Green bees are small and slender. Females are entirely bright green. The males have a bright green thorax and yellow and black striped abdomen. They mate in late summer, early fall and the pregnant females hibernate over the winter. They then begin a new nest in spring for their young.
You might spot a green bee in your garden if you grow the following: grindelia (gumweed), erigeron (fleabane), coreopsis (tickseed), and cosmos.
I spotted this green bee in my Maine garden where I did have many cosmos and coreopsis, although he is perched on a cone flower. I did spy one last summer in my garden here but of course, did not have my camera. They are so striking and hard to miss. I hope to see more this year.
Fabulous idea! I'll have to post a few shots of my solitary bee houses. I have 3. There are over 400 bees in Texas and the only one that gets star-time is the European HoneyBee. Phooey, I like the soldier beer...he's my fav. Great post, I look forward to learning more throughout the year!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful picture of the coneflower and the green bee! I've never seen a green bee. I'm not sure we have them here. I will definitely be looking at bees more closely now. Looks like your bee house is a success!
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful to hear both of you are interested in bees and are aware of more than the honey bee! I would love to see your solitary bee houses conscious gardener! That sounds really cool. Over 400 bees - wow! I'll have to look up that soldier bee (beer - freudian slip? a cold one is sure good on a big landscaping/gardening day).
ReplyDeleteGlad to see this bee ID...I just noticed one of these metallic green & striped bees the other day and wasn't sure what it was. I thought it was some kind of bumble bee but now I know it was a male green sweat bee! It was visiting the flowers of Virginia Rose (which is a very popular hangout spot for pollinators of all shapes and sizes at the moment!!)
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