Bumblebee Pollen Citizen Science Project – get involved!

Researchers on the College of East Anglia (UEA) are calling for volunteers to contribute to their investigation of the springtime pollen diets of bumblebees within the UK countryside.

Spring is a essential season for colony-establishing bumblebees, however little is understood about what varieties of pollen they acquire at the moment. Specifically, timber, shrubs, and woodland flowers might make vital contributions to bumblebee pollen diets.

Volunteers are wanted from throughout the UK to gather pollen samples from stay bumblebees in April and Might this 12 months. These will then be analysed by the researchers to find out their taxonomic composition.

Volunteers can acquire as many or as few samples as they like – each contribution will assist! For an data pack detailing what’s concerned, and to obtain a registration type, please e-mail Guthrie Allen (BIO – Postgraduate Researcher): G.Allen [at] uea.ac.uk.