Two bees or not two bees volunteers needed for insect census

Those who thought the recent Australian human census was difficult to co-ordinate would have nightmares at the idea of a bee census.

For starters, bees would be awfully hard to round up, they could not complete an online form and they would be prone to buzzing off at the slightest provocation.

Maggie May, pictured at CERES with a honeybee, is keen to take part in the Backyard Bee Census. Credit:Justin McManus

Jokes aside, CERES community environment park in Brunswick East wants to recruit 20,000 households for a backyard bee census on November 14. But it’s not just honeybees that will be counted.

Each participant will choose a flowering plant in their backyard or a nearby park and spend 10 minutes counting and identifying pollinating insects that land on it. Pollinating insects include bees, butterflies, flies, moths and beetles.

A flowering plant could be anything from a lavender bush to a lemon tree, wattles, a strawberry plant or grevilleas.

The census won’t just provide an excuse to sit in a garden â€" the observations will be forwarded to the Wild Pollinator Count, a long-term national project to track what type of insects are pollinating which plants, where and when.

The bee census has a serious purpose.Credit:Justin McManus

Karen Retra, a volunteer environmental educator and citizen scientist from Albury, NSW, and University of New England ecologist Dr Manu Saunders have run the count over a week each April and November since 2016.

The biggest response was in April last year when more than 2000 participants from as far as Darwin and Perth counted more than 20,000 insects.

Ms Retra said the data could help teach researchers which plants insects are visiting and contribute to the understanding of threats to insects, such as disease and climate change.

She said those who took part in the census often gained a better understanding of the “crucial” role pollinating insects play in nature.

They transfer pollen from flower to flower, which enables plants to form seeds and create fruits. In turn the insect landing on lavender might eat nectar as food, or collect pollen to feed young insects or to build a nest.

Ms Retra said data collectors often said they had not realised that, for example, flies can pollinate plants, but also “they say, ‘gee I can’t remember the last time I spent 10 minutes just watching nature’.”

Ben Manassah, the CERES partnerships co-ordinator helping organise the Backyard Bee Census, said the aim was “bringing awareness of the importance of pollinators and the role they play in biodiversity, and bringing families and households closer to nature”.

Maggie May, 33, who stocks local honey in her gift shop, Think Thornbury, said the census was “a fun and engaging” thing to do with her son Remy, two.

“I think it’s a great way of connecting with nature and being mindful,” Ms May said. “And also taking notice of what pollinators we do have around.”

The family grows citrus, lavender and vegetables, and Ms May said the activity would teach Remy, that insects “play a really important role, particularly in the food cycle and with native animals”.

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