Dataset title: Native bee species in Tasmanian apple orchards, October 2019 DOI: 10.25917/arw1-te90 Other unique identifiers as relevant: **delete if not relevant Principal Investigator Contact Information Name: Kit Prendergast Institution: Curtin University Email: kitprendergast21@gmail.com ORCID: 0000-0002-1164-6099 Date of dataset collection: October 2019 Date of dataset publication: November 2020 Keywords: Native bees, pollinators, wild bees, Tasmania, taxonomy, Australian native bees, biodiversity, specimens, macro photography Primary dataset contact: Kit Prendergast kitprendergast21@gmail.com If necessary, further information or contact details may be found by emailing researchdata@curtin.edu.au +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DATA INFORMATION Data description: Dorsal and lateral macro-photography images of Australian native bees collected by Kit Prendergast in Tasmanian apple orchards. Specimens were photographed with focus stacking software, courtesy of the Western Australian Museum Entomology Department. Native bees were collected from four apple orchards in the Huon Valley region of Tasmania by Kit Prendergast in October 2019. Three orchards (Lymington, Cradoc, Geeveston) were “Certified Organic” (Australian Organic Ltd, 2019), and one (Plenty) used Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Each orchard was surveyed for three consecutive days during the apple bloom season on days suitable for bee activity (temperatures were >15oC, partly cloudy to sunny conditions, wind speeds <20 km/hr, no rain). Orchards were surveyed both passively using bee bowls (also known as pan traps in the literature), and sweep-netting with an entomological sweep-net. Across all study sites, the same 500 ml plastic bowls (AVA®) were used, and they were all painted the same way, first using a primer (white Motip® primer), and then with white, fluorescent yellow and blue sprays-paints (white and yellow Rocol® paints and fluorescent blue Liquitex® paint). Three sets of bee bowls were set out at 9am and collected at 4pm (7 hours duration). Each set consisted of a triplet of each colour placed 3 m apart from each other flush on open grassland. Each triplet set was placed at least 30 m distant. Bowls were half filled with water and unscented liquid soap (1:0.01 water:soap). For 1.5 hours in the morning, and again in the afternoon, Kit Prendergast slowly traversed the orchard and netted bees from apple blossoms, amounting to a total of 3 hours per survey. Due to differences in orchard lay-out, fixed transects were not used, but rather the sampling effort was standardised by duration. Effort was made to collect all bees observed; although the introduced bees can be identified on the wing, counts were based on collections so as to standardise sampling among the three bee taxa, given that observational counts can greatly exceed numbers of specimens collected. Interspersed between the apple blossom surveys, a total of 3 hours was spent netting native bees from other flowering plants within and surrounding the orchard (within a radius of 50 m from the border of the apple orchard). All specimens were stored in labelled jars in ethanol and pinned later in the lab prior to identification. Specimens were identified by Kit Prendergast using published keys where available (Batley & Houston 2012; Exley 1976; Walker 1986; Walker 1995), consulting published descriptions (Cockerell 1914, 1918, 1905, 1930) and PaDIL (http://www.padil.gov.au/pollinators/). Data collection details (time, method): see data description Number of files & types: 1 PDF Geographic information (if relevant): Australia, Tasmania, Huon Valley +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ REUSE INFORMATION Recommended citation: Prendergast, K. (2020). Native bee species in Tasmanian apple orchards, October 2019. Curtin University. 10.25917/arw1-te90 This dataset is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. More details can be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/