Australian Pollinator Week 8th -15th November 2020- Get involved!

Australian Pollinator week is happening 8-15th November and its a great opportunity to get outside and join in the Wild Pollinator Count.The Spring 2020 count runs from 8-15 November. Anyone, anywhere in Australia, can contribute to the dataset – it only takes 10 minutes outside on a warm sunny day. Follow the simple instructions to conduct a count and submit your observations via our easy online form.

Australia has lots of wild pollinator insects that are often overlooked. European honey bees get a lot of attention because they are an adaptable, generalist forager, which means they are happy to visit almost any flower, in most climate zones. They are also a social species, so their hives are easy to domesticate and manage.

However, many native insects also contribute to pollination in crops and gardens all around the country. We still need to do a lot of research to identify all our pollinator insect species, understand their ecology and how they are affected by human activities. So far, we know that  Australia has around 2,000 native bee species, all of which are important pollinators. We also know there are a couple of thousand butterfly, wasp, fly, moth, beetle, thrips and ant species, some of which are documented pollinators. Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of information on the ecology of many of these insects, what flowers they pollinate, or where they are found.

The Wild Pollinator Count gives you an opportunity to contribute to wild pollinator insect conservation in Australia. We invite you to count wild pollinators in your local environment and help us build a database on wild pollinator activity.

Wild Pollinator Count dates for 2020
Autumn: 12 – 19 April
Spring: 8 – 15 November

You can join in by watching any flowering plant for just ten minutes sometime in our count week.

• You don’t need to be an insect expert.
• You don’t need fancy gear.
• You may be surprised by what you see!

Find out how to count pollinators, identify the insects you see and submit your observations through the links at the top of the page. You can also download our Run Your Own Count kit and organise to count with a group.

If you have any questions or comments about the count, please contact us via the Keep in Touch page.

The Resources page has fantastic ID guide and tips. It’s best if you can get a close up photo so the insect can be easily identified , if you’re in doubt.

Peter Abbott and ACT for Bees will be conducting a Wild Pollinator count walk at the Australian National Botanic Gardens in that week. Stay tuned for fine, sunny, warm weather and more details on the day during the 8-15th November.

Please email us through our contact page if you wish to join in and we can add you to the lis

Bee Palace at Australian National Botanic Gardens Canberra

“Native bee spotters’ at the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra have found over 100 different species of Australian native bees including a colony of the threatened metallic Green Carpenter bees from South Australia’s Kangaroo Island that were burnt in the bushfires earlier this year. They’ve been living in Canberra for a few years and it’s suspected they hitched a ride on plants brought in for the desert garden. They haven’t been seen yet this Spring, but last November for the Spring Wild Pollinator count, we were very lucky to hear their loud buzzing and spot them. Hope they’ll be around soon!