- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
On St. Patrick's Day, we see green. We crave green. We wear green.
And the penalty for not wearing green? You get pinched.
Not so with green sweat bees. As their common name implies, they're green. A metallic green. But no pinching allowed!
The green sweat bee, Agapostemon spp., is an unforgettable bee. The females are metallic green, from head to thorax to abdomen. The males, however, are "half green"; they have green heads and thoraxes, but yellow-and-black striped abdomens.
In California, Agapostemon texanus is widespread and common, according to the authors of the card set, Common Bees in California Gardens, published by the University of California Agriculture and Nature Resources. It's the work of UC Berkeley and UC Davis entomologists, including Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomolgy and Nematology. It's a companion to the book, California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists.
The card set, illustrated with photos and filled with facts, features 24 bees. This will give you a head start in identifying California's 1600 species of native bees--and inspire you to learn more.
Meanwhile you can learn about the distribution, flight season, nesting habits, floral hosts and how each bee species transports pollen.
How to order: You can order online ($15 per book) on this website, http://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/Details.aspx?itemNo=3552
Meanwhile, keep a lookout for green sweat bees. Their flight season is from March into October, but their peak flight activity occurs from May into September. We've seen them on Cosmos and Rudbeckia (sunflower family) and Erigeron (daisy family).
Not on St. Patrick's Day, though.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
This uniquely colored bee is just one of some 1600 native bee species in California.
It's about one-fourth the size of a honey bee and it's difficult to photograph because (1) it's tiny and (2) it moves fast.
Gordon Frankie, professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, UC Berkeley, and Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, and their colleagues wrote an excellent article on native bees being a rich natural resource in urban California gardens, published in the current edition of the California Agriculture journal.
You'll also want to see the video on the home page about attracting native bees to your garden.
We photographed this male Agapostemon texanus at the Mostly Natives Nursery in Tomales.
It vanished within seconds.
