#native bees

[thornpuck]

Impressions of a bee. (Native Australian Bees)

I think I want to stylize these further? I think. I'm still considering. I got the watercolour vibe I was after. But I think I was hyper vigilant about making the anatomy of each bee stand out that I kind of lost a lot of the initial shapes I had.

[turtlesandfrogs]

Putting the rant here instead of on the forum where it wouldn't probably do any good:

Actually, honeybees *do* compete with native bees.*

Actually, bumblebees and other native bee species can be *more* effective pollinators for some crops than honey bees.** Particularly the ones they evolved with. Funny that.

Actually, not all bumblebees are solitary. Many species have colonies, though admittedly much smaller than honeybee colonies.

Actually, bumblebees and other native bee species are used commercially, and that's a mixed bag as far as conservation goes. A simple search will show you this, if you aren't being intentionally obtuse.

There is so much to learn about native bees. Learning about honeybees does not actually make you knowledgeable about all bees. Native bees are crucial to our ecosystems and biodiversity, and are worth supporting.

*https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-problem-with-honey-bees/ & https://www.xerces.org/blog/want-to-save-bees-focus-on-habitat-not-honey-bees & https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2656.13973 and that's just scratching the surface

**https://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/phag/2022/02/25/the-pollinating-power-of-bumble-bees/ There's more but I'm tired and don't have the references on hand.

[sherry-the-wasp]

This lil' fella is a mason bee. If you listen closely, you can hear it buzzing!

[thelethalsilence]

deerweed and friends

[urbansoulfarmer]

🐝 🐝 One cannot overstate the importance of bees to humans and the environment. Bees are called the world’s star pollinators because they pollinate one-third of our food crops. The almond crop of California, for example, is entirely dependent on honey bees for pollination. 🐝 🐝

Pollinator populations worldwide have been declining due to habitat loss from human development. Honey bee populations in particular have plummeted since 2006, a phenomenon dubbed Colony Collapse Disorder. No one fully understands the reasons why, but pathogens and pesticides are among the suspects. 🐝

[thebashfulbotanist]

Spring garden cleanup? Wait for the bees!

If you haven't yet cleaned up last year's debris from your garden, consider waiting a little bit! Native bees could use the help. The Xerces Society, a insect conservation group that works with researchers and the US Department of Agriculture, has a really good guide about this here. As a general rule, if you can wait until the temperatures are frequently around 50 degrees Fahrenheit or 10 degrees Celsius at night, the bees will have had time to emerge.

Thanks for reading! Here's a bumblebee resting in a California aster (Symphyotrichum chilense) flower for your trouble. It's often male bumblebees that do this, since they don't return to a nest like female bumblebees do.

[fumblebeefae]

I've had the chance to help a local council with their native Australian bee hive program! The program places free native stingless bee hives (Tetragonula carbonaria) in the homes of people who live in the council area.

These are one of only a handful of native species that can be kept in a hive box. But these hive boxes are very different to the honeybee hives most people are familiar with. Instead of frames the boxes are empty and the bees build a big spiral structure of brood cells using resin, with the queen sitting at the bottom. They'll then create "pots" on the edges of the hive that they fill with honey or with pollen (the yellow in the photos is the pollen).

Because of this we can actually literally split the hive in half; top and bottom and create two new hives. One half of the colony keeps the original queen and the other half we make sure have princess cells. One of the princess cells will go on to become the new queen of that half of the hive.

[natureisthegreatestartist]

Now that spring has sprung, it was time to put my mason bee cocoons in the attic of their cozy home. Soon they'll hatch and begin pollinating fruit trees. Amazing little creatures!

[typhlonectes]

Upcoming webinar:  

Bring Back the Pollinators:  Providing Nesting Habitat for Bees

September 29: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PT / 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM MT / 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CT / 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ET

The availability of nesting habitat is a critical yet often overlooked factor impacting native bee populations. In this webinar, Xerces Biologists, Leif Richardson and Sarah Foltz Jordan, will summarize nesting biology of major groups of bees, including leaf-cutter bees, mining bees, bumble bees, and many more. 

They will also offer numerous practical approaches to creating and managing nesting habitat features. Approaches are relevant to landscapers, farmers, gardeners, natural resource professionals, and anyone interested in taking the next step in supporting pollinators. Community science opportunities will also be discussed.

Register:  https://xerces.org/events/none/bring-back-pollinators-providing-nesting-habitat-for-bees

This is the fourth webinar in the four-part series Bring Back the Pollinators.

This webinar will be recorded and available on our YouTube channel. Closed Captioning will be available during this webinar.

[headspace-hotel]

Anyway here's a super cool bee I saw at work

[justvisitingthisplanet]

(4-16-24)

I am really struggling to id this fella. I’m a bird guy, not so much of a bug guy.

[turtlesandfrogs]

Annual reminder that the bees that need help are native bees, not honey bees. Honey bees are both non-native to the Americas and they do compete with native bees. On top of that, they can also spread diseases to native bees (along with commercially raised bumble bees).

Bumble bees are one of the groups of native bees that are struggling. Bumble bees tend to be generalists, live in small colonies that restart from a single queen each year, and are excellent pollinators.

How to help/things to tell city hall:

Bumble bees are generalists and need pollen and nectar sources both early and late in the year. Finding native plants that fill these bloom times is great, but planting carefully considered nonnative, pollinator-friendly bloomers is an additional option.

Habitat fragmentation and loss is one of the biggest problems facing bumblebees, so replanting areas with blooming plants can make a huge difference. Think about if all government building grounds were intentionally planted to support bumblebees and other native bee species? What if we changed the code so corporate, park, apartment, and college campus landscaping had to contain a certain amount of native & pollinator friendly species?

Climate change is changing bloom time, so planting a diversity of native, near native, and non-native but non-invasive plants may be a good strategy, especially when focusing on very early and late bloomers.

Pesticides have also damaged native bee populations, so finding strategies to reduce or eliminate pesticide use is an important step.

The tips above are specifically for native bumble bees. There are a huge number of native bees, and while bumble bees are generalists, not all of the native bees are. Unfortunately, this is a fairly understudied area, but they are obviously more vulnerable than generalist species. One important thing you can do for specialist native bees is to look up the plants they depend on, and grow those that are native to your area (and encourage others and larger land owners to do the same. They also need nesting sites, so keep that in mind while developing your garden plan.

Here is the best source I've found for finding specialist bees and their plants: https://jarrodfowler.com/pollen_specialist.html If someone has a better one, please share.

If you click through you can find lists for Western, Central, and Eastern US specialist bees. Some are more specialist than others, and some do in fact use dandelions.

[bluebelly-sun-serpentine]

a home for carpenter bees

[faguscarolinensis]

Bombus bimaculatus on Vaccinium corymbosum / Two-Spotted Bumblebee on Northern Highbush Blueberry

[rebeccathenaturalist]

It's Tell A Friend Friday!

Please enjoy this photo I took of a yellow-faced bumblebee (Bombus vosnesenskii) feeding on lupine (Lupinus spp.) flowers. Then tell someone you know about my work--you can reblog this post, or send it to someone you think may be interested in my natural history writing, classes, and tours. Here's where I can be found online:

Website - http://www.rebeccalexa.com

Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/rebeccalexanaturalist

Tumblr Profile – http://rebeccathenaturalist.tumblr.com

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iNaturalist Profile – https://www.inaturalist.org/people/rebeccalexa

Finally, if you like what I’m doing here, you can buy me a “coffee” at http://ko-fi.com/rebeccathenaturalist

[southernsolarpunk]

Ppl on tik tok enjoyed this so y’all might too! NATIVE BEES!!!!!!