Tag - bee habitat

bee habitat

Fight habitat loss: put a flower pot on every porch

October 7, 2015

6 Comments

bee rescue • pollinator habitat

Do large tubes yield extra-large mason bees?

April 11, 2015

25 Comments

Japanese knotweed is highly invasive but produces lots of honey.

bee forage

Japanese knotweed: the surprising source of quality...

August 30, 2012

23 Comments

Bees and their queen on a honeycomb. Pixabay

attracting wild pollinators • pollinator habitat

Pollinator walls, bee towers, and insect hotels

March 22, 2012

13 Comments

bee forage • bee habitat

Occupy the barren landscape

December 7, 2011

6 Comments

White crocus. Attract bees to your garden by selecting a variety of plants.

attracting wild pollinators • bee forage • how to

8 ways to attract bees to your garden

May 3, 2011

5 Comments

Apiforestation is bringing back local honey. Flickr photo by moonlightbulb/Selena N.B.H.

bee forage • bee habitat

Apiforestation: Reclaiming coal mines for bees

August 5, 2010

1 Comment

bee forage • wild bees and native bees

Pheasants Forever provides bee habitat

July 4, 2010

1 Comment

attracting wild pollinators • mason bees

Regardless of dictionaries, we have in entomology a rule for insect common names that can be followed. It says: If the insect is what the name implies, write the two words separately; otherwise run them together. Thus we have such names as house fly, blow fly, and robber fly contrasted with dragonfly, caddicefly, and butterfly, because the latter are not flies, just as an aphislion is not a lion and a silverfish is not a fish. The honey bee is an insect and is preeminently a bee; “honeybee” is equivalent to “Johnsmith.”

—From Anatomy of the Honey Bee by Robert E. Snodgrass

The non-native European Honey Bee is the state insect of:

Arkansas
Georgia
Kansas
Louisiana
Maine
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska
New Jersey
North Carolina
Oklahoma
South Dakota
Tennessee
Utah
Vermont
West Virginia
Wisconsin

Not one native bee is a state insect. The closest relative of a North American native bee to make the list is the Tarantula Hawk Wasp, the state insect of New Mexico.

Minnesota now has a state bee as well as a state insect. Bombus affinis, the Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee, has been so honored. Good work, Minnesota!

Connecticut’s state insect is the European “praying” mantis. Although they are beneficial insects, they are not native to North America.