to certain times of the
year. If you are interested in learning more about the Washington Bee Atlas or
would like to volunteer, visit
WSDA’s
Washington Bee Atlas webpage. Registration for the next virtual training
session closes Aug. 2. The next field day is Aug. 11 at Snoqualmie Pass. For
more information, visit our website or contact Dr. Karen Wright at
karen.wright@agr.wa.gov.
*Euthanization is a necessary part of this research
project as many species cannot be identified without examining the specimen
itself.
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