North-West University project director Dr. Connal Eardley and his team have been monitoring bees and collecting biodiversity data since 2023 with support from JRS to their project Building Bee Taxonomic Capacity Among Citizen Scientists in South Africa to determine the status of bees in South Africa.  In addition to data collection, the project fosters a local awareness of bee biodiversity and an integral connection with floral biodiversity. The project has trained citizen scientists to identify bees and to upload photographs on iNaturalist. Since the project’s inception, Dr. Eardley’s team have uploaded over 26,000 observations into the South and Southern Africa section of the database and several photos have also been included in a field guide for bee identification.  Big Bees of South Africa : A Photographic Identification Guide to Species by Connal D. Eardley, the first in a series, with 156 pages, 56 colour plates and 4 to 6 colour photographs per page. The book cost is ZAR 165 per copy and is available from the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SAMBI) bookshop: https://www.sanbi.org/gardens/pretoria/sanbi-bookshop/

Read more about JRS grantee North-West University’s project Building Bee Taxonomic Capacity Among Citizen Scientists in South Africa here.