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This work aims to validate a citizen science protocol for monitoring the flight activity of stingless bees. The count of flight activity (entrance, exit, and entrance carrying pollen) filmed in 30 s videos was compared among three different groups: “original” citizen scientists (group that filmed and performed the count in their own videos), “replicator” citizen scientists (group of citizen scientists who performed flight activity counts on videos shot by other citizen scientists), and experts (researchers who work with bees and who performed the counts on videos shot by citizen scientists). The analysis was divided into two levels: perception (detection of activity in videos) and counting. The results of this analysis revealed that citizen scientists and experts have similar perception and count of bee entrance and exit activity, as no statistical differences were found in these two items. However, replicator citizen scientists noticed more bees carrying pollen than original citizen scientists and experts. Despite this, considering only the videos in which the groups agreed on the presence of pollen, the count was similar for both. These results enabled the validation of the protocol and indicated high quality of data produced by individuals who participate in scientific practices following a citizen science approach.

Although the quality of citizen science (CS) data is often a concern, evidence for high-quality CS data increases in the scientific literature. This study aimed to assess the data reliability of a structured CS protocol for monitoring stingless bees’ flight activity. We tested (1) data accuracy for replication among …