The Great Sunflower Project
May 11, 2009 | By
Bees. You don't have to like them to know we need them. Those flying little insects who can bring grown men running in fear do more than invoke terror, they help pollinate the food that eventually ends up on our plates. How bees survive in urban environments and the role that small, community gardens play in their existence is the focus behind The Great Sunflower Project.
Organized by an Associate Professor of Biology at San Francisco State University, Gretchen LeBuhn, this simple project asks volunteers to help track the bees in their own backyard. Starting with a free packet of sunflower seeds, the volunteer plants the seeds and commits to recording how long it takes for five bees to visit the plant on one weekend day per month. Recording the data is as simple as logging into the project's website.
The purpose of the study is to determine where bee populations are in trouble. By planting in urban and suburban settings and recording bee visits scientists can get an idea of how and where bee populations thrive. Patio container gardens, balcony planters, or backyard plots all provide a rich environment for scientific study.
According to The Xerces Society, scientists first started noticing the decline of several very common crop pollinators in the early 1990s. After almost 20 years those numbers are not rebounding as scientists had hoped. Projects, like The Great Sunflower Project, are an attempt to find out why that's so.
Although the 2009 season is underway, you can still sign up to record bee data for the project. As The Great Sunflower Project explains, bees are responsible for every third bite of food. You don't need to know a lot about bees to participate, you just need to know how to count to five. Visit The Great Sunflower Project for additional information and to get started. Isn't it worth a half-hour of your time every month to help the bee population in your corner of the world?
Photo by cybertarge.
Brandi Jordan is a Super Blessed Soap Making, Craft Loving, Passionate Writing Mama, Wife & Witty Woman. For more of her articles click HERE.
All rights reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached, or otherwise used, except with the prior
written permission of HandmadeNews.org.
