Download the Datasheet

Plan your visit
 
Take some time to investigate the grid cell that you’ve adopted. The grid cells are large with varied habitat, terrain and land ownership. You can survey anywhere in the grid cell for bumble bees, but taking some time to select potential locations and access routes will decrease travel time, and maximize the time you can dedicate to bumble bee surveys. We suggest you start with the project map, or Google Maps (or similar) with aerial photography to flag potential sites and plan travel routes. Getting familiar with your sites using maps will also help you when it comes time to submit your data; accurate locations are important! Many areas of all three states are remote, with limited travel routes – and potentially with limited cellular service. When surveying, please follow all rules, regulations and posted signs; respect private property and take all necessary safety precautions.

Plan your route
Select a stretch of road within your grid cell that is at least 10 miles long. Ideally, the stretch of road would have several obvious open patches when looking at aerial photos/maps; a long stretch of forested road is unlikely to yield many bumble bees. It is possible that you will find when you arrive at a pre-selected site that survey conditions for bumble bees may not be optimal. We encourage folks to be flexible, and opportunistic, but to ideally stay within their assigned grid cell. As such, bring resources with you to navigate, including printed maps as cell service is not available in many parts of the Pacific Northwest.

Resources to help you plan your trip (note: we do not guarantee the veracity of any of these resources, just provide them as tools for you to help plan your trip. These, to our knowledge are some of the best, and most reliable mapping resources available, though there are certainly alternatives):

• Google Maps with Overlaid Grid (you will be able to find the grid number of your adopted cell to help you plan a trip)
• Idaho Trails Map
• Washington Trails Association
• Travel Oregon
• Oregon Hikers Trail Guide
• Green Trails Maps (OR, WA) – available from many outdoor retailers and online
• USGS Topo Maps – available from many outdoor retailers and as downloads
• DeLorme State Atlas & Gazetteer Paper Maps

Considerations:

• Ideally you will survey in an open area with lots of flowers
• Unless you have explicit permission from the landowner, stay on public lands and public rights-of-way (roadsides)
• Good choices for surveys – be sure to follow local regulations:
  • State Parks
  • State Wildlife Areas
  • Your Backyard
  • U.S. Forest Service land
  • BLM land
  • Local parks​
  • Natural Areas
  • Your School
  • Roadsides

Things to bring with you:

• Paper Maps
• Camera (ideally with macro capacity) and/or smart phone
• Extra batteries
• Insect net
• Data sheets and pencil/pen
• Small cooler with ice/ice packs – or just a bag of ice
• Vials or insect viewing jar
• Sunscreen
• GPS Unit or similar Smartphone App
• Hat
• Timer
• Drinking water
• Field guides (plant and bumble bee)
• Field notebook
• Hand lens
• Friends!

• National Parks and Monuments, Washington State Parks, and Washington Department of Natural Resource Natural Areas often have many great locations for bumble bee surveys, but research in those parks requires a permit. There is no reason you cannot photograph a bumble bee on a flower in these areas, but you may not capture wildlife in a net or vial without appropriate research permits. As such, please see incidental surveys for surveying in these areas.
• Consult with local knowledge about road surfaces and do not always rely on GPS or Google/Apple Maps for travel planning. Many roads on Forest Service lands are dirt roads often with logging truck traffic with limited turn around and site distances; they may also require high clearance vehicles, and additional travel time, please use caution.
• Let someone know your travel plans, including expected return time/date.​

On Site

Begin survey
Once you arrive on your selected stretch of road stop at the first patch of available flowers that you observe (park carefully and follow local regulations and general safety precautions). Fill out the top of the datasheet (site and weather information). Be sure to include the start and stop times. A single roadside survey is 15 min. long, and the entire Roadside Survey consists of five 15-minute surveys. Start your timer and capture bumble bees into vials. Be sure to document the species of flower that each bumble bee was visiting. Best practice for this is to number each vial, and capture a photo of the vial number next to the plant on which the bee was captured. You will submit these plant photos with your bee data. Place each bee into a chilled cooler - depending on the conditions, the bees will take 5-15 minutes to cool. You will know the bee is chilled when if moves freely in the vial when you gently shake it from side to side. DO NOT LEAVE CHILLED BEES IN A COOLER FOR MORE THAN 90 MINUTES.

Record bumble bee data
Once the 15 minute time period is over, record each individual bee on the Bumble Bee Survey data sheet and photo document each bee following these tips. Be sure to write the corresponding photo file names for each species. IF YOU RECORD ZERO BUMBLE BEES, THIS IS STILL VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION, BE SURE TO RECORD THIS INFORMATION AND SUBMIT IT TO US.

Collect habitat data
Fill out the Rapid Habitat Assessment Form for each roadside stop. Take a picture of each species of blooming plant (include a photo of the leaves and the flower).

Repeat
Drive at least 1 mile down the road and then find another patch of flowering plants at which to conduct a survey and go back to Phase 2. Each Roadside Survey should consist of 5 fifteen minute surveys within a ~10 mile stretch of road.

Submit your data

After your survey, please sanitize your equipment!

The last thing that we want to do while conducting surveys is endanger the animals that we're trying to protect. For best practice, it is a good idea to sanitize your survey equipment (especially your jars) in between each location. The best way to do this is with isopropyl alcohol, alcohol wipes, or with a diluted (10%) bleach solution. Apply the sanitizing liquid and let it dry completely. An alternative is to soak your jars in warm soapy water, and let them dry completely. Avoid using sanitary wipes or soaps with with any sort of fragrance, etc.