Weekly progress:
Last week we started sorting a kit by D. Winstel in Delaware County. We are over 15,500 bees pinned and databased. We did not identify any additional bees last week as I was working on some paperwork and the specialist guide most of the week. That also means I do not have any bycatch information to share at this time.
Specialist bee project:
I have also been working on clarifying methods for the upcoming field season. Instead of setting even more bowl traps, our goal for this summer is to target plants known to host specialists bees. So if you would like to participate in a more hands on project of hand collecting bees, see our project here: https://u.osu.edu/beesurvey/native-bee-survey-via-specimen-collections/120-2/
This also will coincide with our specialist bee guide that we are hard at work on finalizing. The guide will be organized by plant host so that you can hopefully learn to recognize the plant to then be able to monitor for potential specialist bees.
Helping in the lab in the age of Covid:
Want to see how to get vaccinated against Covid-19 in Ohio or see if you qualify yet? See the vaccine distribution website here: https://vaccine.coronavirus.ohio.gov/
Note that people who are 50 and above are now eligible for the vaccine in Ohio! For those of us under 50 and do not have a qualifying medical condition, we still have a few more weeks to wait.
All for now,
MaLisa