Native Bees, overlooked and under appreciated

European Honeybees arrived in the US in 1600. In the past 60 years, 50% of honeybees have disappeared due to pest, pesticides and habitat loss.  There is plenty of news reports about the honeybee decline, but there are few reports about the incredible alternative to pollination for gardeners and farmer, the native bee. As it turns out there are 4,000 native bees in the US alone! The native bee is said to be 1,000 more effective at pollination than honey bees, and they rarely sting. Many gardeners and farmers are now working to increase the population of native bees since they require so little care and maintenance compared to honeybees. With habitat loss increasing in open spaces it seems the urban centers are great places to increase the native bee population. These bees are docile, solitary and they can live most anywhere. If you are able to plant flowering native plants in your garden, you will be doing them a great service and they will be forever grateful. If you want to go a step beyond planting flowers, you can also install a native bee shelter where the female can lay her eggs. We are working to get our first shelter ready for purchase, and plan to have many more options. So, next time you are near a flowering bush just look closely to see the bees as they transport pollen. Moving from plant to plant, this appears to be the only thing they want to do, it is their nature and for this hard work they ask nothing in return except that we not pollute their flowers. ~ And why should we care you might ask, because without their pollination we would not have our delicious fruits and vegetables. So next time you eat a juicy tangerine, thank a bee.