ORBIT is part of an extended network of European Initiatives dedicated to pollinators such as Eu-PoMS (EU Pollinator Monitoring Scheme), SPRING, STING, POSHBEE, SAFEGUARD, the European Red List of Bees and national action plans for pollinators, including wild bees, butterflies, hoverflies, moths, and rare and threatened pollinator species.
The identification of bees to the species level is an essential prerequisite of all these EU Projects. Through ORBIT, the European Commission wants to make tools accessible to researchers to identify European bees.
SPRING: Strengthening pollinator recovery through indicators and monitoring
EMBAL: European Monitoring of Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes
Useful web sites on European Bees
Checklist of the Western Palaearctic Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila)
The IUCN Red Lis of Threatened Species
Journals
OSMIA – Revue d’Hyménoptérologie
ORBIT PROJECT 