Catch the buzz in your backyard

There is still time to join the Great Canadian Bumble Bee Count and help scientists learn more about these important pollinators.

Residents of Barrie and surrounding areas should be on the lookout for bumble bees in gardens, parks, campsites and backyards. When you catch the buzz, snap of a picture and upload to Bumblebeewatch.org.

The Canadian member of Friends of the Earth International, one of the world’s largest grassroots environmental organizations, is partnering with Bumble Bee Watch to deliver the first ever Great Canadian Bumble Bee Count.

Created by scientists from the Xerces Society, York University and Wildlife Preservation Canada, it is an ambitious citizen-science project that asks people to take pictures of bumble bees when they see them, note their location and upload them online, where they will be verified by a team of researchers. 

For the Great Canadian Bumble Bee Count will help researchers by seeing how many bumble bees we can find across Canada from now until Aug. 15.

Bumble bees are effective pollinators for many of the crops and for many of the wildflowers in fields and forests, but several of their species are dramatically declining.

Though there are more than 40 confirmed species of bumble bees in Canada, they have little proper monitoring.

Anyone with a camera and a curiosity to find bees can help keep track of and protect these bees by participating in the Great Canadian Bumble Bee Count and joining Bumble Bee Watch. 

For more information and to learn how to create a welcoming environment for bees in your backyard, visit foecanada.org.