Pollinator Week

June 19th-25th Wisconsin is celebrating Pollinator Week! Managed by Pollinator Partnership, this week is a national opportunity for us to learn about and protect the wonderful insects and other animals that pollinate our crops and …

Bees in winter

Bees are still out there even when the flowers are gone. Where are they? Many of the bees we saw visiting flowers this summer have died, but their offspring will make it through the winter.  …

9/8/21: Welcome, it’s a good time to start

Welcome new participants! We may be transitioning to fall but there are plenty of bees out there for you to learn and use the app. Training links are provided in the app and on the website. WiBee saw a big buzz from a recent a newspaper article! If the resulting server overload gummed up your registration, please try again now, we’ve upgraded! Contact us with any questions.

9/7/21: Registration trouble? Try again now!

Welcome new participants! We have heard that some people who recently tried to register received an error the app would not accepted their emails. It looks like the app was overloaded with a lot of requests all at once-thanks for all the interest! If this happened to you, try again now, it should work!

8/17/21: What wildflowers support your bees?

We still have some summer left and some crops and many flowers are blooming. The drought in parts of our area is causing some flowers to die more quickly this year so get out soon. If you are new, start now! Growers what other flowers are supporting your pollinators? Where are honeybees foraging? See some late season bees that like asters and goldenrods.

8/5/21: All bee groups are flying right now, get to know them

There is a lot of bee diversity out there right now which means it a really good time to get out, get familiar with bees, and take a few WiBee surveys before fall arrives. Read about some of the active representatives of the 5 bee groups used for WiBee and see a very convincing bumble bee mimic. Plus a cheat sheet to define complex “flower” units.

7/22/21: Boom time for bees and flowers

This time of year is busy for bees and flowers. This is a great time to get in your 9 surveys because there is so much going on out there. Look for Green Bees and Bumble Bees in abundance. Tomato Blitz goes until the end of the week, contribute now! Can you spot a squash bee sleeping in you squash flowers?