bymattkelly's Journal

The warm weather is here and the bees are out! Time to start documenting.

When you see a bee – or an insect you think might be a bee – snap some photos and upload it to Your Observations. Here's a few things to keep in mind when uploading:

• List the species of your observation as "Bees (Epifamily Anthophila). Be as specific as you can (for example, Hylaeus mesillae ssp. cressoni), but at the very least list your observation as a "Bee"; it will automatically be included in the survey. Even if you're unsure of what you saw or the insect turns out not to be a bee, no worries! The community here will help identify it and make sure only bees are included in the survey.
• List the location of your observation. Make sure you include as specific location as possible; if your observation falls within the ten counties of this survey, it will automatically be included. You can always "Obscure" your location when uploading the observation to make sure the general public cannot see it. At the very least, list the county where you made the observation.
• You can also specifically add your observation to this project under the Projects drop-down menu.

What makes a good photo? Check out the next News posting.

• Sharply-focused, close up, high-resolution color photos.
• Show the features used in bee identification:
• a top view showing wing veins and abdomen details
• a front shot of the face
• a full side shot of the bee
• Take several photos from all different angles, then pick the best.
• iPhones can take really good photos, but zoom in on bees by getting as close as you can (not by using the digital zoom on the screen). And no filters; just raw photos.

With all that being said, don't let perfection get in the way of making a good observation. Just start shooting! If you're new to this, you'll get better as time goes on.

If you have any questions or are looking for tips, feel free to message me.

And please share any tips and tricks for taking great bee photos in the comments below!

In the backyard there is a tree, an ornamental crab apple. It’s only purpose has been getting in the way while mowing the lawn and aggravating allergies in the spring. I want to cut it down.

But the early this spring, while working in the backyard, we found this tree awash in bees. A whole swirling, buzzing cloud of them. How had we never noticed this before? And looking closer, we saw that there were at least four different types of bees going about their daily business among the white flowers...

Read the full post at the Bee Report.

Here's a post from earlier this spring about how "dangerous" bees and bee stings are. This was a really interesting story to research and put together. I just read it again and thought I'd share. Enjoy!

Here's an interesting new study from researchers at Northwestern University about the potential impact of rising temperatures on blueberry mason bees (Osmia ribifloris) in Arizona. The outlook? Not so good.

Earlier this month, the Guardian posted a reader’s question to be answered by other readers: “Why do bees not appear to compete aggressively over territory when gathering pollen – either among themselves or with, say, butterflies?” So I decided to reach out to bee experts in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom for answers. Here's what they had to say.