Minnesota Bee Atlas

The Minnesota Bee Atlas is a research project that relies on volunteers to learn more about the distribution and diversity of Minnesota's 500+ bee species. Get to know Minnesota bees with our new Species Guide.

Volunteers have submitted photos of bees to iNaturalist, adopted bumble bee survey routes, and monitored nesting blocks for stem nesting bees. The project started in 2016 and phase 1 was completed in 2020. Phase 2 began in 2021 and is finishing in June 2024. Learn more here. 

Volunteers are integral to the project. You can contribute! (you don’t have to be a bee expert). Current and related opportunities include:

1. Photographing bees in Minnesota and uploading them to iNaturalist. Any photos of bees in Minnesota will be automatically added to the MN Bee Atlas project on iNaturalist.

2.  Photographing round cuts in leaves made by leafcutter bees to the Megachile bee leaf cuts project on iNaturalist.

3. Volunteer to survey bumble bee for the Bumble Bee Atlas. 

4.  Put your name down on our volunteer list and we'll contact you when future opportunities arise!

Volunteers have documented over 50,000 bees in Minnesota since the project started in 2016. Check out our results here.