Sunflowers are easy to grow and are great resources for bees and birds. Sunflowers produce a lot of nectar and pollen which attracts bees. Wild sunflowers also require visits by bees to set seed.

No. Each sunflower has its own characteristics. There are actually quite a few sunflowers out there that don't even produce pollen (which is the main reason bees visit)! To make sure that we are always comparing the same things, please use the variety that we have chosen, the annual Lemon Queen sunflower. These seeds are widely available and quite inexpensive to buy. You also can buy them at Renee's Garden or place your order online.

Flies are easy. Flies have one wing on each side. Bees have two. Flies also tend to perch with their wings pointing out an angle. Bees tuck them away.

Telling wasps and bees apart is much harder. Bees tend to have wider bodies and appear more robust. Bees are usually hairier and you can often see where they are carrying pollen. However, it turns out that bees closest relatives are a group of wasps and these wasps are very difficult to differentiate from bees. The easy way to tell bees and wasps apart is to use a microscope and look for a branched hair. Bees have branched hairs, wasps have simple hairs. Alternatively, watch what they eat. Bees are vegetarian; wasps are carnivores.

No. But, boy do they give bees a bad reputation!

Female bees collect pollen to provision their nests. Pollen is actually the sole source of protein for the developing larvae. Both female and male bees drink nectar, which is a source of energy.

Different species carry pollen in different ways. Most commonly, bees have specialized branched hairs for carrying pollen. The pollen actually is held on through an electro-static charge. When bees fly, they build up an electrostatic charge. When they enter a flower, that flower is grounded so, the pollen almost jumps right onto a bee. Think about that trick having a balloon stick to your hair. Bees that hold pollen have the hairs on their hind legs or on the bottom of their abdomen.

Other bees carry pollen in their mouths. There actually are some parasitic bees that don't gather their own pollen. They simply lay their eggs in the nests of other bees. Their offspring hatch before the offspring of their host and often kill the host larvae. They are called cuckoo bees because this behavior was first documented in cuckoo birds.

A computer and access to a printer for a one time printing. Or a smartphone. It’s also handy to have a digital camera to take photos!

When you click “Create Datasheet (PDF)” or “Create All Datasheets (PDF)” from the Citizen Science resource pages, a PDF file with a datasheet packet will be downloaded to your desktop (or downloads folder). Print all or a selection of the datasheets to use for recording your observations in the field.

There is no commitment – everything is 100% voluntary. As long as you use the datasheets we provide, your structured data will be valuable, no matter how long you participate in Citizen Science.

When you enter your observations in your Citizen Science Glog, you are not only making a record of a day’s observation, you are also contributing observations. These become part of a larger database made up on Citizen Scientists around the United States. All data is sent anonymously, and is only marked by a location record within 7 miles of your point of observation. In your Glog, you will also be able to easily compare your observations, filtered by time, location, plant, and media.

Check out YourGardenShow’s privacy guarantee. When you participate in Citizen Science, additional protection includes: (1) anonymity, with identification by number only (ID); (2) the choice to “opt out” of sharing original precision of the geographic coordinates of data uploaded by you; and (3) stringent safeguards for special observations subject to state and/or federal laws.