WSU museum team hosts the WA Bee Atlas

Come one, come all! Volunteers for the Washington Bee Atlas came to WSU to learn how to collect, pin, and identify bees. Karen Wright of WSDA and Shannon Collins of the Phoenix Conservancy served as organizers and hosts along with the WSU's Elizabeth Murray, Joel Gardner, and Silas Bossert.

We had over a dozen volunteers come for the Friday - Sunday event. Many of them showed up at my doorstep Thursday night! We had some hardy campers braving the Palouse wind and springtime showers. But they got out to several sites around the area. Some volunteers were 'newbees' and were just learning to collect. Others were experienced collectors and were practicing identifying their catch to genus or species. 

The MT James Entomological Collection will be receiving the Bee Atlas specimens after they are submitted by the volunteers and are processed and recorded through Karen Wright and her team at WSDA. 

Some of the Bee Atlas volunteers camping in tents, cars, and RVs on the Palouse.