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As this bumble bee dives toward the nectar, he accidentally picks up pollen that he takes along to the next flower. Rusty Burlew

bumble bees

Bumble bees and hollyhocks: an old-fashioned love story

August 22, 2023

8 Comments

Sometimes you can help a bee in distress but not always.

bee biology

How to help a bee in distress

September 30, 2018

90 Comments

wild bees and native bees

It’s time to monitor bumble bees

June 7, 2018

8 Comments

wild bees and native bees

The dazzling black-tailed bumble bee

June 16, 2017

35 Comments

wild bees and native bees

Bumble bee answers every beekeeper needs

February 22, 2017

40 Comments

Bees and their queen on a honeycomb. Pixabay

wild bees and native bees

Officially endangered: the rusty-patched bumble bee

January 15, 2017

9 Comments

wild bees and native bees

Bumble bee on a dahlia in September

October 3, 2015

4 Comments

gardening for bees

Sunflowers transition from bees to birds

October 2, 2015

9 Comments

feeding bees

What’s wrong with this picture?

July 8, 2015

24 Comments

apiary creatures

Squatters in the attic

June 4, 2015

4 Comments

wild bees and native bees

Bombus vosnesenskii

March 28, 2014

4 Comments

other pollinators • wild bees and native bees

It’s time for pollinator habitat

February 14, 2014

1 Comment

mason bees • wild bees and native bees

A journalist’s bumble

February 11, 2014

10 Comments

A black and white early spring bumble bee on pink claytonia, a woodland plant. Rusty Burlew

wild bees and native bees

Where do bumble bees go in winter?

January 28, 2014

66 Comments

wild bees and native 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.

Tag - bumble bees

Bumble bees and hollyhocks: an old-fashioned love story

How to help a bee in distress

It’s time to monitor bumble bees

The dazzling black-tailed bumble bee

Bumble bee answers every beekeeper needs

Officially endangered: the rusty-patched bumble bee

Why so many dead bumble bees?

Bumble bee on a dahlia in September

Sunflowers transition from bees to birds

What’s wrong with this picture?

Squatters in the attic

Bombus vosnesenskii

It’s time for pollinator habitat

A journalist’s bumble

Where do bumble bees go in winter?

Bumble bee on goldenrod