Beyond Honey Bees: How Wild Bees Contribute to Your Outdoor Experiences

Although honey bees tend to get most of the love, North America is home to over 3,600 various bee species. You’ve likely come across a few that seemed to be flies or wasps, or maybe you simply didn’t notice them at all. But when it comes to enriched ecosystems and delightful wildlife encounters, bees—specifically native bees!—are worth a second look.

What’s the difference between honey bees and wild bees?

Though not native to North America, honey bees have become beloved as social honey producers and pollinators contributing to commercial agriculture since they were introduced in the 17th century. In contrast, native bees, also known as wild bees, have long called the US and Canada home. These more solitary creatures live in smaller colonies to pollinate very specific native plants, directly contributing to hyperlocal biodiversity.

In honor of World Bee Day, here are a few fun facts to round out your knowledge on native bees.

1. Most wild bees are solitary

It’s rare for wild bees to live in colonies with thousands of sisters like honey bees do. Over 90% of native bees actually live on their own and do everything for themselves, from nest building to foraging and feeding their young.

Some solitary bees do share nesting sites, but it’s rare for them to be communal or share entrance holes. In these cases, each usually has its own side tunnels and cells.

2. Most wild bees live in the ground

Around 30% to 40% of non-parasitic wild bees nest in cavities. Some chew holes in wood, like carpenter bees and some bumbles, while others, such as leaf cutter bees and mason bees, lay their eggs in hollow tubes. The rest, some 60% to 70%, are ground-nesting bees. They dig holes into dry, sandy soil, preferably on open hillsides, to create underground tunnels where they lay their eggs.

Next time you see a sunny hillside pockmarked with holes, look closely and you may see bee excavation in action!

3. Some wild bees are parasitic

Bees are industrious creatures. Some species put in earnest effort to dig or make their own nests and feed their brood, but others prefer to step in when that work is mostly finished. Cuckoo bees, for example, will crawl into a sweat bee’s nest and lay eggs near the food stores the sweat bee has collected for her own offspring.

So, while you can watch the sweat bees working hard excavating their holes in the dirt and bringing back pollen, also keep an eye out for other bees that seem to have nothing better to do than hover suspiciously near the entrances, waiting to reap the benefits.

4. Sorry—stingless wild bees are hard to come by

Unfortunately for those of us afraid of bees, stingless species only exist in tropical and subtropical areas of the world—not in North America. Luckily though, our wild bees are very chill and rarely sting, so you can watch them work with ease if you spot some on your next camping trip.

5. Wild bees provide vital ecosystem services

Sure, honey bees are commercially used to pollinate many of our food crops, but some plants are better pollinated by wild bees. Many species, such as squash bees, are specialized for specific plants.

Wild bees pollinate many flowering plants in super remote areas, which ensures that native plants reproduce and that the resulting berries and seeds feed wildlife. Plus, wild bees fly even when it’s cool and wet out, and tend to work longer hours than honey bees do.

Even more useful, certain birds, spiders, and insects use wild bees as a direct food source. Migrating birds gobble pollinators for energy to keep flying, for example.

6. Many wild bees are in decline

The decline in honey bee populations continues to take the spotlight in the news, despite the fact that native bees are often even worse off. According to a report from the Xerces Society and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), some 28% of North America’s bumble bees are threatened, while 50% of leafcutter bees and 27% of mason bee species are considered “at risk.” Some of the reasons include disease, pesticides, and continued loss of food, habitat, and nesting sites.

7. Wild bees are essential to your outdoor experience

Wild bees often go unnoticed, despite the fact that they and their handiwork are everywhere in nature. The services they provide enrich the ecosystems we love to visit, ensuring all the beautiful and remote bloomers, from the smallest plants to the towering trees you camp under, reproduce and survive.

Without our wild, native bees, the biodiversity of both plants and animals, from heathers to grizzlies, would be noticeably less, and the resonant experiences we expect from a day spent in nature would be dulled.

Start planning your next camping trip

With all this newfound knowledge on native bees and the ways they help our native ecosystems thrive, now’s the time to get outside for the chance to spot them!