Bee Notes

Current Issue

August 24, 2022

What are the bees doing now?

Right now our mason bee friends are still developing in their cocoons, and there’s not much to talk about. We thought we’d share some articles (with permission) from the Garden Ecology Lab about some of our other pollinators. Enjoy!

After a wet spring in Western Oregon, the sun is out and our world is in bloom!

So what are summer bees up to right now? The main events of the season are…
Foraging for nectar and pollen
Finding mates and laying eggs
Excavating, finding and building nests for offspring.
Adult bees also experience predation by spiders and birds during this time.

So who exactly is out and about in your garden at this time of year? 

Bumblebees and honeybees visibly dominate the landscape throughout the summer, but lean in closer to your flowering plants and you’ll find the smaller sweat bees (family: Halictidae), long horned bees (genera: Melissodes and Eucera), leafcutter bees (genus: Megachile) and small carpenter bees (genus: Ceratina). Although there are many others amid the vast diversity of bee species science is only beginning to understand, these are some common garden visitors. We’ll go through each group and their summer activities.

Read the entire article HERE