The Gardiner Lab OSU

Our September bee collections from Cleveland Pocket Prairies, Metropark Grasslands, and Vacant Lots are complete!

With the storms predicted mid week much of the lab had long field days Monday and Tuesday. One team set pitfall traps to catch spiders, ants, and beetles along with sticky cards to capture lady beetles. A second group sampled bees at all blooming plant species using small vacuums. You can see this time of year the vacant lot sites begin to dry down a bit. Our pocket prairies have blooming bee balm, coneflower, and cup plant. Some of the cup plant is over 8 feet tall!

Insects forage on both non-native plants like dandelion and seeded natives such as golden alexander and foxglove beardtongue this time of year in our Cleveland, OH pocket prairies.

Do you know a young person (~3-8th grader) who is interested in environmental science and insects? Looking for a fun science project to complete at home this summer? The Gardiner Lab at The Ohio State University has launched Dandelion Detectives! We are registering Citizen Science Detectives from around the country to measure the value of weeds for bees and other insects! the program has a registration fee of $10 to support printing and shipping costs. See our website for registration and program details! Please share this post!

Dandelion Detectives | A Pollination Citizen Science Program Home Become a Dandelion Detective! The Gardiner Lab at The Ohio State University is developing a youth-focused citizen science program called Dandelion Detectives. We are seeking individuals, school groups, and other youth organizations to participate in this collaborative project! Dandelion Detecti...