“…I have identified an astonishing 40+ species of bees in our little, in-town yard! From the tiniest little sweat bees, smallish mason bees and mining bees, medium-sized leaf-cutting bees, to large bumble bees, and even larger carpenter bees, each one of them has a critical role in carrying out the important work of pollinating the native plants in my yard and beyond.“

Why are native bees important?

As recently as five years ago, if someone had asked me to name all the bee species I knew, I probably would have tentatively responded with something like, “Oh I don’t know…maybe honeybees, bumblebees, and sweat bees.” Nowadays, this same prompt would have me more confidently responding with a long list that would make most people’s eyes glaze over. As it turns out, there are approximately 4,000 species of bees native to North America with over 400 bee species native to my home state of Pennsylvania. That’s a lot more than the measly three bees I knew about just a few years ago! I have also since learned that unlike honeybees, which are social nesters (and not native to North America), 90% of native bees are solitary nesters and are generally docile as they do not feel the need to defend their nests. This unexpectedly gentle nature of most wild bees has allowed me to observe and enjoy them at very close range, often as close as one to two inches away, which also allows me to get detailed enough photographs to accurately identify species using my favorite app, iNaturalist.

Since that momentous June day back in 2022, when I felt compelled to photograph that cute bumble bee (see above image), I have taken countless photos of bees in my yard (as well as every other insect I encounter). Every new species identified always brings a thrill of excitement. As of August 2026, I have identified an astonishing 40+ species of bees in our little, in-town yard! From the tiniest little sweat bees, smallish mason bees and mining bees, medium-sized leaf-cutting bees, to large bumble bees, and even larger carpenter bees, each one of them has a critical role in carrying out the important work of pollinating the native plants in my yard and beyond. For example:

• It’s estimated that up to 90% of wild flowering plants (including many trees) are utterly dependent on native bees for pollination and reproduction, which is critical for maintaining the food webs all wildlife require (Xerces Society, 2015).
• Unlike honey bees, which are not native to North America, North American native bee species co-evolved with indigenous plants like blueberries, cranberries, peppers, squash, and tomatoes. Therefore, they have the right anatomy to pollinate these plants (Xerces Society, 2023).
• Despite shrinking habitat in the U.S., native bees provide pollination services valued at approximately $3 billion per year (Xerces Society, 2015)
• On a bee-by-bee basis, many native bees are actually more efficient pollinators than honey bees. A great example of this is the native Blue Orchard Bee (Osmia lignaria). Approximately 250 Blue Orchard Bees can pollinate a one-acre apple orchard whereas approximately 15-20,000 honeybees (1.5 to 2 hives) would be required to do this same task (Xerces Society, 2015)

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A few of the 40 species of bees in our tiny yard

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common types of bees

Fascinatingly, many bees are actually named according to the type of nest or nesting material they use. For example, mason bees (genus Osmia) tend to use mud as masonry material to partition each of the little egg cells she constructs, usually within pre-existing hollows in rock crevices, or sometimes in wood or plant stems. Mining bees (family Andrenidae), which are renowned for their gentle nature, often dig or mine their nest tunnels in exposed soil, provisioning each egg with a little ball of pollen and nectar. As the name implies, leaf-cutter bees (family Megachilidae) lay their eggs in hollow crevices or plant stems and partition each brood cell with a piece of leaf carefully cut-to-size to protect each larva as it feeds and develops.

Aside from naming inspiration based on nesting habits, other bees species are named after behavioral habits such as the fuzzy, endearingly familiar bumble bee (genus Bombus). Unlike most of the 4,000+ bees native to North America, our 46 species of bumble bees are social nesters. Although they are generally approachable and docile while foraging on flowers, they will become aggressive if they perceive an immediate threat to their nest. Like non-native honey bees, bumble bees have a social hierarchy with each nest containing a founding queen and female workers. Males are usually produced in late summer to early fall and have no role beyond reproduction. Since they have no essential role in the daily running of the nest, once male bumblebees mature and leave the nest, they never return. Therefore, in the late summer through the first hard frost, it is common to encounter male bumblebees sleeping on flowers just before sunset and on cool mornings. Depending on the species, sometimes they even congregate and it’s a very endearing sight to behold a group of male bumblebees all sleeping near each other!

Another class of bees named more for their behavioral traits rather than nesting habits are sweat bees (family Halictidae). Attracted to mineral-rich sweat on our skin, some species of sweat bees have a habit of landing on people to drink up those energy-giving salts and minerals. Although their act of licking up the sweat on your skin might feel slightly uncomfortable, sweat bees are generally gentle creatures who only sting when they feel threatened by inadvertent movement or outright swatting. Even so, their stings are very mild compared to that of a honeybee.

Many of our native bees are surprisingly tiny! Using the native plant in these two images for scale (Blue Vervain, Verbena hastata) compare the mid-sized Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) in the first image (use the slider) to the miniscule little Spurred Ceratina Bee (Ceratina calcarata) perched on a tiny floweret from the same plant in the second image. Ceratina bees are a diminutive type of carpenter bee, slightly larger than a grain of rice, that creates its solitary nest inside hollow, pithy, broken plant stems.

are bees dangerous?

Given that so many of us have had the unpleasant childhood experience of getting stung by an insect, it is important to know that 90% of all bee species are actually solitary nesters and are therefore not motivated to aggressively defend a colony by attacking or stinging. Of the 4,000 species of bees native to North America, only our 46 species of bumblebees form social colonies and will defend their nests. When foraging on flowers, however, bumblebees are exceedingly docile and will only sting as a last resort if accidentally brushed up against. Of course, honey bees (which are not native to North America) are another bee species known for their unusual colony nesting habits and will also attack perceived threats to their hive, but are generally gentle when foraging.

Less than 10% of all bee species are colony nesters that aggressively defend their hive. Yet, many people wrongly blame bees for their negative experience of being stung, when chances are that they might have been stung by an entirely different class of insects–wasps. Shockingly, however, 98% of wasp species are solitary nesters with little motivation to sting unless they feel an immediate and direct threat to their own life. It’s that 2% of wasp species that have given the rest of the wasps (who are non-aggressive solitary nesters) an undeserved bad name! Even those defensive 2% of colony nesting wasps are surprisingly docile when out foraging for sustenance or nesting materials. To capture the image (below left) of a colony nesting Aerial Yellowjacket, I was less than two inches away from her! Like most foraging wasps (and bees) she is deeply involved in the important business of gathering food, and she instinctively calculates the odds that: 1) I am likely no threat; and, 2) stinging me would likely cost her life, as I would defensively strike out at her. In the past four years of obsessively photographing the bees and wasps in our yard, I have never been stung or even threatened. Nonetheless, an estimated 1 to 5% of humans are allergic to bee venom, which makes it too risky for them to enjoy the close range encounters I am fortunate enough to experience. It goes without saying, therefore, that I would never knowingly approach a nest colony of bees or wasps in the casual way I approach individual bees or wasps out foraging.

The Common Aerial Yellowjacket (Dolichovespula arenaria) on the left is not a bee, but is a species of wasp that constructs its colony’s nest from paper-like material suspended above ground, strongly resembling a hornet nest (which is also a species of wasp). It is one of the mere 2% of wasp species that are aggressive defenders of their colony nest. The mason wasp on the right (Pseudodynerus quadrisectus) is among the 98% of wasps that are docile solitary nesters. She uses pre-existing wood cavities to lay her eggs and will provision each eggs cell with a paralyzed caterpillar to nourish the developing larvae while sealing off each egg cell (also called a brood cell) with mud.

How can you help support our native bees?

If you are among the vast majority (95%) of people who are not allergic to bees, I hope that the information in this article might help you to overcome your somewhat misguided fear of bees. It is also my hope that in more fully understanding the critical ecological importance of our 4,000 species of native bees (some of which are threatened or even endangered like the Rusty-patched Bumble Bee), you might be inspired to help them out by making your yard more bee-friendly. One huge way you can make a difference is to incorporate more native plants into your yard to help them reclaim some of their lost habitat. While popular non-native perennial plants like ornamental roses, day lilies, and butterfly bushes (Buddleja davidii) can provide some nectar or pollen to native bees, they have little to no ecological value in sustaining habitat and the food web. In contrast, native plants provide more accessible nectar and pollen to native bees because they co-evolved together and native bees have evolved the right anatomy to obtain these resources. Some species of native bees, such as the Spring Beauty Miner Bee (Andrena erigeniae) are specialists and can only utilize the nectar and/or pollen from one particular kind of native plant, making them especially vulnerable to habitat loss. Additionally, unlike most non-native plants, native plants serve as larval hosts for the thousands of species of indigenous moths and butterflies which in turn, provide an abundance of food (caterpillars) for birds and other wildlife. For more insight on supporting native bees and what types of native plants might be best suited to your yard, please take a look at these amazing regional plant lists offered at the Xerces Society, which is the largest and oldest global non-profit dedicated to the conservation of invertebrates.

Lastly, aside from adding more native plants in your yard as food sources, other practices can also help by providing nesting habitat for native bees. For example, in the fall, consider gently raking leaves into garden beds as mulch or leaving them at the edges of your yard. This will help overwintering bumble bee queens to survive until they emerge in the spring. Also, leave dead plant stems, hollow twigs, and old logs standing so cavity-nesting bees like leaf cutter bees, mason bees, ceratina bees, and sweat bees have a place to lay eggs. Finally, wherever possible, leave some bare, unmulched patches of soil in sunny areas for ground nesting bees like mining bees and some sweat bees.

Of the thousands of insect photos I have taken in our yard, this one is a favorite. I planted this Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) in the late fall of 2020 from seeds collected near the edge of nearby White’s Woods Nature Center in Indiana, PA, and it took a couple of years to fully mature. Renowned as one of the few larval host plants of the vulnerable Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus), milkweeds are also important to native bees as well as many other insects. The bumblebees are actually two different species–the top is a Common Eastern Bumblebee (Bombus impatiens) and the bottom one is a Brown-belted Bumblebee (Bombus griseocollis). They represent just two of the 40+ bee species I’ve documented in our yard since gradually converting over to more native plantings!

All photographs used in this article were taken by Stacey in our tiny habitat yard here in the confusingly-named town of Indiana, Pennsylvania.