Apis mellifera: Mapping Free-living Nests

This campaign collects data specifically related to free-living Apis mellifera nests.

(Glossary: By "free-living" we mean a colony of honey bees living in natural or human-made cavities with little to no human intervention. By "nests" we mean spaces in which free-living honey bee colonies reside, e.g., trees, log cavities, walls of buildings, chimneys, caves, etc.)

To participate, please follow these simple steps:

1. Read our guide on how to identify free-living colonies of Western honey bees here.
2. Identify the position of the nest within the map.*
   
3. Specify a name for this nest. If you do not choose one, an automatic ID will be generated.
4. Upload photos of the nest. Make sure to follow the guidelines within our photo guide (#3 at the bottom).
   
5. Answer the questions in "1. Free-living nest."
   
6. If you want to add more than one nest of free-living colonies, click the "+ Free-living Nest" button at the bottom of the first section.
   
7. Answer the questions in the remaining sections.
   
8. When finished, click the "Submit" button at the bottom of the page.**
   

Please keep in mind that the more information and photos you submit, the more valuable your contribution will be for collecting sound scientific data. Also, only entries containing photos will be considered suitable for publication after the validation phase.

*Note: Free-living nests' GPS coordinates will purposely be masked on the public map in order to conceal their exact locations.

**There will be a delay posting your entries to the map, while our team reviews and validates your data.