Bee Gardens

Beloved residents in our gardens, bees are the most effective pollinators.

The electrostatically charged hairs on their body and legs called scopa pick up pollen to be inadvertently carried from flower to flower. Typically, bees have more hair than wasps or flies making them better pollinators.

A bee's diet comes entirely from flowers

Nectar, a carbohydrate, is consumed by adults while protein and nutrient-rich pollen is eaten by both adults and larvae. Some species of bees are specialists, meaning they only feed on certain flowers. For example, squash bees feed almost exclusively on cucurbit flowers. Other bees are generalists, visiting most types of flowers in a given area.

90% of bees are solitary

Although most well-known bees such as honey bees and bumble bees live in large social colonies, 90% of all bee species are solitary, nesting in either tree cavities or underground burrows. Pennsylvania is home to 437 species and there are at least 4,000 species of bees in North America representing six of the seven families: Andrenidea, Colletidae, Melittidae, Halictidae, Megachilidae, and Apidae.

Those with bee gardens will enjoy a great diversity of bees, as they come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Bees are not aggressive when feeding on flowers and can be safely viewed from a short distance. Planting flowers that provide optimal nutrition for bees supports their local populations, and in turn, supports the entire ecosystem.