About Bees

What is a bee?

A bee is a flying insect closely related to wasps and flies, known for their keystone role in pollination of the world’s plants. This insect category is made up of two groupings: solitary and social bees.

What distinguishes a bee from a fly or wasp?

Fly

Flies don't have a constricted waist like bees and wasps do. They have 2 large eyes near the front of the head and short, stubby antennae. They also only have one pair of wings.

Wasp

Wasps don't have hair on their bodies like bees do. Their wastes are much more constricted and their antennae are more club-like at the ends. Their wings also tend to lay straight up when not in flight.

Bee

Bees have two sets of wings, with a total of four wings that lay flat against the body when not in flight. Their eyes are on the side of their head with three "ocelli" eyes on the top of their head. Ocelli eyes help them navigate during the day.They also carry pollen with the hairs on their body.

Why are bees important?

Did you know?

There are 4,000 native bee species in North America! They don't produce nearly as much honey as honeybees but are very important for pollination.

Pollination

Threats

Economic Value

A lot of the food we eat comes from plants
75% of flowering plants rely on bees to produce fruits and seeds
1 out of 3 bites of food that you eat was pollinated by bees

Pesticides - use of pesticides can harm or kill bees!
Habitat loss - many bees are ground nesting bees and lose their habitat from mowing
Parasites/disease - parasites and diseases can prevent colonies from reproducing successfully

Crops in the PNW that rely on bees for pollination are valued at $3 billion per year