Bee Identification

For definitive identification of many bee species, close inspection of insect morphology (wing veins, leg parts, etc.) is required. This necessitates having specimens in hand to observe features under a microscope or through a hand lens. Numerous entomology texts detail how to collect and curate bees and other insects.

Some excellent online tools are also available, including the Bee Genera of Eastern North America by Sam Droege and Jelle Devalez.

The following web-based pictorial guides help in basic identification of common bee groups:

AMNH Pictorial Guide to Common Bees in New York City
Discover Life bee species guides cover all eastern North American bee genera. These link to associated species pages featuring dynamic maps, images, and descriptive text
Bryn Mawr College and Rutgers University Native Bee Benefits, which includes a pictorial guide to important pollinators for farms in New Jersey and Pennsylvania (see also http://www.extension.org/pages/26310/identification-of-native-bees)
Collecting and Identifying Bees (Cornell University's Bee Health website)
Great Sunflower Project bee guides (this is not a regional guide but has useful information)

In addition to physically collecting insects, digital photography is increasingly being used to identify some bees. Digital photos of NYC bees (and of any North American insect) can be submitted to BugGuide for identification. Provided that relevant structures of the insect are in focus, bee and other insect taxonomy experts should be able to identify the insect in your image. BugGuide guide pages cover most species regularly identified from NewYork City.

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Tips for Photographing Bees

Not many people have taken more photographs of bees than the Great Pollinator Project’s Dr. Kevin Matteson. Here, in his words, are some recommendations:

“I use a digital ultrazoom camera with an image stabilizer (currently I have a Canon Powershot S2 IS with 5 megapixels and 12x optical zoom, although Olympus and other manufacturers make similar models). I have found this to work well for taking closeup pics of bees that are 5 to 10 feet away and in bright sunlight. The camera is smaller than the SLR (single lens reflex) digital models, so a bit easier to manage in the field. I think it is more important to have the optical zoom capability (this is different than digital zoom) than lots of megapixels (usually what people are taught to ask about when purchasing a digital camera). When mentioning that insect photography is of interest, many salespeople will recommend a macro lens, but I have not found these useful for bees or butterflies because they fly away when you move the camera close to them.”

“When taking pictures of bees, I stabilize my elbows against my body to reduce shaking of the camera. I take lots and lots of pictures and delete the vast majority where the bee is turned away or blurry because of movement. However, if you take enough pictures, there often are several good ones. For identification purposes it is worth keeping as many pictures as possible that are not blurry. This is important because some bees can be identified by markings on their head, wings, or abdomen, and multiple images make it more likely that such details can be seen.”