Subject: [Tweeters] A bee ID resource
Date: Jul 26 21:21:15 2010
From: Jeff Kozma - jcr_5105 at charter.net


A guide that I use for IDing bumblebees in my yard can be found at http://www.bumblebee.org/NorthAmerica.htm. Here in eastern WA (Yakima Valley) I noticed that bumblebees did not appear in my garden until much later than usual due to our abnormally wet and cold spring. Plus, my leafcutter bee colony didn't hatch out until much later this year, since they don't emerge until temps are over 75 consistently for a few days. However, they have made up for lost time as my garden is literally swarming with Bombus crotchii, B. huntii, and B. vagans as well as longhorned bees (which oddly don't appear until my sunflowers are blooming), honey bees, metallic green sweat bees, and many other small bees that I have yet to identify.

Jeff Kozma

Yakima

jcr underscore 5105 at charter dot net