Bee Watching

To learn more about the bees that live near you and how the public in urban environments are building rooftop gardens and other habitats to protect the bee population see the following information and helpful hints.

Urban Habitats

When cities expand, green spaces shrink. Added roads, buildings and sidewalks cover land where plants and flowers used to grow.

Rooftop Gardens

As cities grow larger and bee populations get smaller, cities around the world are designing rooftop gardens as homes for bees. These gardens in the sky are carefully planned and planted to include the flowers bees need for food.

Natural Enviroments

But since bees are used to ground level gardens, what tells the bees to fly stories high to get food on the tops of buildings?

In this lesson, you’ll find out how bees can find their way through a busy city to the flowers on rooftops.

Rooftop gardens have increasingly become an important step to preserving the bee poplulation. Read more:

Hotel Rooftop Gardens Blossom as Source of Savings, Inspiration, Sustenance
https://www.costar.com/article/1963976400/hotel-rooftop-gardens-blossom-as-source-of-savings-inspiration-sustenance

Bee Safe!

Not too close:

Keep yourself and the bees safe. Observe bees from a distance. If you’re surprised by a bee, remember, the bee is surprised too.

Slow and Steady:

Bees might be curious about you. You might have a scent that is interesting to them. But they are most interested in staying alive. If they come close, move slowly and steadily away so you don’t scare them.

Bad for you, Worse for the Bee:

Remember that bees can sting when they are bothered. It hurts to be stung! But stinging can hurt the bee, too. When a bee loses its stinger, it dies.

The world needs bees. If we help them, they can keep helping us.

Outside The Classroom

Use the Bee Identification Card:

Using the Bee Identification card (see links at the bottom of this page), keeps a record of the bees you see over the course of a week. You can keep a bee watching journal. Write down all your observations.

Take Photos:

Take photos of the area you’re observing, including the flowers bees like, as well as any bee homes you find.

Look For Bee Homes:

Look for bee homes in your area. Looks for homes the bees have made, and for homes people have set up for bees. Has anyone planted things specially to attract bees?

In Your Classroom

Post a Map:

Post a map of your area on the wall. Mark the map wherever bees have been found. Use a different mark for bee homes and gardens.

Add Information to the Map:

If a certain type of bee was seen more than once in a certain spot, add that information to your map.

Take Photos or Videos:

Take photos or video or make drawings and add a bee gallery to your map display.

Discuss Your Bee Week:

Discuss your bee week. Did you see as many bees as you expected to? Were there bees in places that surprised you? How hard was it to find bees? What can be done to get more bees to live in your area?

More information and learning resources:

Story Time in the Pollinator Garden - Lincoln city Libraries
Nebraska Bumble Bee Atlas
Bee Spotter

Eastern and Western Bee Identification Card. Click to download the PDF's.

Eastern Bee Identification Card (2.5 MB)

Western Bee Identification Card (2.5 MB)

Bee Watching

Bee Safe!

The world needs bees. If we help them, they can keep helping us.

Outside The Classroom

In Your Classroom

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