Identification Resources

Bee Guides
Nebraska Bumble Bee ID Sheet by The Xerces Society
Bumble Bees of North America by Williams et al.
Bumble Bees of the Eastern United States by Koch et al.
Bumble Bees of the Western United States by Koch et al.
Attracting Native Pollinators by the Xerces Society

Plant Guides
Field Guide to Wildflowers of Nebraska and the Great Plains by Jon Farrar
Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers by Ladd and Oberle
Kansas Wildflowers & Grasses (online resource)
Nebraska's Roadside Flowers and Grasses by DOT
iNaturalist Mobile App for Android or Apple

Mobile Apps

Bumble Bee Watch iOS App
Bumble Bee Watch Android App

Project Websites

The Xerces Society
University of Nebraska-Lincon
Bumble Bee Watch
​Nebraska Environmental Trust

Join our Facebook Group

NE Bumble Bee Atlas Closed group · 36 members Join Group A space where volunteers from the Nebraska Bumble Bee Atlas can interact and share experiences, photos, etc. You can find more information about the p...

Participant Handbook: download pdf.

Google Map of Grid Cells: click here.

Nebraska Public Access Atlas: click here.

How to Catch Bees
Catching bees in a net by Sam Droege
Advanced catching bees in a net by Sam Droege
*no bees are killed in the Atlas project, it is all catch & release

Collecting Supplies
Nets: Bioquip, Home Science Tools, or search "aerial insect net"
Vials: Berlin or search "50ml plastic vial"

Podcasts
PolliNation Podcast

• Mullerian mimicry and why telling bumble bee species apart by color can be hard.
• ​A Well-Curated Bee In A Museum is Worth a Thousand Pictures​

​KEXP Sustainability Segment - Mind over Matters

• Interview with Pacific Northwest Bumble Bee Atlas Project Coordinator - Rich Hatfield

Latitude and Longitude
Using decimal degrees is essential for accurate mapping and locations of survey areas. You can use a smart phone to help you get decimal degrees. First, ensure location services are turned on in your device

• Use Google Maps
• Using Apple Maps, if you drop a pin (long press on a touch device), and then scroll down on the pin details you will see the latitude and longitude.
• You can use this web page (or similar) to convert to decimal degrees and check the location accuracy.

Weather
Both of these apps have many local weather stations (this is not a comprehensive list - many other options):

• Accuweather
• ​Weather Underground

Download Data Sheets

Bumble Bee Data Sheet

Habitat Data Sheet

Other Questions? Contact us!