Training Workshops (required)
Participants in the California Bumble Bee Atlas will need to take part in a training session to learn about bumble bees and the project. We are presenting three remote (webinar-based) training events starting in February, 2023 (see below). Even if you volunteered for the project in 2022 and took the training last year, you'll need to take the training again. Either way, you'll always be able to watch pre-recorded versions of our training events through this website. (We anticipate our 2023 prerecorded training workshop will go live at this site March 1, 2023.)
February 6, 6:00pm-8:00pm: completed
March 16, 6:00pm-8:00pm: Cancelled! We'll reschedule this training in the near future.
April 13, 6:00pm-8:00pm: completed
May 11, 6:00-8:00pm: Register for the event at this link.
Webinars (optional)
We're excited to announce an upcoming webinar: Ecology and Conservation of Bumble Bees for Atlas Volunteers, April 15, 12PM-2PM. This webinar will cover the ecology and conservation needs of our bumble bees in much greater depth than we are able to present this material in the training workshops. We're also opening this event to everyone across 15 states who is a Xerces Society Bumble Be Atlas project volunteer, so the material will not only be California-centered. We think this will be an excellent compliment to what you (will) have learned in the required training workshops! If you'd like to attend, please register at this link.
Field Events (optional)
We are also conducting a number of in-person field training events across the state. These are not required, but please consider joining us! Field events are a great way to learn how to use your insect net, collect data according to project methods, and identify the bumble bees. Field events begin in March, 2023, and we'll be announcing more of these as the season gets underway.
Register for field events here.
March 4 (Sat.): Wind Wolves Preserve, 16019 Maricopa Highway, Bakersfield, CA 93311. (34.995, -119.185) 9am-11:30am. We'll meet at the Wildflower Loop parking lot near the front gate at 9am, then walk trails at this preserve.
March 18 (Sat.): Los Angeles County Arboretum, 301 N Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA 91007. Details: we'll meet at the front gate at 10:00am, then walk to Crescent Farm, the area where we'll survey for bees. We should be done by 12:00pm. Unfortunately we are at capacity for this event! If you were interested, please join us at this site on April 22, 2-4pm instead. We'll be holding monthly field events at this site all year, so keep an eye on this page for details.
March 25 (Sat): California Botanic Garden, 1500 N College Avenue, Claremont, CA 91711. 10am-12pm. Meet at the main entrance at 10am.
April 1 (Sat.): Hedgerow Farms, 21905 County Rd 88, Winters, CA 95694. 9am-11:30am. Location details to come. We will walk the blooming fields at the farm.
April 1 (Sat): Mission Trails Regional Park, Elanus Canyon Trailhead. 4844-4840 Calle De Vida, San Diego, CA 92124. 10 am – 12 pm. Map of meeting location here; meet at red circle. Parking off Calle de Vida. We will practice netting and photographing bees.
April 15 (Sat): Canyon Creek Nursery, 3527 Dry Creek Road, Oroville, CA 95965. 9:30am-12pm. Park and walk across a foot bridge.
April 22 (Sat.): Arlington Garden, 275 Arlington Drive, Pasadena, CA 91105. 10am-12pm. Parking can be found on-street on Arlington, Orange Grove, or Wigmore. Meet at the main entrance on Arlington Drive at 10am.
April 22 (Sat.): Los Angeles County Arboretum, 301 N Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA 91007. Details: we'll meet at the front gate at 2:00pm, then walk to Crescent Farm, the area where we'll survey for bees. We should be done by 4:00pm. Unfortunately we are at capacity for this event! If you were interested, please join us at this site on another date instead. We'll be holding monthly field events at this site through August, so keep an eye on this page for details.
April 29 (Sat.): Sky Oaks Watershed Headquarters, 49 Sky Oaks Rd, Fairfax, CA 94930. 10am-12pm. Parking directions off Sky Oaks Rd, we will get parking passes from Marin Water and meet OneTam staff in the parking lot, then tour nearby fields looking for bees.
April 30 (Sun.): Elkhorn Slough Reserve, 1700 Elkhorn Rd, Watsonville, CA 95076. 10am-12:30pm. We will meet next to the parking lot, and tour the nearby garden and reserve looking for bees.
May 5 (Fri.): Black Point Historic Gardens, 1 Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA 94109. 10am-12pm. Parking at Aquatic Park and 2-hr spots in upper Fort Mason. Bus stop at the Bay St/Van Ness entrance, plus bike ways nearby. We will meet behind the historic general's residence at the top steps, and will tour the gardens looking for bees. Note: this is a steep location with stairs, accessibility is easier from the top off Franklin St.
May 6 (Sat.): Galbreath Wildland Preserve, 30720 Elkhorn Road, Yorkville, CA 95494. (38.849, -123.243). 9am-12pm. Canceled! We've had to cancel this event due to unforeseen circumstances. We're looking into rescheduling; in the meantime, please try to join us at another event!
May 13 (Sat.): Hallberg Butterfly Gardens (Sonoma), 8687 Oak Grove Ave, Sebastopol, CA 95472. 10am-12pm. Directions map Here. Parking just off Oak Grove Ave, we will walk in and tour the gardens looking for bees.
May 20 (Sat.): Los Angeles County Arboretum, 301 N Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA 91007. Details: we'll meet at the front gate at 10:00am, then walk to Crescent Farm, the area where we'll survey for bees. We should be done by noon.
June 3 (Sat.): McLaughlin Natural Reserve, 26775 Morgan Valley Rd, Lower Lake, CA 95457. 9am-11:30am. We'll meet in the field station parking lot at 9am, get there by driving through the main gate (38.871, -122.419) for 0.8mi up the hill. Turn immediately left at the top toward the first building which is the field station. If you’re interested in staying at the station the night before, email Dylan.winkler@wildlife.ca.gov.
June 10 (Sat.): McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay Exploration Park. 1125 Arboretum Drive. Redding CA 96003. 10am-12pm. There is parking at this address, and we'll meet at the west gate to the arboretum just off the parking area at 10am.
June 11 (Sun.): Lost Coast Headlands (40.563, -124.350), 10am-12pm From Ferndale, CA, take Ocean Avenue/Centerville Road west for seven miles to a parking lot for the property. We'll meet at 10am and search for bees along the trails.
June 24 (Sat.): Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93105. 10am-12pm. Meet at 10am at the front gate.
August 26 (Sat.) Catalina Island. Details to come!
Participants in the California Bumble Bee Atlas will need to take part in a training session to learn about bumble bees and the project. We are presenting three remote (webinar-based) training events starting in February, 2023 (see below). Even if you volunteered for the project in 2022 and took the training last year, you'll need to take the training again. Either way, you'll always be able to watch pre-recorded versions of our training events through this website. (We anticipate our 2023 prerecorded training workshop will go live at this site March 1, 2023.)
February 6, 6:00pm-8:00pm: completed
March 16, 6:00pm-8:00pm: Cancelled! We'll reschedule this training in the near future.
April 13, 6:00pm-8:00pm: completed
May 11, 6:00-8:00pm: Register for the event at this link.
Webinars (optional)
We're excited to announce an upcoming webinar: Ecology and Conservation of Bumble Bees for Atlas Volunteers, April 15, 12PM-2PM. This webinar will cover the ecology and conservation needs of our bumble bees in much greater depth than we are able to present this material in the training workshops. We're also opening this event to everyone across 15 states who is a Xerces Society Bumble Be Atlas project volunteer, so the material will not only be California-centered. We think this will be an excellent compliment to what you (will) have learned in the required training workshops! If you'd like to attend, please register at this link.
Field Events (optional)
We are also conducting a number of in-person field training events across the state. These are not required, but please consider joining us! Field events are a great way to learn how to use your insect net, collect data according to project methods, and identify the bumble bees. Field events begin in March, 2023, and we'll be announcing more of these as the season gets underway.
Register for field events here.
March 4 (Sat.): Wind Wolves Preserve, 16019 Maricopa Highway, Bakersfield, CA 93311. (34.995, -119.185) 9am-11:30am. We'll meet at the Wildflower Loop parking lot near the front gate at 9am, then walk trails at this preserve.
March 18 (Sat.): Los Angeles County Arboretum, 301 N Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA 91007. Details: we'll meet at the front gate at 10:00am, then walk to Crescent Farm, the area where we'll survey for bees. We should be done by 12:00pm. Unfortunately we are at capacity for this event! If you were interested, please join us at this site on April 22, 2-4pm instead. We'll be holding monthly field events at this site all year, so keep an eye on this page for details.
March 25 (Sat): California Botanic Garden, 1500 N College Avenue, Claremont, CA 91711. 10am-12pm. Meet at the main entrance at 10am.
April 1 (Sat.): Hedgerow Farms, 21905 County Rd 88, Winters, CA 95694. 9am-11:30am. Location details to come. We will walk the blooming fields at the farm.
April 1 (Sat): Mission Trails Regional Park, Elanus Canyon Trailhead. 4844-4840 Calle De Vida, San Diego, CA 92124. 10 am – 12 pm. Map of meeting location here; meet at red circle. Parking off Calle de Vida. We will practice netting and photographing bees.
April 15 (Sat): Canyon Creek Nursery, 3527 Dry Creek Road, Oroville, CA 95965. 9:30am-12pm. Park and walk across a foot bridge.
April 22 (Sat.): Arlington Garden, 275 Arlington Drive, Pasadena, CA 91105. 10am-12pm. Parking can be found on-street on Arlington, Orange Grove, or Wigmore. Meet at the main entrance on Arlington Drive at 10am.
April 22 (Sat.): Los Angeles County Arboretum, 301 N Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA 91007. Details: we'll meet at the front gate at 2:00pm, then walk to Crescent Farm, the area where we'll survey for bees. We should be done by 4:00pm. Unfortunately we are at capacity for this event! If you were interested, please join us at this site on another date instead. We'll be holding monthly field events at this site through August, so keep an eye on this page for details.
April 29 (Sat.): Sky Oaks Watershed Headquarters, 49 Sky Oaks Rd, Fairfax, CA 94930. 10am-12pm. Parking directions off Sky Oaks Rd, we will get parking passes from Marin Water and meet OneTam staff in the parking lot, then tour nearby fields looking for bees.
April 30 (Sun.): Elkhorn Slough Reserve, 1700 Elkhorn Rd, Watsonville, CA 95076. 10am-12:30pm. We will meet next to the parking lot, and tour the nearby garden and reserve looking for bees.
May 5 (Fri.): Black Point Historic Gardens, 1 Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA 94109. 10am-12pm. Parking at Aquatic Park and 2-hr spots in upper Fort Mason. Bus stop at the Bay St/Van Ness entrance, plus bike ways nearby. We will meet behind the historic general's residence at the top steps, and will tour the gardens looking for bees. Note: this is a steep location with stairs, accessibility is easier from the top off Franklin St.
May 6 (Sat.): Galbreath Wildland Preserve, 30720 Elkhorn Road, Yorkville, CA 95494. (38.849, -123.243). 9am-12pm. Canceled! We've had to cancel this event due to unforeseen circumstances. We're looking into rescheduling; in the meantime, please try to join us at another event!
May 13 (Sat.): Hallberg Butterfly Gardens (Sonoma), 8687 Oak Grove Ave, Sebastopol, CA 95472. 10am-12pm. Directions map Here. Parking just off Oak Grove Ave, we will walk in and tour the gardens looking for bees.
May 20 (Sat.): Los Angeles County Arboretum, 301 N Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA 91007. Details: we'll meet at the front gate at 10:00am, then walk to Crescent Farm, the area where we'll survey for bees. We should be done by noon.
June 3 (Sat.): McLaughlin Natural Reserve, 26775 Morgan Valley Rd, Lower Lake, CA 95457. 9am-11:30am. We'll meet in the field station parking lot at 9am, get there by driving through the main gate (38.871, -122.419) for 0.8mi up the hill. Turn immediately left at the top toward the first building which is the field station. If you’re interested in staying at the station the night before, email Dylan.winkler@wildlife.ca.gov.
June 10 (Sat.): McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay Exploration Park. 1125 Arboretum Drive. Redding CA 96003. 10am-12pm. There is parking at this address, and we'll meet at the west gate to the arboretum just off the parking area at 10am.
June 11 (Sun.): Lost Coast Headlands (40.563, -124.350), 10am-12pm From Ferndale, CA, take Ocean Avenue/Centerville Road west for seven miles to a parking lot for the property. We'll meet at 10am and search for bees along the trails.
June 24 (Sat.): Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93105. 10am-12pm. Meet at 10am at the front gate.
August 26 (Sat.) Catalina Island. Details to come!
COVID-19 UPDATE: We understand that the current situation with the coronavirus is constantly evolving and differs by community. We have undertaken a 2022 field season with the understanding that the situation with Covid could change quickly -- and differ by location. The most important consideration during this sensitive time is personal and community health. Please follow all relevant regulations and the advice of health care professionals when developing your survey plans for the Atlas. Don't hesitate to stay closer to home if that is the right thing for you and/or your community; the health of our volunteers is of paramount importance. Thank you!
