Beeyond The Hive

About Wild Bees- 

According to the Xeres Society, there are an estimated 20,000 species of bees worldwide with approximately 3,600 species native to North American north of Mexico. California is home to about 1,600 native bee species.

Unlike honey bees – which are not native to North America – wild bee species range in length from about 1/12 inch to more than 1 inch long. They vary in color (dark brown or black to red or metallic green and blue); some have stripes of white, orange, yellow or black.

Bees play an essential role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem and support diversity. They are the most important group of pollinators, creatures that deliberately gather pollen to bring back to their nests for their offspring. On a single foraging trip, a female bee may visit hundreds of flowers, transferring pollen the entire journey.

More than 90 percent of the North American bee species lead solitary rather than social lives. Solitary bees typically live for about a year – spending their early months hidden in a nest and growing through egg, larval and pupal stages.

Climate change is just one of the many challenges facing native bees today along with habitat loss, commercial farming and pesticides.