Pollinator Spotlight: Solitary Bees

We’re using the time leading up to the 10th anniversary Pollinator Parade, hosted at Gilsland Farm Audubon Center on May 10, to highlight a few of our favorite pollinator species! If you have tickets to the parade, consider this some extra costume inspiration. And even if you can’t attend, we hope these posts will help to spread the word about pollinators far beyond our one-day celebration.

While the European Honeybee may be what most picture when thinking about bees or even pollinators, Maine is also home to a wonderfully diverse array of native solitary bee species. These bees are vital pollinators, are unlikely to sting, and have fascinating life histories. But the real reason we’re highlighting them now is because, believe it or not, they have a lot in common with the toddlers and preschoolers who will be attending Pollinator Parade on May 10! Check it out:

They are messy eaters
Honeybees are efficient pollen collectors, methodically visiting blooms and carefully packing the pollen baskets on their hind legs for transport back to the hive. Mason and leafcutter bees, on the other hand, collect the pollen that gathers on the fuzzy underside of their abdomens after doing what some describe as “belly-flopping” onto a flower. Ultimately, this messier technique leads to more pollen transfer between flowers, AKA pollination!

They like dirt and mud
Mason and leafcutter bees, who nest in holes bored by other insects, hollow stems, and nesting tubes provided by humans, use mud to create and seal multiple chambers within these tunnels. Each chamber contains a single egg, laid on a ball of nectar and pollen for the larva to eat when it hatches.

Other solitary bees, like the Adrenid or mining bees we often see in early spring, nest in tunnels they dig into sandy soil. Leaving areas of bare soil and mud is an easy but often overlooked aspect of creating pollinator habitat!

Green Metallic Sweat Bee . Photo: Laurie Sheppard, USFWS

They think outside the box, colorwise
Is there anything better than watching young artists create? A purple dog? Sure! A rainbow house? Why not?! Solitary bees take a page from this same book by straying from the traditional combo of yellow and black. How cool is it that we share our neighborhoods with the Maine Blueberry Bee, a type of leafcutter bee that pollinates blueberry bushes, and the Pure Green Sweat Bee, who you might spot on Rudbeckia and aster flowers.

We can create spaces for them to thrive
When hosting an event for young children and their families, things like low tables, flexible transition times, and developmentally-appropriate activities go a long way! We work with Birth Roots, and the activity partners joining us at Pollinator Parade work to consider the specific needs of young children and their families, so that the event is a supporting and engaging environment for that audience. Similarly, we hope to inspire folks to think about the ways they can create habitat in their communities for pollinators. In addition to leaving areas of bare soil as mentioned above, consider delaying spring garden cleanup until after a few days of warmer temperatures, supporting solitary bee species by leaving flower stems in fall, and of course, planting lots of native plants!

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