Filtering by tag: native bees ✕

Photograph of a branch of a blueberry plant with buds, open flowers, and newly forming berries.

Blueberry Pollination: The Role of Specialist Bees

This is a guest post by Emma Payne. Emma is an NCSU zoology major and research assistant in the Youngsteadt Lab. Gardens are filled with generalist bees, such as honey bees and bumble bees, that…

Left image shows a rust colored dirt mound with a small bee in the middle. Right image is a wide shot of a nesting aggregation with many rust colored dirt mounds scattered among patchy grass.

Ground Nesting Bees - What to Look for and What Species to Expect

What to Look forOut of the more than 20,000 bee species in the world, approximately 70% build their nests underground. Females of these species lay their eggs in underground nests; the young then…

A photograph of a stem being split to reveal small bees inside

Winter Is a Great Time to Tidy Up Perennial Stems for Pollinator Habitat

Gardening for pollinators isn’t just about flowers—it’s also about stems. Many native bees nest inside hollow or pithy dead stems, and their nests can be destroyed during garden cleanup. To find out…