"The Very Handy Manual: How to Catch and Identify Bees and Manage a Collection" is Now Available

The latest edition (March, 2010) of "The Very Handy Manual: How to Catch and Identify Bees and Manage a Collection" is now available.

Compiled mainly by Sam Droege at the USGS Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab with input from specialist researchers and taxonomists over several years from 2004-present, this guide provides detailed instructions on bee monitoring techniques including specimen collection, processing and management; bee identification; and more! The manual also provides guidance on the capture, monitoring, identification, and curation of native bees.

The NBII Pollinators Project coordinates and supports pollinator-related biological informatics projects carried out by the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) and its partners, and provides in-kind support to ventures that benefit pollinators by improving pollinator data delivery and access, and developing decision support tools for resource managers.

You can also subscribe to Sam Droege's Youtube channel and learn How to Dry Bee Specimens, one of the handy techniques described in the manual.

Photo: Honeybee and Purple aster (Apis mellifera, Aster sp.) - A honeybee feeds on purple aster flowers.  Photo credit: Elizabeth A. Sellers.