Bees, Butterflies and Botany: Key Plants for Pollinators in BC Parks

In this talk Lori will present a new citizen science project in BC Parks that you can participate in when you visit Provincial Parks (or even in your own backyard) to observe seasonal relationships among native bees and their food plants. This project uses iNaturalist or “iNat”, an online community science hub that allows you to post observations of wildlife which are identified and made available for scientific research.

You will learn how to identify eleven key plants for bees in various stages, from budding and blooming to seeding and fruiting. By studying flowers that bees visit for food and nesting, we can learn more about the seasonal life cycles of the plants that supply nectar and pollen to our precious pollinators. The scientific name for this study is “phenology” (or what we like to call “fun-ology”). 

You will also learn how to observe and record bee behaviors such as…