Participate in Bee Conservation Study – Support Local Bees!

Participate in Bee Conservation Study – Support Local Bees!

Becky Tonietto, a research fellow studying pollinator diversity and conservation in urban gardens and farms through the Society of Conservation Biology, is dedicated to including Chicago gardeners and the community gardening community in her research. As community gardeners, we’re excited to lend a hand!

Tonietto is hoping to better understand community gardeners’ and urban farmers’ perspective on wild bees and pollinators. She and her fellow researchers will be conducting a survey of six community gardens, six farms, and six vacant lots in Chicago between late-April and early-October.

Want to volunteer a site for the survey? Here’s how it works:

Tonietto and her team will periodically set up “bee bowls” in the selected sites, collecting them the following day. They’ll also visit each site every three to four weeks to collect bees using insect nets, once in the morning, with another visit in the afternoon, as different species tend to be active at different times. While on site they’ll also record the plants in bloom in your community garden, to better understand what your local bees are using for forage.

If you’re interested, please contact Becky Tonietto at toniettork@slu.edu or 248-342-5276. Tonietto and her team will also be conducting an online questionnaire this spring, to get a better understanding of how community gardeners interact with their local bees. Stay tuned to the CCGA newsletter; we’ll send out a link to the survey when it’s ready!