![]() ![]() According to the United States Agricultural Department sweat bees have more complex digestive and detoxification systems than other bees in order to handle and process the different types of pollen they collect. They will also pollinate various crops including stone fruits, alfalfa and sunflowers. They will pollinate virtually any type of available flower, playing an important role in pollinating the native plants of the areas they inhabit. These bees are equal-opportunity pollinators. Their nests have many entrances and exit routes which are always guarded by a few bees. Therefore one usually finds a bunch of nests built together underground or in shrubbery roots. These nests do not hold more than a few bees at a time. However, sometimes the hive may contain a group of female queen bees who nest together in separate cells within a single nest. They make solitary nests which will hold only one female bee at a time. Unlike other types of bees, the sweat bees being typical “halictids,” make their hive underground or inside a tree trunk or hollow wood. They have short tongues which come in handy for lapping up human sweat which has earned them their name.Ī sting usually only occurs if a bee is pressed against the skin and, according to the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, a sweat bee has the least painful sting of all stinging insects. Sweat bees can sometimes occur in large numbers, but they are not typically aggressive. The males bite or pinch while the females sting when we attempt to remove them from our skin. Most are shades of green, blue and bronze, although some are a dull, metallic black. These bees are known for their metallic coloring. These hairy legs carry pollen and nectar from flowers to the hive. They have extended hairy hind legs, which often make people mistake them for bumblebees. These bees are so named, because they are attracted to the human sweat or perspiration. Male sweat bees are typically more slender than females and have a distinct yellow face, common among many species of bees. These bees can range anywhere from 0.125 to 0.5 inches in length. Sweat bees are flying insects and a major source of our honey consumption. Sweat bees are a type of bee commonly found in America and have a painless and harmless bee sting. (What do I know about bees? even if they don’t sting.) He sent me to Google from which I quote most of the rest of my article. Once again the challenge you present me of trying to identify something from a single photograph. But it just doesn’t strike me as being a bee at all mainly because it does not appear to have 2 pairs of wings, which all bees and wasps have. Mark’s reply got me on the right track though he needn’t have qualified his reply since he was right on: “It’s possible the insect in your photo is a sweat bee (family Halictidae). They can stick a stinger into my flesh but I feel nothing and have no reaction.” (I think that says something about me too.) ![]() This column, however, was hatched before Mark left, written exactly three years ago now.Ī picture enclosed (email can be wonderful), I typed after the heading : “Tiny Bee” that “I had a number of these friendly little guys around me. I remain grateful for the Roger Tory Peterson Institute and all those fine professors at Fredonia. Well, it’s taken at least three new experts to cover all I still do not know about bugs, plants, birds and everything else that makes me turn to an authority. I’m grateful I can continue to share their adventures on Facebook.Īnd I was able to “replace” Mark. I know it’s what they both wanted and they certainly seem happy with the new life - and world - they’ve discovered. RTPI’s Mark Baldwin up and moved with his wife to Sweden. ![]()
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