They’ve bloomed! They’ve bloomed! Our Lemon Queen Sunflowers have finally bloomed! And that means the kids and I can begin tracking bees for The Great Sunflower Project. Here’s a peek at our very first recorded visitor, a carpenter bee:
© Loree Griffin Burns
Isn’t she a beauty? Sorta makes me want to grill up some burgers and set off some fireworks!
© Loree Griffin Burns
Remember this post? When I told you all about The Great Sunflower Project and how easy it was to help bees by participating in this important citizen science initiative? Well, it’s time for step three … planting your seeds.
What’s that? You don’t remember the steps? Okay, then, here is a quick review:
1. Register yourself at The Great Sunflower Project website. (You can do this today!)
2. Order some Lemon Queen sunflower seeds. (You can do this today, too! If you don’t want to wait for seeds to arrive by mail, check your local garden center; many carry the Lemon Queen variety.)
3. When the time is right where you live, plant your seeds.
4. When your sunflowers bloom, watch them for fifteen minutes each week, recording how many bees that visit while you do.
5. Send your data to Dr. LeBuhn and her team at The Great Sunflower Project.
I started my seeds a few weeks ago, in a fit of impatience, but you can start them any time now directly in the garden. Today I transplanted our seedlings into the back of my herb garden, right near my office window. With luck, I’ll soon be watching bees from this very desk, reporting to The Great Sunflower Project scientists (and to you) what sorts of bees are stopping by for Lemon Queen nectar and pollen.
Happy planting!
© Loree Griffin Burns
“It is vital that we understand how and where bees are declining in order to start to help them. Having healthy pollinators is important for both natural systems and our food supply.”
Dr. Gretchen LeBuhn, a professor at San Francisco State University, is the wise woman behind these words. She is also the creative mastermind behind The Great Sunflower Project, a simple and powerful initiative to get men, women and children outside helping our bees.
How exactly do you help bees?
It’s easy, really:
1. Register yourself The Great Sunflower Project website.
2. Order some Lemon Queen sunflower seeds.
3. When the time is right where you live, plant your seeds.
4. When your sunflowers bloom, watch them for fifteen minutes each week, recording how many bees that visit while you do.
5. Send your data to Dr. LeBuhn and her team.
In just two years, the Great Sunflower Project has recruited over 50 thousand participants, and the data they’ve collected is helping Dr. LeBuhn document bee pollination in the United States and develop strategies to protect and restore native bees where they are threatened.
Do I even need to tell you that I’m in?
And why not? I like to eat, and bees are a pretty crucial part of food production. I’ve also written a book about honey bees; helping bees feels like a fine way to celebrate its upcoming release. As luck would have it, I’m in the process of writing a book about citizen science, too; GSP will be great field research (er, backyard research?) for me. Above all, what’s not to love about fifteen minutes of forced downtime –in my own yard—every week?!
So, what do you say? Wanna join me? (You can say no, of course. But I’ll undoubtedly be blogging about our Great Sunflower Project experience in the coming months. Your sort of in-by-association whether you like it or not!)
