Save the Bees! But Which Bees?
When most people think of bees, they picture the honeybee. But the honeybee is a domesticated animal — essentially livestock — and are well taken care of. The thousands of species of wild bee are paid less attention and are no less important to maintaining healthy ecosystems (and yes, helping out with pollination).
As a group, wild bees are considered incredibly important pollinators, especially for home gardens and crops that honey bees can’t pollinate. Tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers, for example, require “buzz pollination;” bees have to vibrate their bodies to shake the pollen free — a behavior that honey bees can’t do (bumblebees and some other native species can).
Yet these free services native bees provide are dwindling. While wild bees are, as a group, understudied, existing research suggests that many species are threatened with extinction, including more than a quarter of North American bumblebees.
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