Many children in my programs at the South Carolina Botanical Garden know an enormous amount about non-native honeybees. However, they are astonished to discover the vast diversity of native bees and their immense importance and efficiency as pollinators. In the United States, there are over 4000 native bee species. They range in size from the tiniest fairy bees (Perdita spp.) (found out west) to the giant carpenter bees (Xylocopa spp.). Here are some suggestions to increase children’s (and your) knowledge about our local native bees.
Observation is the simplest way to become familiar with our native bees. If children (or you) are nervous about being near bees, remember to remain calm and not move quickly or aggressively. Most of our native bees are solitary and not aggressive but always exercise care around all wild animals.
You can start your observations now! In spring, even when temperatures are low and overcast, it is possible to see bumblebee queens visiting spring wildflowers. These fuzzy-bottomed juggernauts move relatively slowly and thus are easy to watch. You might even be lucky enough to see them buzz-pollinating. This is a process whereby the bee disengages its flight muscles and uses them to vibrate violently to dislodge pollen from the anthers. See a videohere. Later in the year, many happy hours can be spent watching the myriad of native bees visiting a diversity of plants. Several basic online guides to our native bees can be downloaded for free and printed to help with identification. For a fun project, download these guides and have children cut out the bees and other images to make collages or other art or print them in black and white and use them as a coloring book. This is an easy, fun way to build
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