Even though snow is falling as I write this, spring bees and warmer days are just ahead. A goal for the Ohio Bee Altas in 2018 is to observe as many "first sightings" of bees as possible, especially queen bumble bees. This means we need you and your camera out there in March and April to observe bee activity and add your observations here. Keep in mind that honey bee activity does not play an important role to the Altas -- we know that honey bees are in every part of the state, and are active as soon as days are sunny and about 55 degrees. We're looking for the activity of those 499+ other bee species in Ohio, with a heavy focus on bumble bees queens. These large bumbles are associated with willow, cherry, serviceberry, redbud and apple flowers, among many others. Not sure what's in bloom around you? Check out the OSU Phenology Calendar: https://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/gdd/ Enter your Ohio zip code to see what's in bloom and what's up next. Thanks to all for your participation!

We are looking for volunteer naturalists who are able to identify bumble bees to species to help collect data on nest-hunting and foraging queen bumble bees this spring (April - June).

This is part of a 2017-2018 statewide Ohio bumble bee survey that is being conducted by Karen Goodell's lab at Ohio State and Randy Mitchell's lab at the U of Akron, and is funded by the Ohio Department of Transportation. Our primary goal is to determine the current distribution of the endangered rusty-patched bumble bee and the yellow-banded bumble bee, a species of concern. Secondarily, this survey will gives us the opportunity to learn more about the distribution and habitat use of common species as well.

Volunteers in Ohio will collect data and report on:
(1) information on nest-hunting bumble bee queens
(2) timed 15-min observations of patches of flowers where queens forage

Find details and data collection forms here: http://u.osu.edu/beelab/bumble-bee-survey/

To participate, contact Jessie Lanterman at OSUBeeResearch@gmail.com

We also need everyone to be on the lookout for bumble bee queens, and to submit those observations on the Ohio Bee Atlas.