A new census is taking place Friday, August 23rd and Saturday, August 24th and the folks at the University of Georgia need your help.
You can actually ‘bee’ part of the solution when it comes to finding out how many pollinators are buzzing around the state of Georgia. Federal budget cuts lead to the USDA suspending the program that counts bees and other pollinating insects around the country.
So, the folks at UGA are stepping in and looking for residents to step up and take part in the Great Georgia Pollinator Census to help them take a census of honey bees - Georgia's state insect and other pollinators around the state.
The first step is to find the right plant "that has a lot of blooms and is showing a lot of insect activity," Griffin explains.
Pollinator Census Coordinator Becky Griffin says it's something you and kids can do together in 15 minutes.
Then for the next 15 minutes just count how many bugs you see. "So you don't have to be an entomologist to participate, because we're only taking insects and putting them into categories," Griffin adds.
Most of the insects you'll see will be in a variety bee categories including "carpenter bees, bumble bees, honey bees, small bees, wasps, flies, butterflies. And if it's an insect you don't know, just put it in the other insect category," Griffin says.
There is a page on the website that you can download to help you put them into these categories.
Georgia is one of the first states to count all of it's pollinators explains Griffin.
Those participating are encouraged to post pictures on social media taking part in the census using #GaPollinators.