Counting bees for the Great Sunflower Project.
Sunflower Gardening Project for Children
We always try to do activities that get children outside and exposed to the environment. Planting sunflowers and watching them grow is great for kids, but an additional learning opportunity is available once the flowers are in bloom.
This is actually part of a national program to study bee populations called the Great Sunflower Project. The purpose of the project is to get data on wild bee activity and their populations in urban, suburban and rural settings. One requirement is that you plant a specific type of sunflower called "Lemon Queen" (annual variety not perennial). This helps to keep the data consistent across the country. All specifics can be found on the link to the Sunflower Project site.
This project can apply to a wide variety of age ranges from preschool to high school depending on how it is implemented. Essentially you are counting the number bees that visit a flower in a span of 15 minutes. While this is too long of time for a preschooler who will last for a few minutes at the most it is still a great opportunity to discuss why bees are important and what they are actually doing.
Additional ideas for incorporating sunflowers into a school agenda can be found on this home schooling website.
Basic Instructions
- Obtain a pack of Lemon Queen sunflower seeds (see links below).
- Plant seeds in your garden or a large pot (a pot that is at least 15" deep is recommended).
- Download the observation forms from the Great Sunflower Project Website.
- Once plants start to flower you can start your observations. Note that Lemon Queen is a branching type sunflower with multiple flower heads. You can observe all the bees that come to one plant in a 15 minute time span.
- Make observations at the beginning and end of each month if possible.
- Send in the data to the Sunflower Project online or in paper form.
Detailed instructions can be found on this page of the Sunflower Project site. (pdf)
Lemon Queen Seed Sources
There are several sources for seeds, a few of which are posted below.
Seeds can be had for free from the Sunflower Project site but you have to create an user id and long in first.
Seeds can be had online from Renee's Garden but keep in mind that there is a 3 seed pack minimum (can be different seeds). Combined with shipping you are paying $12 or $13 just to get a pack of Lemon Queen seeds.
Even though I like to support the smaller seed companies, your most inexpensive option may be Burpee seeds. While they are $4 a pack online you can usually get there seeds at Walmart for a $1 each or Lowes and Home Depot for $2 each.
Two other seed sources are Millington Seed or Sustainable Seed Co.