Happy world bee day! Did you know the vast majority of bees in the world nest alone on the ground (no hive, queen or workers). Many species, like these Diadasia, build nests in large aggregations I like to call bee neighborhoods

The large bumble bees we see out in the spring are often queens, getting their nests ready for their daughters to take over, soon these fuzzy bees will stay underground and their smaller worker daughters will be buzzing around collecting pollen for their sisters as they develop.

What are your thoughts about no mow May? Does no mow may really help bees? youtu.be/8KxGjTj-Q50

Cuckoo bees, like cuckoo birds, don’t make their own nest. Instead they hide their egg in the nest of another bee. Many cuckoo bees, like this Nomada, look a lot like wasps.

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What would thanksgiving be without cranberry sauce? #beethankful

#beethankful

#beeThankful for native bees, many of them are excellent pollinators of some of our favorite fruits and vegetables.

Onions might not be the first crop that comes to mind when you think of pollination, but studies show that various bees flies and wasps are beneficial for onion pollination in order to produce onion seeds. #beethankful

We're thrilled to announce that Common Bees of Eastern North America by Olivia Messinger Carril and Joseph S. Wilson is the winner of the Nature Guidebook Award awarded by National Outdoor Book Awards! The Bees In Your Backyard hubs.ly/Q01vSPtD0

Had to pull this one out of the archives. Merry Christmas!

Winter is in full sing across much of North America. Spring is coming soon. I have seen small sweat bees (Lasioglossum subgenus Dialictus) as early as February in the Mojave Desert. I photographed this little bee several years ago visiting desert mistletoe in mid February.

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I’m giving a talk this morning at 9 am at #EntSoc23 If you are here come check it out How many bees are killed by cars? Answer: a lot

There are hundreds of species of native bee that are known as cuckoo bees. A cuckoo bee sneaks into the nests of a host bee and lays an egg. When the cuckoo bee egg hatches, its larva kills the host bee larva, and eats the pollen that was left for it. 😔

Did you know there are over 400 species of velvet ants in the US? Despite their name they are actually not ants they are wingless wasps and the new field guide to velvet ants of North America is available starting tomorrow at your favorite bookstore.

Colletes bees remind me of Valentine’s Day. Why do they make me think of Valentine’s Day? It’s because one of the identifying characteristics of this genus is that they have a heart shaped face. ❤️🐝

USU Tooele ecologist Joe Wilson, USU alum Kevin Williams of Calif Food and Ag, Aaron Pan of Texas Tech University publish first-of-its-kind field guide on #velvetants Princeton University Press Entomological Society of America #wasps The Bees In Your Backyard Read more: usu.edu/today/story/co…

USU Tooele ecologist Joe Wilson, USU alum Kevin Williams of Calif Food and Ag, Aaron Pan of Texas Tech University publish first-of-its-kind field guide on #velvetants Princeton University Press Entomological Society of America #wasps The Bees In Your Backyard #Mutillidae Read more: usu.edu/today/story/co…

When I first saw this Xylocopa I thought it had orange pollen on its body. After a closer look, it’s not pollen, but parasitic triungulin larvae. These beetle larvae don’t directly harm the adult bee, they hitch a ride back to the nest and feed on the pollen and eggs. creepy