By Kristine Adel
Incredible Variety
*There are over 20,000 species of bees in the world.
*Approximately 4,000 species are native to the US.
*Over 450 species are native to Virginia.
*Many bees are generalists, visiting many different kinds of plants.
*Approximately 1 in 4 of our native bees specialize in pollinating only a specific kind of plant or plants.
*Most native bees are solitary, building nests in soil, wood, or hollow plant stems.
*Most native bees look more like flies, and rarely, if ever, sting.
Oh So Sweet!
*Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are not native to Virginia, or the US, or even America.
In the 1620’s, Colonists brought honey bees from Europe for both their honey and their wax.
*No native bees in the US produce honey in any kind of usable or significant amounts.
More Than Honey
*Pollinators contribute approximately $34 billion dollars in benefits to the annual production of commercial crops.
*European Honey Bees are responsible for about $15 billion dollars of that $34 billion dollar agricultural benefit.
*Although European Honey Bees contribute to the production of over $15 billion in commercial crops annually, they are of little, or no use, to the production of most native food crops, such as: tomatoes, blueberries, cranberries, pumpkins, gourds, and sunflowers, to name a few.
*In fact, native bees pollinate 80% of the flowering plants and 75% of the fruits, nuts, and vegetables in the US.
A Significant Threat
*Some species of plants produce small quantities of nicotine and related alkaloids, internally, as a natural defense against being eaten by herbivores and insects.
*An estimated 4,000,000 pounds of commercially synthesized neonicotinoid insecticides are spread, externally, across over 140,000,000 acres of crops and land each year.
*Neonicotinoid insecticides are absorbed into all parts of plants including the nectar in the flowers.
*Neonicotinoid insecticides kill both native bees and honey bees as well as butterflies, moths, beetles, earth worms, and any other insect living on plants, on crops grown from coated seeds, or in the soil where the insecticides have been used.
*Neonicotinoid insecticides adversely affect bird populations and other wildlife through direct exposure to coated seeds, affected soil, and contaminated water, in addition to indirect effects from eating contaminated insects.
More To Learn
*Tune in to WHEO on Tuesday morning, January 27th at 8:30 am for a discussion on Pollinator Gardens.
*Mark your calendar for Saturday March 7, and come to the Patrick County Master Gardener Association’s 2026 Spring Symposium – Supporting our Native Birds and Bees
Find us on Facebook.
Contact us at patrickmastergardeners.org.
