Collecting bees to understand them. How volunteers map Washington’s population
Native bees are an essential part of Washington’s ecosystems, but much about them — where they live and what plants they pollinate — remains unknown and understudied.
That’s where the Washington Bee Atlas comes in.
Part of the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA), the Washington Bee Atlas is a Pollinator Program project that works with volunteers to identify and map native bee species across the state. Volunteers must undergo a multipart program to be able to collect bees for the project, including field training and an online course on melittology — the study of bees — through Oregon State University.
Karla Salp, a master melittologist trainer and communications consultant with WSDA, recalled attending the first field training when the program started in 2023. She was there to take photos and write a blog post for WSDA, but was so interested in the program that she decided to become a volunteer herself.
Documenting bees across the state is a “monumental task,” Salp said. It’s also an important one. By understanding which bees are where, WSDA and other organizations can better target their conservation efforts.
“We can’t conserve animals unless we know they’re there,” volunteer Dr. Megan Asche said.
Asche has been a volunteer with the Washington Bee Atlas for a year. She’s one of about 170 fully trained volunteers with the program. And on a recent Friday morning, five more prepared to join her.
Some of the new volunteers came from as far as Seattle, while others live locally in Whatcom County. The training at Birch Bay State Park in Blaine was the first in the area in a few years, and Salp said she hopes to expand the program to more parks in Whatcom County.
Collecting bees
The first step of bee collecting is to “charge” the jars that the captured bees are placed in. Each tube has plaster at the bottom, and volunteers add a few drops of ethyl acetate to it to kill the bees. Salp explained that most specimens need to be examined under a microscope — or even have their DNA tested — to be identified, requiring the bees to be dead. However, there are enough bees in the wild that the collection doesn’t disrupt the ecosystem.
After prepping the tubes, volunteers take their nets and search for bees. Once a bee is caught and placed into a “kill jar,” the time and location of its capture and what plant, if any, it was found on are logged on an app.
The insects are then taken home, pinned and labeled before they’re submitted to the WSDA pollinator taxonomist for identification. Three thousand total specimens from across the state — most of which were bees — were submitted during the program’s first year, Salp said. In 2024, the number rose to 18,000. Last year, there were 29,000.
Once the specimens are identified, they’re sent to Washington State University to be housed and potentially used in future research.
Asche said on warm days she can catch as many as 100 bees. These include both native Washington bees, of which there are at least 600, and honey bees, which are not native to North America.
Why people volunteer
New volunteer Cory Gardner said they joined the Washington Bee Atlas because of their work at the Padilla Bay Reserve in Mount Vernon, where they focus on coastal prairie restoration. They said they’re particularly interested in learning about how pollinators interact with prairie plants.
Gardner, who lives in Bellingham, said programs like the Washington Bee Atlas are a way to “get to know the things around you.”
“It’s a really good way to ground yourself and give yourself a sense of place,” Gardner said.
The connection to nature is also important to existing volunteer and program instructor Peter Abrahamsen, who said he started spending more time in nature during the pandemic and took an interest in photographing wildlife, including bees.
He uploaded the photos to iNaturalist, the app that the Washington Bee Atlas uses to track where bees were caught. He was initially contacted by the Washington Native Bee Society and learned about the Washington Bee Atlas from there.
The Washington Native Bee Society is similar to the Washington Bee Atlas in that it supports conservation efforts and education around bees. Unlike Washington Bee Atlas, it focuses on photographs rather than the actual collection of bees. Salp said that it’s a good alternative for people who want to get involved but aren’t comfortable with the lethal collection done by the Washington Bee Atlas.
“It’s inspiring to see people come together and learn about and ultimately try to relate to and protect their own environments,” Abrahamsen said. “We’re all kind of alienated from nature and from one another, and this is a very practical way of reconnecting.”
To learn more about the Washington Bee Atlas or sign up to volunteer, visit agr.wa.gov/beeatlas.