Fwd: Documenting ground-nesting bees on working lands

[Margarita M Lopez-Uribe]

Hi Everyone,

It was great seeing you all yesterday!

Please see below the information about Project GNBee (Ground-Nesting Bees). I hope we can contribute to this effort!

Margarita

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Robyn Underwood <rm...@psu.edu>
Date: Thu, Apr 9, 2026 at 1:14 PM
Subject: Fwd: Documenting ground-nesting bees on working lands
To: Margarita Lopez-Uribe <mm...@psu.edu>, Nash Turley <nashu...@gmail.com>, Sarah Kania <sarahk...@gmail.com>

I assume you also go this, but forwarding just in case. 

Dr. Robyn Underwood

https://extension.psu.edu/beekeeping-resources

Penn State Extension Educator - Apiculture

Department of Entomology, Penn State University

Center for Pollinator Research 

preferred pronouns: she/her/hers

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Project GNBee <groundne...@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Apr 9, 2026 at 12:35 PM
Subject: Documenting ground-nesting bees on working lands
To: <rm...@psu.edu>

Hello Dr. Underwood,

I’m writing on behalf of Project GNBee (Ground-Nesting Bees), a research and conservation initiative based at Cornell University. We work with community scientists to better understand where native bees nest across the landscape and which environmental and management conditions support their populations over time.

We are currently expanding our efforts to better include farmers, growers, orchardists, and other land managers working on agricultural lands. Many native bees nest directly in the soil—often along field edges, farm lanes, bare patches, and lightly disturbed ground. These nesting aggregations are critical for crop pollination, yet they are easily overlooked and rarely documented on working lands.

In brief, we are inviting land managers and community members to report areas where they observe small holes in the ground with bees actively coming and going. By sharing simple observations—ideally with photos—participants can help document nesting sites, identify the bee species present on their properties, and contribute to research that improves conservation and management guidance for farms and orchards. Participation is easy, non-invasive, and fully compatible with ongoing agricultural activities. To make observations, participants will need to make an iNaturalist account, join the project, and tag the project in their observation. It is a quick process and will open the door to additional understanding about the biology in their landscape.

We wanted to reach out to you because of your unique role in communicating with the public around agriculture and productivity. Attached you’ll find a one-page participation flyer, a brief project overview, and a guide to how to make a GNBee observation. If you would be willing to share this information with your community—via email, newsletter, or personal communication—we would be very grateful. If this request would be better directed to another extension professional, or if it would be better sheared with a listserv/newsletter, I would greatly appreciate any guidance or referrals.

Thank you very much for your time and for helping us improve understanding and stewardship of native bees on working lands.

Best regards,
Jordan

—

Dr. Jordan Kueneman

Project GNBee

Webpage | iNaturalist | Instagram                                          Cornell University

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Margarita M. López-Uribe

Preferred pronouns: she/her/hers

Associate Professor 

Department of Entomology 

Lorenzo L. Langstroth Early Career Professor

Pollinator Health Extension Specialist

Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Ecology

Institute of Energy and the Environment Fellow

The Pennsylvania State University

website: http://www.lopezuribelab.com/

twitter: @lopezuribelab

If you would like to set up a time to meet, here is my availability

"I acknowledge that Penn State University occupies the ancestral lands of the Susquehannock peoples. In acknowledging this, I reaffirm my commitment to dismantling the legacies of settler colonialism and the exclusion and marginalization of Indigenous peoples from this land."