People Need All the Bees!

Help beekeepers help ALL the bees!

Beekeepers are big fans of one particular bee, Apis mellifera, the Western Honey Bee, humanity's one and only true insect partner! But you may be surprised to learn that honey bees are not native to North America. 

There are, however, over 2,000 native bees across our continent, with over 400 species in the greater Washington DC area alone! Within a mile of your yard (urban or rural) there are at least over 100 species of bees looking for the right plants.

While honey bees are super cool and deeply important to agriculture and human health, it's those local, native bees that really keep our green spaces thriving!

As our ecological systems evolved, bees and plants developed together in complex and beautiful dependencies. The native plants that support wildlife and air quality and the purity of water supplies often evolved to depend on the pollination services of a single bee species. And many bee species are dependent on a single species (or even subspecies!) of flowering native plant! If we lose a pollinator bee, we can lose a plant species, and vice versa.

Learn more about native pollinators and the many, fun and easy things you can do to help them survive and visit your yard for years to come!

Organizations with lots of info:

• The Pollinator Partnership 
• Xerces Society Pollinator Conservation Program
• Xerces Society Mid Atlantic Pollinator Resource Center
• USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center Bee Inventory

Things you can do:

• Create habitat by choosing local native plants
• Protect pollinators from pesticides!
• Join The Great Sunflower Project
• Make room for nest sites for pollinators
• Participate in Bumblebee Watch
• Support Biodiversity Regeneration

All photos © 2022 Ned Hull