Citizen Scientist Uniforms with The Environmental Youth Alliance

It's June. School's almost over, the sun is shining and the world is full of distractions. That must be why my son forgot his lunch kit. That must be why I was late returning his lunch kit because I had to stop and take photos of the bees mobbing this Bridal Bush on the Ontario bike route. I am imagining a future Vancouver in which are bike routes are also bee routes and pollinator corridors.

There are late bloomers and late rises and here's a mason bee when I thought all the mason bees had finished their cycle for the season. There were also honey bees, bumble bees, and syrphid flies on this bush and the California lilac beside it.

 I met Erin Udal at what is unofficially the Citizen Scientist club house in Strathcona Community Garden. We silk-screened the logos she designed onto t-shirts to wear while we are monitoring native bee populations in our neighbourhood over the summer. So if you see us wearing these uniforms, carrying clipboards, and counting bees feel free to ask us what we're doing because we love to talk about bees.

This is a line drawing of a mason bee.  This is a two colour print with the registration slightly shifted.