A citizen science guide to wild bees and floral visitors in Western Washington

Abstract

Since wild bees are difficult to monitor and identify, this guide acts as an introductory document for those who would like to understand wild bee biodiversity and contribute to conservation through monitoring. This guide is not intended for taxonomic identification, but rather a means for citizen scientists to become familiar with and monitor wild bees in western Washington urban gardens, farms, and landscapes. This field guide is part of our citizen science program, the Citizen Science Initiative for Bees (CSI Bees), which seeks to deliver locally specific, data-driven education on wild bees of the Puget Sound Region.