Each week we look at something you can do yourself, in your library, or use as a program for students and patrons. This week, we are diving into the world of citizen science, and we have found a program you can do outside – while providing some fun things inside to support it.

This week we are going to focus on a cool program you can do outside, with plenty of other activities to do indoors – in person or online: BeeSpotter.

• What is the goal here? To help gather information on the population status of bees.
• What do you do in this project? You will go outside with a camera (phone, tablet, or other camera) and capture photos of honey/bumble bees.
• Who is running this study? The Department of Entomology, University of Illinois

“Given the importance of A. mellifera in contributing pollination services to agriculture, activities estimated to be worth over $14 billion annually, the inexplicable disappearance of honey bees has caused concern not only in the apiculture industry but across the agricultural enterprise and among the general public.

“Bumble bees also appear to be experiencing significant reductions in number. Of the 49 species of Bombus native to North America, many are important pollinators of flowers in natural landscapes; they also function as complementary pollinators of some crops, including cucumber and melons and certain species are actively managed , mostly for pollination of greenhouse tomatoes. Regional declines and even disappearances of some species have been documented…

“The goals of Beespotter are to engage citizen scientists in data collection to establish a much-needed baseline for monitoring population declines, to increase public awareness of pollinator diversity, and enhance public appreciation of pollination as an ecosystem service. “

What can you do in a library bee program?

• Give patrons the information about this citizen science project
• People can sign up to be Bee Spotters here. “Creating an account is quick and will allow you to post your bee spottings on our website for others to see. You do not need to create an account if you just want to view bee spottings.”
• Talk about bee habitats, and bee habits
• Share bee-related resources
• Read bee stories
• Make some snacks with honey
• Plant some flowers, outside or in containers in your library
• Connect with different subjects for classes, using bees and bee ideas:
  • math: calculate bee numbers in hives, how far they can fly, how much ground they cover, how many flowers they can visit, etc.
  • history: look at bees and honey being used by all kinds of different people
  • reading: enjoy some age-relevant bee books and stories
  • environmental science: bee work in pollination, and the importance of preserving bees
  • art: draw pictures of bees and their homes and their work

There are so many books and websites about bees and the importance of the work bees do. Set up a display today!

(These links will take you to Amazon.com for more info on each title. If you want to buy anything at all while you are there, Amazon will give us a small percent of their profits on your sale. It’s anonymous, so we don’t know it’s you; but we really appreciate your support!)

• National Geographic Readers: Bees, by Laura Marsh
• Marigold the Honeybee, by Timala Melancon
• It’s All About The Honeybees, by Therese Povolo
• The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North America’s Bees, by Joseph S. Wilson and Olivia J. Messinger Carril
• The Way of the Hive: A Honey Bee’s Story, by Jay Hosler
• Backyard Beekeeping: Everything You Need to Know to Start Your First Hive, by David Burns and Sheri Burns
• The Lives of Bees: The Untold Story of the Honey Bee in the Wild, by Thomas D. Seeley
• The Murmur of Bees, by Sofía Segovia
• Robbing the Bees: A Biography of Honey–The Sweet Liquid Gold that Seduced the World, by Holley Bishop
• Honeybee Democracy, by Thomas D. Seeley
• A Book of Bees: And How to Keep Them, by Sue Hubbell
• Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera, by Candace Fleming
• The Honey Bus: A Memoir of Loss, Courage and a Girl Saved by Bees, by Meredith May
• The Beekeeper’s Lament: How One Man and Half a Billion Honey Bees Help Feed America, by Hannah Nordhaus
• Kaia and the Bees, by Maribeth Boelts

You can find more citizen science programs, on all kinds of subjects and in person or online, on the SciStarter website right here. They also have a podcast, Citizen Science: Stories of Science We Can All Do Together, which you can hear right here.