I went to a presentation on native bees in California given by Gordon Frankie, UC Berkeley entomologist and director of the Urban Bee Project.There are at least 1600 species of California native bees, 81 of which have been identified in the Bay Area. They pollinate 1/3 of our vegetable, fruit and nut crops and most of our wildflowers. They are solitary, not social like honey bees. They make nests in the ground or in fallen logs or living trees.
He brought along a case of labeled specimens on pins, which always makes me sad, but the variety of colors and forms was quite amazing. Some were iridescent green and yellow, others looked like beautifully polished wood.
You can read
this article from the March/April 2008 issue of Orion Magazine by Matt Jenkins and this fascinating article on Buzz Pollination by Sue Rosenthal in Bay Nature magazine. Bumble bees pollinate flowers not just by walking around and collecting the pollen on their bodies, but actually grab hold of the anthers and vibrate the pollen off. I love nature!
