Squash Bee Survey
How to identify a squash bee (updated 28 June 2023) Please note you don't have to identify bees for this project. When in doubt, take a picture through our survey. Negative results (i.e., saw bee other than a squash bee) are super useful in showing the bee hasn't showed up yet.
Access the Squash Bee Survey
Observations of squash bees, or bees you suspect to be squash bees, are uploaded through a platform known as Survey 123.
To access the Survey 123 squash bee survey click: https://arcg.is/1CrmSf
NOTE: After clicking the link you will be asked if you want to add an observation using your browser, or using the app. We recommend using the browser as some people have experienced difficulty signing in for the app. Location information is automatically populated when you allow location access while at your survey site. For users with browser location access blocked, a warning message must be clicked away before accessing the location entry feature. If you don't provide permission to access your location, you can simply type your address in the search bar above the map before submitting
Instructions (instructional videos can be found at the bottom of this page):
Step 1: Keep track of all the flowers you look into for squash bees. If you don't see any squash bees, indicate the number of flowers you searched on, and the number of flowers you found squash bees on as '0'.
Step 2: If you find what you think are squash bees, then tally the number of flowers that you think had squash bees. Photograph these bees while they are foraging in the flowers. Upload all the images of the bees you were able to photograph into the app. When in doubt submit an image - we will do the identification on our end.
Step 3: Tell us the kinds of squash that were in flower and let us know how confident you felt on that day with your squash bee identification
Step 4: If you saw anything cool, ANYTHING AT ALL, type it in in the comments.
Step 5: Save the record and send it to Oregon State University for processing.
Remember, if you change locations (e.g., go to a different garden) you need to create a new record.
