Peg Friese, an environmental educator in Chester County and a master gardener, has helped collect over 25,000 specimens for the Pennsylvania Bee Monitoring Program in the last three years, writes Ashley Stimpson for The Washington Post. 

Twenty master gardeners from across the state collect bees from parks, forest clearings, and their own backyards, among many other places. They nicknamed themselves “beeple.” 

Friese believes that she contributed around 2,000 bees to the collection. Last year, she sent in a total of 800 specimens and has already topped that total already for this year. 

“It’s addictive,” she said. “There are some really unusual and very cool bees out there.” 

Friese, who is from West Chester, managed to find 69 species just in her 1.3-acre backyard. Her favorite is the calliopsis cuckoo nomad, a tiny red bee that uses the nests of other bees for her eggs. 

Friese is willing to take on challenging situations to be sure she gets the right bee, and she is only occasionally thwarted from her goal. 

“I was chased by a swan while trying to monitor a patch of spring beauties,” she said. “I decided to find a patch of spring beauties somewhere else.” 

Read more about Peg Friese and the Pennsylvania Bee Monitoring Program in The Washington Post. 

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