This August the Great Southeast Pollinator Census is an opportunity for gardeners of all ages to get involved in citizen science. For those who don’t know citizen science is when people in the community help with research that can help us all.

In this case, help is needed in counting the number of insects (pollinators) that visit a flower during a 15-minute period. This period can be any time the person chooses on August 22 or 23, the date of the census. There are some training videos that can be viewed to help with identification of different types of pollinators.

There is also a census count sheet to use on the day of the event. For those unfamiliar with the different types of pollinators there is an insect identification guide to show the difference between a carpenter bee, honey bee, bumble bee, other bees, wasps, flied, butterflies, and other insects that might be visiting flowers.

There is also a link on the gsepc.org website to specific information about the NC State Census. This NC State page has a link to an upcoming webinar on August 14 that could be helpful, but definitely educational on flower that attract pollinators.

Visit the site, get more information and join the counts.