Welcome to
BeeBarns Native Bee Habitat
Discover the group of diverse and important organisms know as native pollinators. Pollinators impact the lives of humans, animals, plants and other insects, making them a group which is critical to life as we know it.
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Status of Pollinators 2007
STATUS OF POLLINATORS IN NORTH AMERICA
Committee on the Status of Pollinators in North America
Board on Life Sciences
Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources
Division on Earth and Life Studies
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu
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How can we provide bee habitat in our home gardens?
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| A number of bees use tunnels in wood or reeds to lay their eggs as part of their life cycle. Providing tunnel nesting bee habitat is easy and fun for home gardens. A wood nesting block with suitable tunnels can provide habitat for a number of pollinating solitary bees. The two most common bees that will nest in your garden are mason bees and leaf cutting bees. |
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Native North American tunnel nesting bees
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Blue Orchard Mason Bees
(Osmia lignaria propinqua, Osmia lignaria lignaria)
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| Blue Orchard mason bees use mud to create individual cells within the tunnel. Each cell will contain an egg and pollen. Mason bees take one year to develop and emerge from the nesting habitat as adult bees.
Nesting occurs Feburary through May depending on your latitude. Typically local populations emerge with the blooming of local fruit and ornamental trees in the early spring or late winter.
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Virescent Green Metallic Bee
(Agapostemon virescens)
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| Green metallic sweat bees commonly nest in the ground, but also nest in wood. |
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Hornfaced Bee
(Osmia cornifrons)
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| Osmia cornifrons |
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Native North American tunnel nesting wasps
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Grass-carrying wasp
(Sphecidae Isodontia mexicana)
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| Sphecidae |
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Non-native North American tunnel nesting bees
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Alfalfa Leaf Cutting Bee
(Megachile rotundata)
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| Alfalfa leaf cutting bees were introduced |
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Giant Resin Bee
(Megachile sculpturalis Smith)
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| Megachile sculpturalis |
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