Your yard needs more mud and pithy sticks!

[lenarenee]

Thought some of you might enjoy this article on native bees! (our 10 year old bee expert fact checked it for you and found it

https://www.mnn.com/your-home/organ...es-Paige-Embry-book?google_editors_picks=true

 

[Lin19687]

There are many kinds of Bees and some insects that look like Bees but are not

 

[SaltedFig]

What amazing colours your native bees have!

I look forward to the day where nanotechnology and clothing align, and we can dress in nature's splendid colours

My favourite insect at the moment is a wasp, native to Australia, that is very large, very docile and semi-solitary, and has iridescent colouring on it's body and wings, but in blue-blacks. These flying insects live around the woody stems of plants in burrows, and come out to harvest nectar in the warm weather. They act a lot like bees (including the bumping) ... I'm sure they get to know people too, which is odd ... but they don't fly away from me, but will disappear if someone new comes in.

They live like ladybirds (ladybugs?) do ... the larvae are predators and the adults are nectar feeders. The ones I have are fatter bodied than the blue flower wasps (and bigger winged too ... they are about an inch long), but have the same iridescent "oil-slick" colouring on their bodies and wings. I've never been stung by one, but have had one fly off and then come back and bump me in the face when I accidentally disturbed it. No hint of aggression ... it's like their way of telling you they are there.

 

[BattleGnome]

Fascinating.

Does your little researcher have a link where I can find out what bees are native to my area? I’m going through the links at the end of the article but haven’t found anything yet

 

[lenarenee]

Fascinating.

Does your little researcher have a link where I can find out what bees are native to my area? I’m going through the links at the end of the article but haven’t found anything yet

Sorry - I missed this somehow.

She probably doesn't - except (not knowing where you are) you probably do have bumble bees, mason bees, carpenter bees. San Diego county has 500 - 700 different species alone!!! Native bees have not been thoroughly...what's the word....cataloged? Her mentor sent a collection to the USDA (I think that organization) for genome studies.

Try this book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691160775/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

We own it and saw many states mentioned.

Also, here is an up and coming business aiming to do wonderful things (and her mentor says that they're doing many things right...and helps support their efforts) www.crownbees.com