UF/IFAS Extension Hillsborough County in encouraging residents to participate in a citizen science project to help count insect pollinators during the Pollinator Census. The Great Southeast Pollinator Census is a regional event for the Southeastern states including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Similar to the Great Backyard Bird Count, the Pollinator Census will be count on two days August 23 and 24, 2024.

How to Participate
It’s free and open to the public and you can participate in the comfort of your own backyard. On the designated dates of August 23 and 24, 2024 go into your backyard and pick a plant. Write the plant name at the top of your data sheet. Set your timer for 15 minutes and during that time you will count all the pollinators that land on the flowers of that plant. Keep track of bees, wasps, moths and butterflies on your data sheet. If the same insect lands multiple times count each time it lands. After your 15 minutes of counting time is over you can do another plant for another 15 minutes or enter your data into the database online. To enter your data, visit the Great Southeast Pollinator Census website hosted by University of Georgia at https://gsepc.org. 

The Great Southeast Pollinator Census has three major goals:

1. To create sustainable pollinator habitat by educating gardeners about using plants that provide nutrition for our pollinators while handling our summer droughts and do not have disease or pest insect pressure.
2. To increase the entomological literacy of our citizens. As I mentioned to one teacher, we want students to go from “oooo, it’s a bug” to “look at the tarsal claw on that bee!”
3. To generate useful data about our pollinator populations, so we can begin to spot trends and see how pollinator populations are affected by weather and how honeybees influence native bee populations.

Watch the video to learn more about the census process:

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If you have any questions, please contact the UF/IFAS Extension Hillsborough County at 813-744-5519 or email hillsmg@mail.ufl.edu.

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Featured image photo credit: Amanda Martin, Grounded Solutions

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