Bee Basics - USDA Forest Service - US Department of Agriculture

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A maleyellow-facedbee (Hylaeussp.) in flight.ColletidaeThis is a small family of solitary bees which is considered more primitivethan other families of bees. Some of them such as the yellow-masked bees,Hylaeus, do not have baskets in which to carry pollen. Instead, these beescarry pollen inside their crops. They are not as hairy as other bees and caneasily be mistaken for wasps. They all nest in pithystems. Sometimes they form largeaggregations of closely spaced nests. Theyuse a cellophane-like material exuded fromglands to line the brood cells where theylay their eggs; so sometimes they are calledcellophane bees.Bee MimicsLast but not least, thereare superb impersonatorsof bees, the flower flies orsyrphids. Don’t be fooledby them. Despite theirappearance, they are not bees but flies.They are frequent flower visitors, and they don’thave a stinger like most bees. They masqueradeas bees to fool hungry birds.A bee-mimickingfly (Eupeodes sp.).28
Often they succeed infooling the inexperiencedobserver of bees, as well.Bee-flies, another familyof bee mimics, are parasites ofmany bee species. All flieshave only one pair ofwings as compared tothe two pair of wingspossessed by bees This is asignificant differenceAnother bee-mimicking(possibly bumblebee mimic) flower fly(Mallota posticata).A very common garden visitor,the drone fly, Eristalistenax, which looks like theEuropean honey bee (Apismellifera).between flies and bees, but it is nearlyimpossible to notice when they areflying about. Part of the reason for thisdifficulty is that bees’ wings havetiny hooks that lock the front andhind wings together making themappear as just one on each side.There areseveral otherdifferencesthat would bemore helpful to the observer of these flowervisitors. Bee-flies and syrphid flies havehuge eyes, very short antennae, andskinny legs when compared to bees.Another syrphid, or flower fly waspmimic (Heliophilus pendulus).29
Page 1: A USDA Forest ServiceandPollinator
Page 4 and 5: A USDA Forest Service and Pollinato
Page 6: Native Bees: Varied and ValuableNat
Page 9 and 10: 5A male digger bee (Anthophoracentr
Page 11 and 12: longer throat; they are not averse
Page 13 and 14: Imagine a bunch of grapes; that is
Page 15 and 16: succession of plants flowering from
Page 17 and 18: Families of BeesThere are 4,000 spe
Page 19 and 20: The colony grows rapidly,and it can
Page 21 and 22: to excavate wide tunnel systems in
Page 23 and 24: They show no hesitation when approa
Page 25 and 26: What is Buzz Pollination or as poll
Page 27 and 28: If you happen to see a bee, about t
Page 29 and 30: Another gorgeoussweat bee, a maleAg
Page 31: their pollen like most flowers, but
Page 35 and 36: It may seem strange, but honey bees
Page 37 and 38: As best as you can, try not to appl
Page 39 and 40: • Build or buy your own bee house
Page 41 and 42: house. Join a pollinator and plant-
Page 43 and 44: • O’Toole, Christopher, Raw, An
Page 47 and 48: The U.S. Department of Agriculture

Bee Basics - USDA Forest Service - US Department of Agriculture

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