Here’s some basic information on making labels for your insect collection.
Each specimen should be accompanied by information including the location (county and state) and date (day, month, year) of its capture and the name or initials of the collector. Many collectors now include GPS coordinates. To avoid confusion, the month can be written in roman numerals (or spelled out) and should always occur between the day and the year. These data are printed on a small label placed on the pin beneath the specimen. A specimen’s secondary label on the pin is the insect’s identification (for our purposes, the genus of the bee).
This is how the pinning block is used.
You can hand write one label at a time. I use acid-free card stock, although lots of people use index cards.
Labels should include:
Locale: a common name such as Franklin Park, Secrest Arb, etc.
City, State, Country
Northing and Westing GPS coordinates
Date
Collector’s name
The Very Handy Bee Manual describes an automated system for printing labels on a laser printer including unique barcodes for each specimen. This is nice if you were collecting in one location and have multiple specimens, thus lots of labels to make. Once you give this a try, it’s very easy to do and saves lots of time writing labels.
- Where did you collect the insects? You will need the GPS coordinates (northing and westing). On Google maps, enter the street address or find the location. Right click on the place or area on the map. Select “What’s Here?” At the bottom, you will see the coordinates.
- Visit Dr. Daniel Kjar’s website to make labels.
- I keep font size and label size at 25. Enter the number of different labels to be made (do you want labels for your bees at Franklin Park and also for another location? or a different day? This allows labels to be printed on one page together.
- Enter appropriate information for each collecting location. The website gives complete instructions.
- Select “make labels”
- Print, collect more insects, repeat!