Occurrence of bees along grazing and agricultural gradients in Northern Tanzania

Data were collected in 40 study sites distributed along grazing and agricultural gradients in the study area intermittently from August to December 2018. A paired patch study design was adopted in each site, whereby two 50 x 50 m plots were established for bee sampling. We sampled bees using a combination of pan traps and sweep-netting techniques, which have successfully been used for sampling bees in the Kilimanjaro region and other parts of the world. In each plot, four UV-reflecting pan trap clusters (each with yellow, white, and blue) traps were set and left in the field for 48 hours. We also conducted a transect walk with sweep nets to sample bee faunal whereby two researchers were actively collecting bees for two hours per site. The collected bees were temporarily stored in 70% ethanol before dried, pinned and later identified by the taxonomists to species level. Data collection were made possible through the Bee-pollinator Monitoring Project, Tanzania, implemented by the College of African Wildlife Management, Mweka, under financial support from the JRS Biodiversity Foundation, USA.