The Bees In Your Backyard

When I first saw this Xylocopa I thought it had orange pollen on its body. After a closer look, it’s not pollen, but parasitic triungulin larvae. These beetle larvae don’t directly harm the adult bee, they hitch a ride back to the nest and feed on the pollen and eggs. creepy

USU Tooele ecologist Joe Wilson, USU alum Kevin Williams of @CDFAnews, Aaron Pan of @TexasTech publish first-of-its-kind field guide on #velvetants @PrincetonUPress @EntsocAmerica #wasps @BeesBackyard #Mutillidae Read more: usu.edu/today/story/co…

USU Tooele ecologist Joe Wilson, USU alum Kevin Williams of @CDFAnews, Aaron Pan of @TexasTech publish first-of-its-kind field guide on #velvetants @PrincetonUPress @EntsocAmerica #wasps @BeesBackyard Read more: usu.edu/today/story/co…

Colletes bees remind me of Valentine’s Day. Why do they make me think of Valentine’s Day? It’s because one of the identifying characteristics of this genus is that they have a heart shaped face. ❤️🐝

Did you know there are over 400 species of velvet ants in the US? Despite their name they are actually not ants they are wingless wasps and the new field guide to velvet ants of North America is available starting tomorrow at your favorite bookstore.

There are hundreds of species of native bee that are known as cuckoo bees. A cuckoo bee sneaks into the nests of a host bee and lays an egg. When the cuckoo bee egg hatches, its larva kills the host bee larva, and eats the pollen that was left for it. 😔

@Rindo77 That should have said “based on my data…”

@Rindo77 FaceTime my data, I estimate that over 4 billion bees might be hit by cars each summer in Utah

I’m giving a talk this morning at 9 am at #EntSoc23 If you are here come check it out How many bees are killed by cars? Answer: a lot

@habitecture No publication yet, hope to submit by the end of the year What differences are you seeing with speed?

@BeesBackyard But it depends on the speed of the cars. We did not notice any effects in the city, especially at 30 km/h or max. 50 km/h. I am also interested in your results, is there a publication?

@reuocandum Yes those are Mason bees in the genus osmia and yes they are mating. Love the colors!

Hi @BeesBackyard, are these ones of the masons and are they mating?

Winter is in full sing across much of North America. Spring is coming soon. I have seen small sweat bees (Lasioglossum subgenus Dialictus) as early as February in the Mojave Desert. I photographed this little bee several years ago visiting desert mistletoe in mid February.

Had to pull this one out of the archives. Merry Christmas!

We're thrilled to announce that Common Bees of Eastern North America by Olivia Messinger Carril and Joseph S. Wilson is the winner of the Nature Guidebook Award awarded by @NOBA_Books! @BeesBackyard hubs.ly/Q01vSPtD0

Onions might not be the first crop that comes to mind when you think of pollination, but studies show that various bees flies and wasps are beneficial for onion pollination in order to produce onion seeds. #beethankful

@OttawaSeed I think some of that statistic comes from suggestions in here: sare.org/wp-content/upl…

#beeThankful for native bees, many of them are excellent pollinators of some of our favorite fruits and vegetables.

What would thanksgiving be without cranberry sauce? #beethankful