Bumble Bee Watch

Bees are hard to identify, which is exactly why this project suits beginners: you photograph a bumble bee, upload it with a location, take a guess at the species, and an expert checks your answer. A backyard flower bed on a summer lunch break is enough, and you learn the species as the verifications come back. The records have real weight. A 2024 study in PLOS ONE found that Bumble Bee Watch supplied more than 25 percent of North American bumble bee records in the decade it focused on, and volunteers have turned up at-risk species such as the rusty patched bumble bee in unexpected places.