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Bee Photo Gallery

Is it a bee?  The Logan bee lab helps you distinguish bees from other similar insects.
See also the Bee Identification Chart.
NEW!  A bee identification exercise to try with master gardeners, kids and other groups.   Also, visit our pictorial Guide to Orchard Bee Management.

Click on image to see a larger version.

Osmia lignaria, the blue orchard bee, on plum.
BlueOrchardBee.jpg (39073 bytes) Osmia ribifloris on barberry flower. 
Photo by Jack Dykinga, courtesy of Suzanne Batra, USDA ARS
hornfacedbee2.jpg (16393 bytes) Hornfaced Bee, Osmia cornifrons.  Note pollen-collecting hairs filled with pollen, under the abdomen.
Photo from Suzanne Batra, USDA ARS
hornfacedbee1.jpg (16152 bytes) Hornfaced Bee, Osmia cornifrons.
Photo from Suzanne Batra, USDA ARS
Bee_2a.jpg (13762 bytes) The alfalfa leafcutting bee, Megachile rotundata, on alfalfa flowers.
Photo by Karen Strickler
The alkali bee, Nomia melanderi, on onion flowers.
Photo by James Cane, USDA ARS
Megachile relativa cutting a leaf.
Photo by Karen Strickler
Megachile relativa entering a trap nest.
Sweatbee.jpg (18424 bytes)  Sweat bees, Halictidae, on dandelion (left) and .mustard (right)  Nest in the ground; some have social nesting behavior, with a queen and workers. Left:  Photo from Suzanne Batra, USDA ARS  Right:  photo by Karen Strickler.
Colletes.jpg (29054 bytes) "Plasterer" or "Polyester" bee, Colletes inaequalis at her nest entrance.   She nests in the ground, and lines the cells for each of her offspring with a glandular secretion like cellophane.
Photo from Suzanne Batra, USDA ARS
Diggermale2.jpg (29402 bytes) Digger bees , Anthophoridae, male on cone flower (note long antenna), Ratibida columnifera; female on Cosmos (note pollen baskets on hind legs).
Photos by Karen Strickler
Anthidium2.jpg (29293 bytes) Carder bee, Anthidium sp.? on Gallardia.  A twig nesting bee that uses cottony plant hairs in it's nest.
Photo by Karen Strickler
Xylocopa.jpg (15994 bytes) Carpenter bee male, Xylocopa virginica, taking nectar from  Wisteria.  Note yellow clypeus (part of the face). Yellow faces are common in male bees.
Photo from Suzanne Batra, USDA ARS
Bombus.jpg (11387 bytes) Bumble bee, Bombus sp. on rose  These bees live in annual colonies, with a queen and workers.  Note pollen loads on hind legs.
Photo by Karen Strickler
moth.jpg (23141 bytes) Hummingbird moth (also called clearwing moth, in the hawkmoth family, Sphingidae)  sometimes mistaken for a bee, on Buddleia
Photo by Dawn Herzig
Links to some other bee photo galleries:

   Bug Guide's bee photo pages.  Be sure to click on the other tabs at the top of this site.

   Dave Green's pollinator photos
    Dr. T'ai Roulston 's photos of bees of the Blandy Experimental Farm, Boyce, VA
   Bees of Maritime Canada - Ag. & Agri. Food Canada, Kentsville, Nova Scotia.  Great photos! 

  Bee Genera of Eastern Canada.  Photos start around page 6.  Large manuscript, 31MB.
 US Forest Service pollinator of the month.  Not all of the photographs of pollinators on this website are bees, but many are.  

   Megachile sculpturalis, the Giant Resin Bee from Asia, new in the Southeastern USA.

Top of Page  Pollinator Paradise      Pollination Ecology at UI    The Solitary Bee Web   
 Rearing Solitary Bees    Suppliers    References   Bee Gardens    FAQ   Links     Contact Us  
New Mexico Native Bee Pollinator Project   About Dr. Strickler 
Bee Nests and Accessories  Bee Photo Gallery   Trapnesting Wasps and Bees

Revised: July 16, 2003.
Copyright © 2001  Karen Strickler.  All rights reserved.