Field safety

Working in the field and looking for bumble bees is incredibly fun, but it is important to know how to keep yourself safe.

If you feel unsafe in the field, it is okay to leave without completing your survey. Your safety is the utmost priority. Be sure to tell someone where you are going and when you expect to return.

Bring a travel size First Aid kit with you in case of emergencies.

Although these Nest Quest surveys are short and these events are unlikely, it's worth it to be prepared. Below is a list of risks you may face in the field.

Our Nest Quest team are entomolgists, not medical doctors. For concerns related to heat exhaustion, insect bits and stings, or other allergic reactions, consult a medical professional.

If you are traveling to remote areas for your surveys, we highly suggest finding a survey buddy. While only one person can look for bees for each survey, your buddy could fill out the habitat data or scout out a location for a second survey plot. If people ask you what you are doing, you can show them your Nest Quest data sheet or placard and it is up to you how much you want to explain. You can simply say “I am here collecting data for a project studying pollinators.” Wearing a high visibility vest and carrying a clipboard are often enough to signal other people that you are out there with a purpose. You do not need to show anyone your ID to prove you can be out there surveying.

If travelling alone, let someone know what your survey plan is (i.e., where you are going and when you'll be back).

If you ever feel like someone is bothering you or you feel unsafe, leave the survey area, even if your survey is unfinished.

Bumble bee nest safety

Bumble bee nests generally do not pose a threat to our safety. However, they are stinging insects, and will understandably react to situations with their sting if they feel unsafe. It is always important to be conscious of this when around bumble bee nests. Assess at your own risk, and respect the animal's home.

How do you safely observe a bumble bee nest?

Stay calm
Observe from a safe distance of 1-3 meters away from the nest entrance
Do not disturb features surrounding the nest (soil, grass, etc.)
Wear long pants and long sleeves and carry a non-drowsy antihistamine in the unlikely event of a sting

What are signs of nest aggression?

One or more guard bees flying out of the nest towards you
Many bees flying out of the nest and circling the area near the entrance
Loud buzzing sounds
Surface nesting bumble bees may be more defensive of their nests.

What do you do if you recognize aggressive behavior?

Back away from the nest
Leave the nest area if you feel unsafe.

General field risks and how to keep yourself safe

Always consult a medical professional for concerns related to field risks like heat exposure, ticks, insect stings or bites, and toxic plants.

Heat related conditions like cramping, heat exhaustion, and heatstroke.

This is caused by the body's inability to cool itself, dehydration, and overdressing.

Signs and symptoms include cool, moist skin, heavy sweating, faintness, dizziness, fatigue, weak, rapid pulse, low blood pressure, muscle cramps, nausea, and headache.

Wearing a hat, drinking water, and taking breaks can help protect you from heat related conditions.

2. Chiggers and ticks

Chiggers are members of the arachnid family that in the larval stage are parasitic to humans and other animals. Chigger bites cause intense itching and may cause the formation of small reddish welts, most often on the legs. Symptoms may persist for several days and can be soothed with Caladryl or other antihistamine lotions. Taking a hot shower after being in the field can help get rid of any chiggers. Chiggers do not transmit diseases.

Ticks unfortunately spread several diseases, most commonly Lyme and Human Anaplasmosis. It is important to minimize risk of encounters with ticks. Deer ticks are most commonly found in wooded or brushy areas and are often found mid-May through mid-July. Wearing long pants and long sleeved shirts, tucking your pants into your socks, and wearing light colored clothes (so ticks are easier to spots) are great steps to preventing ticks. Using products treated with permethrin or carrying deet can help prevent ticks as well.

If you do find a tick attached to your skin, use a fine tipped tweezer to remove it, making sure you remove the head and any mouth parts. Clean the area. To kill the tick, submerge it in alcohol or wrap it in tape. Keep track of signs of disease, like a bullseye rash.

3. Bee Stings

While bee stings are uncommon and unlikely, it is important to know what to do in the event of a bee sting.

Severe allergy symptoms include swelling around eyes, lips, tongue, or throat, trouble breathing or swallowing, wheezing, itching, dizziness, a reddish rash or hives, stomach cramps, diarrhea, nausea, or passing out. If you observe these symptoms, call 911 immediately or use an epi-pen if the affected person has one prescribed.

If there is not a life threatening allergic reaction, make sure to remove the stinger (if stung by a honey bee), take benadryl, ice the area, and keep the area clean to avoid infection.

4. Plants like poison ivy, poison sumac, stinging nettle, and wild parsnip

Exposure to these various plants can cause discomfort like itching, rashes, a stinging sensation, or even sunburn like-burns. Being able to identify these plants in the field can help prevent an unpleasant encounter. Wearing long pants can also prevent exposure. If you do encounter any of these plants, thoroughly wash the skin with soap and water.

Poison ivy. Western poison ivy is a small shrub about knee high. It has a single short woody stem and always has compound leaves in groups of 3. The leaflets are up to 6 inches long and often drooping

Poison sumac. Poison sumac is a deciduous woody shrub that grows 5-20 feet tall. Stems have a characteristic reddish tint. Leaves consist of 7-13 leaflets arranged in pairs with a single leaflet at the end. Leaflets are 2-4 inches long, elongated and oval with smooth margins.

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) grows in dense clusters, with stalks growing as tall as 5-8 feet when mature. Leaves are opposite, lance shaped, 3-6 inches long and sharply toothed. They are heart shaped at the base and taper to a pointed tip. There are small bristly hairs on the stalk and stem that produce the sting.

Wild parsnip is a perennial herbaceous plant that can be anywhere from 6 inches to 4 feet high in the flowering stage. The leaves are alternate and made up of 5-15 egg shaped leaflets. Leaflets are sharply-toothed or lobed at the margins. The yellow flowers are in flat-topped clusters 2-6 inches wide. Wild parsnips flower from June to late summer.

Wild parsnip contains chemicals called furocoumarins. These chemicals are absorbed by skin then energized by UV light. The reaction can destroy skin cells and tissue and produce a burn on the skin that resembles sunburn. In severe cases, blistering can appear 1-2 days after the skin is exposed to the sun.

5. Inclement weather

Make sure to check the weather forecast before venturing out to your field site. It's not worth the risk to go out if there is a chance of lightning, thunderstorms, tornadoes, or other severe weather conditions.

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