Description
Beeplants.eu is a project designed for beekeeping-enthusiast and citizen scientists where users can provide data about pollinating insects and the blooming season of bee plants. The project is part of Better-B, an EU initiative to support the resilience of honeybees. Beeplants.eu intends to run until 2026, serving as the multi-national baseline study about food sharing by pollinating insects.
Technology
Through the project, citizen scientists can use a website or a mobile application to provide data on pollinating insects, plants and their blooming season, GPS location and time of the observation. Data and observation transfer takes about two minutes. The app also contains a catalogue of plants with their respective peak bloom months. Apart from collecting data on insects, users can visualize the geographic distribution of trees where the bees are sighted. Upon setting up certain filters such as location of interest, year, and plant name, users can then visualize how the observations are collected through time overlaid on a map. The website and the app are available in the languages of the participating countries.
Target
The main users the project intends to bring together are the citizen scientists interested in contributing to the resilience of honeybees. Aarhus University is also involved in describing and analyzing the collected data using the Bray Curtis dissimilary index. The participating citizen scientists receive updates monthly through an AskMeAnything (AMA) session. According to the project's accomplishment report for 2024, 225 participants from different Member States shared their observations. The data collected and results of the study are of interest for beekeepers, environmentalists and policy makers.
Business model
The app and the use of web platform is free of charge. Beeplants.eu received funding from the European Union, the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation, and UK Research and Innovation under the UK government's Horizon Europe.
Impact
The projects seek to provide data for the Animal Landscape and Man Simulation System (ALMaSS) of the University of Aarhus, and information about the carrying capacity of landscape for pollinating insects which is one of the topics of the Better-B study. Based on the project's accomplishment report in 2024, a total of 7 544 observations on 113 plant species were recorded.
Partners
Danish beekeepers Association; Frey-IT, Better-B; University of Aarhus; European Union; Swiss State Secretariat for Education; Research and Innovation, and UK Research and Innovation
Four Betters
Better environment
Better production
