The Star - News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

BEES, BEES, BEES. When you think of bees what do you think of? Honeybees? Bumble bees?

Or maybe yellow jackets? I refer to native bees. The ones you usually don't think about that do

the major pollinating work for us on native plants and cultivated ones, too.

This year, the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) initiated the first-ever Washington Bee Atlas and the second Bee Atlas in the United States. The first Bee Atlas is in Oregon.

The Washington Bee Atlas is an ambitious project to document the native bees present in the state. It is a WSDA Pollinator Program project that trains and partners with volunteers to identify and map existing native bee species throughout Washington. The volunteers commit to training, are provided supplies to collect native bees, and process the specimens. The WSDA pollinator taxonomist then identifies the bee specimens and provides the information to the public.

Native bees include all species of bees except the honeybee, Apis mellifera, which is a domesticated bee. There are more than 20,000 other species of bees in the world, 4,000 in

the United States and an estimated 600 – 700 species in the state of Washington.

Native bees range in size from the large bumble bee to smaller than a grain of rice, and they come in all different colors. Most do not live in a hive but nest in the soil by themselves.

Bees are vegetarian; they feed their young pollen and drink nectar as adults. Native bees pollinate both wildflowers and agricultural crops. They contribute to our food resources as well as the beauty and health of our natural landscape. Despite their importance, not much is known about these species, where they live, and what they pollinate.

If you are interested in joining this project or just finding out more about it, you can find it at agr.wa.gov/pollinators and click on Washington Bee Atlas. For more information about becoming a Washington Bee Atlas volunteer you can contact karen.wright@agr.wa.gov.

Bee society welcomes all

The Washington Native Bee Society (different from the Washington Bee Atlas, which is recently formed in 2023) was formed in 2020 with the aim of providing a common location for all of Washington's native bee enthusiasts to convene.  Longtime bee enthusiast David Jennings is the president of the organization and one of the driving forces behind Washington actually getting a Washington Bee Atlas, according to local member Nancy Carlson. 

The Washington Native Bee Society welcomes all bee enthusiasts or just those who are curious. Their monthly meetings are held via Zoom every fourth Thursday at 7 p.m.

People can sign up to receive notices for the Washington Native Bee Society meetings at: https://wanativebeesociety.org/join-mailing-list .  They also have a YouTube channel under Washington Native Bee Society.