I understand the importance of honeybees for pollination, but I saw a variety of bees in my garden this year. What are some other bees we have in Oklahoma? RC

Bees are part of the order Hymenoptera as are ants, wasps, and hornets. While there are over 20,000 species of bees, let’s talk about a few of the 4000 different types you can find here in Oklahoma. That’s right; 4000 different types of bees in Oklahoma.

When we talk about bees, the first thing we should talk about is the difference between social and solitary bees. Social bees live in colonies of various sizes. In contrast, solitary bees live out most of their lives alone. Only about 5% of those 20,000 bee species are considered social, so there’s a lot of bees out there minding their own business, living on their own. The most common and well-known of the social bees are honeybees and bumble bees.

Honeybees

Interestingly, honeybees are not native to North America. They were brought here by European settlers in the early 1600’s. Estimates suggest these European honeybees now pollinate approximately 120 cultivated crops with a market value of about $20 billion annually. Many of these crops are pollinated by bee colonies that are rented for this purpose.

However, the majority of bee pollinators we see in our gardens are of the “native” variety such as bumble bees, carpenter bees, sweat bees, and mason bees among others. So, let’s talk about some of these.

Bumble Bees

Most of us are familiar with bumble bees and the distinctively colored black and yellow hairs on their abdomen. As social bees, Bumble bees prefer to live together underground. However, their underground colonies are relatively small in comparison to the European honeybee in that bumble bee colonies typically only contain a few hundred bees while European honeybee colonies can contain thousands. Flowers are their primary food source and while they do make honey, they do so in such small quantities, that it is difficult to use for commercial purposes.

Interestingly, fertilized bumble bee queens are the only ones to survive the winter underground. In the spring they emerge to begin creating their new colony.

Carpenter Bees

Carpenter bees (aka wood bees) get their name because they like to bore into wood to make homes for raising their young. The solitary carpenter bees look similar to bumble bees with their black and yellow coloration, but carpenter bee abdomens are black and shiny as compared to the black and yellow hairy abdomens of the bumble bee. Female carpenter bees have a black face while the male has a yellow face. Carpenter bees prefer unpainted wood, so keeping a fresh coat of paint on potential bee homes can act as a deterrent.

Sweat Bees

Sweat bees are another member of the family we find here in Oklahoma but are much smaller than their bumble bee cousins ranging in size from 1/4 to 3/4 of an inch in length. Adult sweat bees feed on nectar and pollen and can be seen during the summer returning to their homes with impressive amounts of pollen hanging off their rear legs. The females who create the nests, tend to dig branching burrows in the soil. Each female lays her eggs in the tunnels she has stocked with food to feed her larvae. Sweat bees overwinter in these underground burrows as larvae or even pupae to emerge in the spring.

Sweat bees get their name because they are attracted to our perspiration due to it’s salt content and moisture level. Typically, they don’t sting, but might when we try to brush them off our sweaty extremities.

Mason Bees

Mason bees are another native bee and are one of the first bees to emerge in the spring. Research has shown that these bees can visit more flowers in a given amount of time than do European honeybees. Because of this they are great pollinators to have visiting your garden.

The males are the first ones to emerge in the spring with the females following several days later. After mating, the female searches for a solitary nesting site.

Nesting sites can range from hollow stems to crevices. In these spaces, their eggs are laid from the back to the front with the female mason bee provisioning an egg with food, and then building a mud partition between each egg as she works her way back to the opening of the hole.

One curious thing about this reproduction cycle is that while the female mason bee starts laying their eggs at the back of the hole, the hatching process begins at the front of the hole with the most recently deposited eggs hatching first. In addition, the eggs at the back tend to be the females while the ones at the front are males. After emerging from these nests, the males wait expectantly for the females to emerge.

With the unique nesting requirements of the mason bee, it’s fun to either build a mason bee nesting site or purchase one from a commercial source. We have information on what these mason bee homes look like on our website on the “Insects” page of our Lawn and Garden Help section. So, bee happy gardening!

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org.

Photo: Joseph Berger, Bugwood.org