Dragonflies

Mining bees (genus Andrena) are medium-sized bees, between 8 and 17 mm long—about the size of a shirt button. Most are fuzzier and darker than honeybees, with quite broad and often fuzzy looking faces. They are gentle and rarely sting.

True to their name, mining bees dig burrows in the ground to create nests. Unlike honeybees or bumblebees, they are solitary and don’t live in colonies. They typically have one generation per year, and adults are only active for a few weeks. Their presence is an indicator of healthy soil and a thriving ecosystem.

Because they emerge early in the year, they play a vital role in pollinating fruit trees like apples, cherries, and plums, often before honeybees are active. Many Andrena are specialists, visiting only a single or a few closely related plants.

Bumblebees (genus Bombus) are found primarily in the Northern Hemisphere. Their colonies are smaller than those of honeybees, having as few as 50 individuals and a single queen in a nest.

Bumblebees have round bodies covered in soft hair, making them appear and feel fuzzy. Like some wasps, they have aposematic (warning) colouration, often of contrasting bands of colour. Female bumblebees can sting repeatedly, but generally ignore humans and other animals.

Like their relatives, the honeybees, bumblebees use their long hairy tongues to lap up plant liquid (nectar) while gatherig pollen to feed their young. They forage using colour and spatial relationships to identify flowers to feed from. Bumblebees are important agricultural pollinators, so their decline, caused by habitat loss due to mechanisation of agriculture, and pesticides, is a cause for concern.

Sweat bees (family Halictidae) are a diverse group, found worldwide. They’re named for their attraction to human perspiration — they drink salt from sweat, which provides essential minerals. Though they sometimes land on people, they’re generally gentle and sting only if handled roughly.

Some species are solitary, while others form small colonies with a simple social structure — an early step toward the complex societies of honeybees. Most nest in the ground, preferring sunny, bare soil, though some use rotting wood or plant stems.

Despite their small size (4—10 mm), sweat bees are important pollinators of wildflowers, fruits, and vegetables. Active from spring through fall, sweat bees are indicators of ecological health. However, like other pollinators, they face threats from habitat loss, pesticides, and climate change, making their protection increasingly important for ecosystems and agriculture alike.