Sunflowers Make Me Happy

Did you know that bees are responsible for approximately every 3rd bite of food?

Here's a neat project you can do this Spring! It's called The Great Sunflower Project. Basically, you obtain a specific species of sunflower, plant 'em, and then take observations every so often after the flowers bloom. How many bees visit your flowers in a 15 minute period? The biologists are trying to learn about our wild bee populations as so many beekeepers have had colonies fail in the last decade or so.

Bees are really important - so this is a neat way to cheer up your garden as well as help gather data from all over the country about our wild bee populations.

Give it a try!

Also, if you're interested in another similar study, check out some information about growing/observing Chia (yes, like from the cheesy terracotta animals sold at Christmas). Only, you grow it in your garden and let it flower.  Plus, you can harvest and eat the seeds!