NEWPollinators Education EEPowerPoint.ppt

realted to the content provided as per syllabus

1. Common Bees in Michigan
Julianna Tuell, Rufus Isaacs
Anna Fiedler, Doug Landis
Department of Entomology, Michigan State University

2. Why Are Bees Important?
•Pollination in natural habitats
–80% of flowering plants require insects to transfer pollen in
order to produce seeds.
–Many insect-pollinated plants provide food for wildlife (e.g.
berries).

3. Why Are Bees Important?
•Pollination of 87 leading food and fiber crops

4. •honey bees
•bumble bees
•carpenter bees
•mason and
leafcutter bees
•sweat bees
•digger bees
Major Bee Groups in the Eastern US
honey bee
carpenter bee
bumble bee
leafcutter bee
sweat bee
digger bee

5. •Native to Europe.
•First used for honey and wax production.
•Now most important bee in crop pollination
because they are readily managed.
•Feral colonies have been decimated by
diseases and mites.
•Commercial beekeepers also have a
difficult time with diseases and mites.
•Not the most efficient pollinator of every
crop.
•Can be inhibited by cooler weather.
•Fortunately, many other kinds of bees can
help pollinate crops.
Honey bees (Apidae)
Apis mellifera

6. Bumble bees (Apidae)
•Medium (workers and drones) to
large (queens) yellow or white and
black.
•A single queen produces a colony
of workers.
•Nest in abandoned rodent burrows
or other cavities in the ground.
•Commercially produced colonies
now available.
•Feed on many different flowers.
Bombus
spp.

7. Carpenter bees (Apidae)
•Two distinct types:
–large (often mistaken for bumble bee
queens).
–Small (metallic blue).
•Most females are solitary,
building and provisioning their
own nests (no workers are
produced).
•Nest in wood or pithy stems.
•Feed on many different flowers.
Xylocopa virginiana
Ceratina sp.
Photo: J. Evans

8. Mason bees (Megachilidae)
•Small to medium, bluish metallic
or black with white hair on thorax,
with dense abdominal hairs for
carrying pollen.
•Solitary, but often nesting in
aggregations.
•In nature, nesting in galleries
made by beetles in wood or pithy
stems; will readily nest in man-
made straws.
•Separate and cap off nest cells
with mud.
Osmia lignaria
Orchard Mason Bee
Photo: S. Bambara

9. Leafcutter bees (Megachilidae)
•Medium, black, often with a
striped abdomen on which they
collect pollen.
•Solitary, nesting in
aggregations.
•Nest in galleries made by
beetles in wood or pithy stems;
will readily nest in man-made
straws.
•Cut leaf sections from soft-
leafed plants to make nests.
Megachile spp.
leaf capsule
in hollowed
twig

10. Digger bees (Andrenidae and Apidae)
•Small to large bees with very
hairy hind legs.
•Solitary, nest in soil.
•Usually one generation
produced per season.
•May visit many different
flowers, or will collect pollen
from only a few related plant
species.
Andrena
spp.

11. Sweat bees (Halictidae)
•Three size/color groups:
–Medium-sized, brown, with or
without stripes
–Small to medium, metallic green
–Small bronze/golden metallic
•Solitary and social species.
•Some produce several
generations per season.
•Most nest in soil; some in soft
wood.
•Visit many different flowers.
Halictus sp.Lasioglossum sp.
Agapostemon spp.

12. What do native bees need?
•flowers for nectar and
pollen
•nesting habitat
•pesticide-free environment

13. Flowering Resources
•nectar, floral oils
•pollen

14. Nesting Resources
nest made in burrownest made in sloping soilnest entrance in soil
holes in a tree that could
be used by bees
nesting box constructed
for cavity nesting bees

15. Access to Clean Water
•ponds
•bird baths
•ditches

16. Bee-friendly Practices
•Provide floral resources.
•Provide nesting resources.
•Provide clean water source.
•Reduce insecticide use or apply
only at night.
•Use bee-safe insecticides if pest
control is necessary.
•Minimize use of herbicides.

17. Acknowledgements
Funding sources:
For more information visit:
www.nativeplants.msu.edu