I'm sure many of you have heard that the North American population of Honey Bees are in decline. These honey bees are not native to North America, but rather, were introduced by European colonist in the 1600s. Besides producing honey, the honey bee is also important as a pollinator for many food crops. I have heard that that the loss of the honey bee bodes ill for food production in North America.
However, there are also over 3500 species of native bees (also known as pollen or solitary bees). These bees don't produce collectible amounts of honey but are extremely important pollinators.
I believe that is photo is of a honey bee, but I'm not positive.
For futher reading, take a look at Alternative Pollinators. Included in this site are some strategies to attract these species to your garden (don't worry, native bees are said to be less aggressive than honey bees)
Be sure to visit Macro Mondays for more macro photos.
9 comments:
Great shot. I have heard that there is work being done to encourage the native bees. Californias orchardists are quite dependent on honey bees.
amazing shot and interesting information
I never knew that there are so many different kinds of bees.
WOW!
Lovely shot too.
Is that a garlic plant?
Wow wondeful shot!! I do love catching bees!!!
Sarah
Brilliant shot. I never knew there were so many different kinds of bees. Is poisoning killing them? Jo (South Africa)
Seems like we should be encouraging the native bees and not worrying so much about an introduced species. Nice capture.
this is a wonderful photo~
What a great find! I love finding critters in flowers!
It isn't an easy story. There are lots of pollinators out there, however the beauty of the honey bee is in the ability to bring a hive into an area and get a lot of pollinating done. I cannot help but wonder if there are just to many factors against the bees.
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