Protocols

What does a "Nest Quest" look like? 

Volunteers will visit nest searching sites at parks around the Twin Cities to spend time searching for bumble bee nests and record data about the surrounding habitat. Surveys are one hour, every other week between late June and late August. Each time you visit your plot, you will conduct a slow, meandering walk looking for signs of bumble bees nesting. You can expect to dedicate anywhere between 6 and 15 hours of time on this project when you include drive time and data entry. 

These surveys may be done at any time of day while the sun is out, but bumble bees are most active between 7 am and 7 pm.

Step 1: Plan your survey. You can sign up for a plot to survey and select survey dates on our form (COMING SOON). By signing up, you are agreeing to visit your site biweekly to look for bumble bee nests and record habitat data between late June and late August. Other volunteers may be visiting your same plot. To coordinate, you will sign up for date for each survey (i.e. July 1, July 15, July 30, August 12, August 26) either in an early (7 a.m. to 1 p.m.) or late (1p.m. to 7 p.m.) slot. Your surveys can be done anytime between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. as long as there is no precipitation within 2 hours before or during you survey time. Visits can be on the same day of the week or not. Whatever is easiest for you. You will spend one hour looking for nests within that time slot. 

Step 2: Acquire your supplies. You will need a cell phone or tablet for recording your data and location at your site, your volunteer badge, and appropriate footwear and clothing. Visit our Field Supplies page to learn more. You will need to download the ArcGIS Survey123 app from the Microsoft Store Apple Store or on Google Play

Step 3: Go survey! When you arrive at your site, you should first complete your habitat assessment. This will be recorded into our SURVEY FORM (coming soon). You will be recording date, time of arrival, number of surveyors, and basic weather information like temperature, cloud cover, wind speed, air quality index, etc. 

We will track your location for the duration of your survey. We value your privacy. The only location data we will have access to is what is recorded while you are visiting your survey plot. This tracking information will enable us to keep track of the area that you covered during your survey.

You will also record dominant habitat, any management practices you have observed, and the number of plants you see blooming. Printable data sheets will be available to record plant and habitat data if you prefer that to the phone/tablet interface. See our Data Sheets page.  

Step 4: Begin surveying for bumble bee nests. You should wander through your entire survey plot, meandering from one edge to the other. You should be looking for signs of bumble bee nesting, such as following a bumble bee from a flower, witnessing an orientation flight, finding a hole in the ground, or a large pile of grass. 

If you discover a nest:

1. 1. collect the coordinates for the nest location and mark the area with a tag and flagging.

   2. photograph nest occupants.

   3. collect additional data 

   4. submit the nest sighting to bumble bee watch.

   5.  alert nest quest staff!

Optional Step 5: Observe activity at discovered nests. We hope to collect weekly 20-minute observations of bees entering and exiting nests. Once a nest is discovered, we will share a schedule for observations. You can sign up for observation times regardless of whether you have discovered the nest or not. Nest activity observations can be done on the same day as a survey.