Native Bees vs. Honey Bees

Orchard Mason Bee Most people tend to group all 'bees' into Honey Bee one category, usually assuming that they all make honey and they all will sting.  Not true!  There are more than 30,000 species of native bees on our planet, and the majority do not sting or produce honey.  Orchard Mason Bees are extremely efficient at pollinating early spring fruits and flowers, but die off by early June.  Luckily, that's just when our native Leafcutter bees are hatching, and they remain healthy and active all through the summer to pollinate your vegetables and summer flowers.  It's clear that, as pollinators, native bees (NBs) such as the Orchard Mason Bees, do have a number of clear advantages over honey bees (HBs):

• It takes as many as 100 HBs to match one female OMBs pollinating productivity.
• NBs work on cold, rainy and windy days that keep HBs in their hives, and they work longer hours.
• The body of an OMB is much hairier than that of a HB, catching more pollen for distribution.
• OMBs have stiff hairs on their abdomens, called their scopa, which naturally collect pollen as they travel from flower to flower.  HBs have pollen baskets on their rear legs, into which they pack the pollen.  Since the pollen collected in the scopa is loose and more exposed to the flowers, it results in better pollination.
• Africanized HBs invade HB hives, but will not attack the nests of NBs.
• NBs are not susceptible to the diseases and parasites that are killing HBs.
• HBs tend to fly down a tree row while NBs often zigzag between rows, ensuring cross-pollination.
• NBs work for free!  Farmers typically pay hundreds of dollars per acre for HB pollination services that should cost almost nothing.