While there were hundreds of European honey bees (Apis mellifera), Bee Watchers also saw a variety of others:
Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) – dozens
Brown-belted Bumble Bee (Bombus griseocollis) – several
Black Long-horned Bee (Melissodes bimaculata) – 1
Leaf-cutter Bee (Megachile spp.)- several
Wool-carder Bee (Anthidium manicatum) – 3
Masked Bee (Hylaeus spp.) – 1
Small Sweat Bee (Lasioglossum spp.) – 1

Equipped with a net for catch-and-release, and vials for close-up views, we could examine many features that Kevin Matteson pointed out to help identify bees.

A WNYC reporter joined our expedition. Check out the story to learn more about our adventures.

If you’d like to plan a bee watching visit to the High Line, check out the lists of what’s blooming each month.

Four bees on sunflower, photo by Richard Warden

But the record was recently broken by bee watcher Roger Repohl, who recently sent in the following image:

6 bees at once, photo by Roger Repohl

Looks like 4 bumble bees and a couple green metallic bees (one is tough to see at 8 o’clock). Notice how the bees are all working the outer male florets of the sunflower which have pollen. The inner florets are female and will produce seed.

Have a pic with more bees on a single sunflower head? Send it to us! (beewatchers@gmail.com).

]]> http://greatpollinatorproject.org/blog/2010/08/10/how-many-bees-on-a-sunflower/feed/ 0 http://greatpollinatorproject.org/blog/2010/08/06/bee-of-the-week-the-pure-green-sweat-bee/ http://greatpollinatorproject.org/blog/2010/08/06/bee-of-the-week-the-pure-green-sweat-bee/#comments Sat, 07 Aug 2010 00:58:00 +0000 Kevin Matteson http://greatpollinatorproject.org/blog/?p=650

Augochlora pura on rotting log, photo by Kevin Matteson

The above photo is of the the drop-dead gorgeous Pure-green Sweat Bee (Augochlora pura). We have been seeing a lot of this bee and its close relative the Virescent Sweat Bee (Agapostemon virescens) visiting plants like Hibiscus/Rose of Sharon, Lavender, and good ol’ Lemon Queen Sunflowers. It is our highly biased opinion that the beauty of these fabulous green bees is vastly under appreciated by most New Yorkers, most likely because these bees are very small and fast, and therefore hardly ever even noticed. But if you have patience, you just might catch a glimpse of one of these resplendent beauties as they alight on a flower in full sunlight—-  an amazing sight well worth the wait! There also are super tiny (but also very abundant) Social Sweat Bees including the ‘brassy green’ colored Lasioglossum zephyrum.

The Pure-green Sweat Bee is solitary and constructs nest cells in clumps of rotting wood… so, you may consider leaving a few old logs in your yard to attract these wonderful bees.

More Resources

Link to species page on Discover Life (detailed morphological characteristics, difference between males and females, flower visitation records)-

http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Augochlora+pura

Link to global distribution map on Discover life-

http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20m?kind=Augochlora+pura

Link to images on Bugguide

http://bugguide.net/node/view/79292

Have a good bee photo? Submit it (to beewatchers@gmail.com) with a description of the location and we may use it in a future “Bee of the Week” feature.

How did you find out about the Bee Watchers project?

Almost 30% of you found out by word of mouth (from friends, coworkers, professors, and people involved with the project). After that, the project website, email listings, the feature in Rotunda (the AMNH’s member magazine), and newspapers (thank you, Staten Island Advance!) were the most frequently cited sources of information.

What is the main reason you are interested in participating in the NYC Bee Watchers project?

By far the most frequently mentioned reason is the bees themselves. You are fascinated, curious, and concerned about bees, love watching them, and even painting or drawing them. In addition, many of you specifically cited an interest in learning more about honey bees and beekeeping. (Bee Watchers may observe honey bees hard at work pollinating, but for beekeeping we refer you to NYC Beekeepers Association).

Other bee-related reasons for participating in the project include interest in pollination and food production, and concern about declining pollinator populations.

Many Bee Watchers are interested in contributing to research on bees, and several specifically mentioned that being a part of a citizen science project is a draw.

There are many nature enthusiasts among you who like to spend time outdoors, and those who support conservation and want to learn more about environmental issues. Gardeners expressed interest in attracting pollinators to their gardens.

For some of you, the project offers the opportunity to be a part of something, to do something together with family members, or to educate others. Bee Watchers also enjoy solitary time for counting things or simply sitting still.

Bee Fly in the family Bombylidae and genus Xenox. Photo by bee watcher Jeff Polley.

We previously posted about common flower visiting flies in the NYC area, but bee watcher and blogger (www.thissideofscience.com) Jeffrey Polley recently brought a few more to our attention. The above massive fly has been seen recently (mid July 2010 but has been seen in previous years too). This appears to be a Bee Fly (Family Bombylidae) in the Genus Xenox. Despite its imposing size (close to 1 inch long!), it does not bite or cause harm to humans. Rather, these flies feed on pollen and nectar and thus are pollinators.  On the opposite end of the size spectrum, the below Flutter Fly is tiny (<1/4 inch long) and rarely noticed when present. However, Flutter Flies are quite common and exhibit the interesting behavior of rhythmically rotating their wings.  This makes it appear as if they are “waving” and they have also been called “waving wing flies”. Larvae feed on plants or beetles and adults of some species feed on flowers. Beyond this, little is known about their biology or how they live.

Flutter Fly, in the family Pallopteridae and genus Toxonevra. Photo by bee watcher Jeff Polley.

When watching doesn’t result in harder work from the bee, a watcher is assigned to watch the Bee Watcher, and a watcher to watch the Bee Watcher-watcher…and so on.

Those poor Bee Watchers! But how lucky YOU are to watch in much better and fascinating circumstances! All this is a roundabout way of introducing a Bee Watcher Feature on the blog. We’ve featured many bees – and will feature more – but we’d also like to feature watchers!

To start, we have a photo of Bee Watcher Mary Ellen Heavner at Pearson Place and Skillman Ave., between Sunnyside and Long Island City (photo credit: Cody Landis).

Mary Ellen reports, “This picture doesn’t really do the spot justice. Just behind me are more milkweed plants and a whole field of vetch. There were tons (!) of bees, especially on the vetch.”

This is a great example of the “pockets” of bee habitat you can find scattered around the city. Gathering data from these types of places as well as gardens and parks contributes to understanding of the distribution of pollinator service in the five boroughs.

Send us a photo and information about where you go to observe bees, favorite places, interesting finds, tips, techniques, etc. We’d like to feature you!

Should I observing the entire plant or just one flower?
Answer- Record bee visitation to the entire plant (which may have multiple flowers). Some flowering plants, such as trees, shrubs and vines are very large and it may be impossible to count all the bees that are present. We encourage you to conduct your observations on single‐stemmed herbaceous flowers such as coneflowers and sunflowers, and other focal species for this project.

How can I tell if I am observing a single plant or several planted together?
Answer- Sometimes plants are grouped in a bunch and may look like one shrub. Follow the stem of one flower to the ground. Observe just the flowers present on that one stem.

If the same bee lands on a flower several times, should I record each landing?
Answer- Yes! Record each landing even if by the same bee. Because pollen can be transferred each time a bee lands on a flower, this information is very useful.

If no bees come, should I send in the data?
Answer- Yes! We are interested in areas that don’t have bees. This will help us understand what areas of the city may need more green spaces.

What if I see bees landing on ornamental flowers already in the garden but ignoring the natives provided by Bee Watchers?
Feel free to observe the flowers with bees on them but keep an eye on the natives to make sure no bees land during 30 minutes. Then send us data on both plants! The fact that there were bees present in your yard yet they did not visit the native plants provides very interesting data.

These bees, in a variety of colors and sizes, were a source of great fascination. “Which ones are bees?” “That one looks like an ant with wings.” All day long people were surprised to learn that there could be so many different bees and that they are all native to the area. So far 230 species of bees have been documented in New York City!

Liz Johnson indicates features of NYC's diverse bees.

Bee Day was a great platform for communicating the importance of native bee pollinators in the City. BBG visitors saw just a small sample of the diversity of native bees, and learned how to create bee nesting habitat by building nest boxes or bundling hollow or pithy reeds for cavity-nesting bees. They gathered information on creating bee-friendly gardens and how to become NYC Bee Watchers. Some tried their hand at sorting photos into the five categories of bees Bee Watchers look for and were rewarded with a sticker stating, “I’m a NYC Bee Watcher!”

Experienced Bee Watchers, take note: There’s a lot going on out there with native pollinators that your neighbors don’t know about. Spread the word and they won’t be able to resist watching bees, too!

See photos of Bee Day and learn about 100^th birthday celebration activities at BBG.

The Bee watcher garden was looking good – even ripe strawberries! But there were plenty of weeds to pull. We cleared some space to plant some native sunflowers and garden cosmos.

From there, Kevin and Nell set off for the Bee Watcher garden in Pelham Bay Park. Kevin’s compact car was almost bursting with plants! Ed and I were off to Soundview Park where Ed said he didn’t know what to expect, but that he’d heard the plot had been mowed. We were pleasantly surprised to see a thriving – though very weedy! – Bee Watcher garden when we entered the park along the Bronx River Greenway from O’Brien Avenue. We had our work cut out for us pulling mugwort, grasses, clover – and even a scooter! Now the garden has freshly planted sunflowers and cosmos in addition to the stands of milkweed, mountain mint, and goldenrod that are going strong and will be in flower later in the season.

Ed Toth surveys the weedy scene at Soundview Park.

Weeded, planted, and ready for Bee Watchers!

Some of you are already “mobile” Bee Watchers, exploring new places around the city to observe bees. The Bee Watcher gardens in the Bronx are just three of the 18 project gardens throughout the five boroughs. These sites are especially important to us because we have no bee visitation data from these far-flung corners of the City.  Visit http://greatpollinatorproject.org/other.html for more information and then plan a visit! Or if you happen to live near one of these gardens, perhaps you’ll make it a regular destination. And don’t forget to look for bees along the way.

Check out the Bee Watcher gardens around the city! You’ll find the project target flowers there and it will give us those valuable data points where we need them.

Look for this tag at Bee Watcher gardens.

Google Earth image showing the North Meadow of Central Park (highlighted in the top left)

While most people just use Google Earth to “fly” to their home address, this free software can also be used to identify biodiverse urban habitats such as meadows in New York City Parks. The image above shows the northeastern portion of Central Park where you can clearly see buildings, trees, and closely mowed ballfields. All of these land uses can have some value for bees and other pollinators. Small flower plantings are placed around buildings. Trees bloom in early spring and shade tolerant flowers can be found in the understory. Even mown ballfields can harbor blooming clover and occasionally provide nest sites for ground-nesting bees.

Perhaps most notable for pollinators, however is the less apparent (and relatively small) meadow in the top left of the above image. This is the North Meadow of Central Park. When I have visited this site I have seen dogbane, milkweed, bee balm, wild bergamot, sunflowers and other flowering plants blooming en masse. This mass blooming attracts a variety of unique pollinators including rare bees, predatory wasps, beetles, flower flies and others. As a result, the wild meadows of NYC are very important in maintaining the diversity and abundance of pollinators that do not do well in more commonly encountered manicured garden habitats. Hopefully, the city and its residents will recognize this and continue to protect and value these small habitats.

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