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MODULE 2
VMGA Creating Pollinator Gardens Workshop
Learning to See and Name Our Island Pollinating Bees and Flower
Visiting Flies
Introduction
To manage something, one needs to first be able to see it. Then we can count it and follow
trends in numbers over time. One reason for pollinator decline is that we have not been
trained to see the native bees and other pollinating insects living around us. This skill is now
more important as world pollination ecologists stress the importance of creating gardens that
will sustain the highest diversity possible similating natural sustainable landscapes.
Learning Activities
The first skill is to be able to see and name the insects that visit flowers as wasps, flies or bees.
Instructor will review the anatomical characteristics of all flies, bees and wasps with the Xerces
Society Power of Pollinators PPT Series Part 2. Bee Biology and Identification following
CHART 1 Summary Chart of Anatomical Features of Bees, Wasps and Flies attached to this
module
ACTIVITY: Activity #1 - Mystery Box Exercise
Assemble teams of 4-5 persons. Each team will given a mystery box collection of pollinating
insects, Identify each specimen as a bee, wasp/hornet or fly and record answers on the
Mystery Box Answer Sheet using CHART 1. Summary Chart of Anatomical Features of Bees,
Wasps and Flies as a guide to answers. After 20 minutes the instructor will review the correct
answers for the Mystery Box Exercise.
The next skill develops the students skill to assess the diversity of pollinators in a Pollinator
Garden. The instructor will review the groups of native bees living in BC and discuss their
biology using the Xerces Society Power of Pollinators PPT Series Part 2. Bee Biology and
Identification guided by CHART 2. Common Native Pollinators to Find at HCP. After the walk
around the gardens, teams will fill in bee group names on the answer sheet. After the time
limit, the instructor will review the correct answer sheets.
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Mystery Box Answer Sheet Answer Sheet for Exercise #1
Team Name: _______________ Your Name______________________
Specimen
No
A1-1
A2-1
A3-1
A4-1
A5-1
A6-1
A7-1
A8-1
A9-1
A10-1
Identify each specimen as a bee, wasp or fly
Answer Sheet for Exercise #2 – Bee Groups
Specime
n
No
Identify the bee group or the kind of bee of each
specimen (digger bee, e.g. mason bee, bumblebee, long
horned bee etc.)
A1-2
A2-2
A3-2
A4-2
A5-2
A6-2
A7-2
A8-2
A9-2
A10-2
SUMMARY CHART 1.0
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Anatomical Features of Flower Visiting
Bees , Flies and Wasps
GROUP
BEES
FLIES
WASPS/HORNETS
AND CUCKOO BEES
GENERAL
HAIRS
ON BODY
Many
branched
hairs
Few
unbranched
hairs
Few hairs on body;
Less than flies
Long; elbow
shaped
Large
Short
Long; elbow shaped
Large; meet
at top of
head
Short; like a
sponge
Large
HEAD
Antennae
Eyes
Mouth
Parts
Long tongue;
chewing
mandibles
Wings
4
2
membranou membranous
s wings
wings
Carry Pollen Do Not Carry
on legs or
Pollen
stomach
Short tongue;
Chewing mandibles
THORAX
Pollen
Transport
Structures
‘Waste’
ABDOMEN
4 membranous
wings
Do Not Carry
Pollen
Thin
Thick
Very Thin
Females
have stinger
Rarely used
No
Stinger
Females
have Stinger
Commonly used
Common native pollinators to find at HCP
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and Other Gardens Everywhere
Native Bees Insect Order: Hymenoptera
Ground Nesting Native Solitary Bees (Digger Bees, Mining Bees, Sweat Bees i.e.
Most Bees) Some species gregarious or semi-social








Common Name
Plasterer Bees
Yellow Faced Mask Bee
Mining Bee
Metallic Green Sweat Bee
Leafcutter Bee
Digger Bee,
Ligated Sweat Bee
Long Horned Digger Bee
Genus
Colletes sp. Early
Hylaeus sp. Most small
Andrena sp Many species. Early.
Agapostemon sp.
Megachile sp.
Lasioglossum sp Many species, most small
Halictus sp
Melissodes sp Late Summer
Use Common Name and / or Genus Name to search for information and photos
in the Learning Resources Section of this module
Life Cycle and Habitat of Ground Nesting Native Bees.
See diagram in Mader et 2011. Attracting Native Pollinators. Part 3. Meet the Pollinators. Page
28
Wood Tunnel Nesting Native Solitary Bees




Common Name
Mason Bee
Alfalfa Leafcutter Bee
Leafcutter Bees
Wool Carder Bee
Genus
Osmia sp
Megachile rotundata
Megachile sp
Anthidium sp

Large Carpenter Bee
Xylocopa sp – Does not occur on V.I.
Pithy Stem Nesting Solitary Native Bees
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Common Name
 Small Carpenter Bee,
Genus
Ceratina sp. Very Small.
Life Cycle and Habitat of Wood Tunnel and Pithy Stem Nesting Native Bees.
See diagram in Mader et 2011. Attracting Native Pollinators page 31
The Bumblebees - Below Ground (Fist Sized) Cavity Nesters





Black-tailed Bumblebee,
Two form Bumblebee,
Vosnesenki’s Bumblebee
Fuzzy Horned Bumblebee
Yellow Banded Bumblebee
 Western Bumblebee
Bombus melanopygus
B. bifarius
B. vosnesenskii
B. mixtus
B. flavifrons
B. occidentalis (THREATENED)
Life Cycle and Habitat of Native West Coast Bumblebees.
See diagram in Mader et 2011. Attracting Native Pollinators page 42
Native Flower Visiting Flies (Insect Order: Diptera)
Insect Family: Syrphidae – Common Genera See Terry Thormin Photos






Eristalis sp.
Helliophilus sp.
Eupeodes sp.
Scaeva sp
Syrphus sp.
Sphaerophoria sp
See Terry Thormin’s photos at http://www.pbase.com/terrythormin/bc_syrphidae
Life Cycle and Habitat of Flower Visiting Flies
See diagram in Mader et 2011. Attracting Native Pollinators page 52-53
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Background on BC’s Native Bees
There are 801 species of native bees in Canada, 4000 in the US and 20,000 in the world. Of the
450+ species of native bees in BC, 70% are ground nesters (some are gregarious nesters but not
really social like honey bees; 20% are parasitic on other bees), 30% are wood tunnel and stem
nesters and 5% are bumble bees described as social cavity nesters. BC is a Canadian native
pollinator species hot spot. It is these pollinators that have pollinated our flowering native
herbs, shrubs and trees for 10,000’s of years in the ecosystems of Supernatural BC. Can you
guess how much seed they set annually for food for the wildlife for the ecosystems of BC?
Seeds develop into plants and produce flowers and berries. These feed the insects which feed
the salmon. Salmon feed the people and the bears and eagles taking nourishment into the
forest. And I haven’t talked about gene flow for genetic adaptation for a changing climate.
Their interconnected life cycles and nesting habits create a very reliable, economical,
sustainable, effective and efficient POLLINATION MECHANISM over the whole landscape for
all species of plants around them. Pre-requisite: adequate nectar and pollen and a place to
live and reproduce i.e. HABITAT.
For 10,000’s of years our 200+ species of native solitary bee pollinators on the west coast
islands and 450 in all of BC sustain the life cycle of 1450 species of native trees, shrubs and
herbaceous perennial flowers that provide the energy foundation for the life supporting food
webs of the ecosystems of Super Natural BC. The chart provides a grouping of the BC species
and their nesting habits.
BC IS CANADA’S NATIVE POLLINATOR SPECIES HOT SPOT
No. of Species and Nesting Habits of Native Bees By Region
% Species
Vancouver
CAN
USA
Native
BC
In Group
Island
Bees
Total No. of
Bee Species
Cavity
Nesting
Bumblebees
Ground
Nesting
Digger Bees
Wood &
Stem Tunnel
Nesters (e.g.
mason and
leafcutter
GLOBE
200+
450
808
4000
20,000
4-7%
14?
34
40
50
250
55%
116
247
444
2200
11,000
25%
45
112
202
1000
5000
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bees)
Parasitic Bees
15%
25
Flower
Visiting
Flies
67
325
121
600
Notes:
1. For 10,000’s of years this pollination guild of native bees pollinated 1450 species of
native flowering trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials
2. Cavity nesting bumblebees, historically, are our most important native pollinator
promoting ecological integrity and first peoples food production
3. Most native bees species are burrowing ground tunnel nesters
4. Range in size from a few millimeters such as the little carpenter bees to the larger 40
mm bumblebees. Most are around the size or smaller than honey bees, are grey or
black, mistaken for flies
5. All species are very fast fliers and difficult to follow and photograph
Nature’s Pollination Strategy
Nature’s strategy for pollination of plants in North American is different than how we use
introduced honey bees for crop pollination that requires moving many hives to where we need
them for pollination. There is no hive or nest movement necessary for pollination in natural
systems. As native plants are scatter over the landscape of different plant associations, nests of
native bees are also scattered over the landscape found as burrows in the ground, tunnels in
wood and stems and in underground cavities sometimes created by small mammals. This is
how they survive in our urban and rural settings and thus the beginning point for their
conservation. Usually nest sites are close to where flowers grow providing abundant nectar and
pollen to raise baby bees. Foraging ranges vary from 50 meters for the small bees up to more
than a kilometer for bumblebees, similar to honey bees.
The Nature of Our Native Bees and Other Pollinators
Our native bees are not hive bees
Only honey bees live in large hives with thousands of workers and queens laying thousands of
eggs. Native bees are solitary. After mating, each female makes its own tunnel in the ground or
in wood beetle tunnels in logs or stems of plants to raise them baby bees. Consequently many
native bees are destroyed by movement of soil or wood debris during land development or soil
preparation for food production. Each mother bee may raise only 40 to 60 young per season.
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Native bees focus on collecting and storing ‘pollen’ for protein so they do not make surplus
honey although nectar is important as a key energy source. Native bees are better seen as
pollen bees. Surprisingly, bumblebees make their cells for storage and brood rearing out of
pollen, not honey. The native bees getting nectar and pollen from native plants. Thus native
bees have become the most effective and efficient pollinators of our native plants. Honey bees
cannot do this very well although they visit native plants for nectar. There is competition
between native bees and honey bees for nectar and pollen especially with bumblebees.
Fortunately, bumblebees wake up earlier than honey bees and forage under cool cloudy
conditions.
Native Pollinators are superbly adapted to our climate.
Our native bees are superbly adapted to climate and seasonal bloom cycle of native plants.
These adaptations make them very effective efficient pollinators of native plants and many
crops. Native bees are better at pollination for the following reasons:
Native bees use a unique behaviour called “buzz pollination” to harvest the pollen from flowers
that they visit. They clamp onto the base of the anthers of flowers and use their wing muscles
to generate ultrasonic vibration of the flowers to cause a mega explosion of pollen from the
flowers they visit including plant species that hide their pollen. This means that they can collect
more pollen per unit time and pollinate complex flowers like raspberry or plants with hidden
flower parts such as cranberry, blueberry and tomatoes and pepper in one visit that would
require many visits by honey bees.
Native bees are active at cooler temperatures pollinating crops when honey bees are still in
their hives. Some are active before sunrise, others pollinate after sunset. All species are highly
energy efficient. Bumblebees forage four hours longer per day than honeybees and are
commonly seen foraging under cloudy conditions. Honey bees do not fly much when cloudy
and cool, bumblebees commonly forage under cloudy skies.
Native bees are not inclined to sting.
Only a few bumblebees may become defensive and only if disturbed and do not attack like
hornets or honey bees. Bees will not sting when foraging and will always flee if disturbed. They
sting only if stepped on or pinched. However, the issue of stinging can be avoided by learning to
take notice of their presence and teaching young children and immune sensitive persons to do
the same. Native bee researchers confirm that they never get stung studying these bees.
Native Bee Nesting Habits- A Starting Point for Conservation and Habitat
Assessment
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Mated solitary female native bees nest and raise their young in four different places which
become important features to observe when assessing pollinator habitat and features to
provide when creating habitat. All four types can be found in most locations where native bees
live.
THE GROUND NESTERS: Seventy per cent of BC native bees nest in the ground. These bees dig
tunnels into soil where they raise their young in special made cells thus know as miner or digger
bees. Some species are gregarious and nest in the concentrated aggregations a few meters in
diameter. Some species share burrows.
THE WOOD TUNNEL NESTERS using abandoned tunnels made by wood boring beetles found in
old logs or snags or will adapt to using any tunnel like situation e.g under shingles of a roof or
wall, in machinery etc. Thirty per cent of BC native bee species nest in wood tunnels and
include our orchard mason bees (Osmia sp) and leaf cutter bees (Megachile sp.).
THE PITHY STEM TUNNEL NESTERS use plants like raspberry, blackberry, elder berry or sumac.
Bees that nest and overwinter in pithy stems include our small carpenter bees (Ceratina sp.)
THE (fist sized) BELOW GROUND CAVITY NESTERS i.e. 16 species of semi-social bumblebees
(rodent nests, compost piles, insulation, leaves, straw, wood chips, grass tussocks and thickets.
New Research Elevates the Importance of BC’s Flower Visiting Flies in
Pollination of Native Plants and Crops
Recent research confirms that flower visiting flies pollinate as much as the bee pollinators plus
they provide pest control in our gardens with fly maggots eating aphids etc. Thus the roll and
importance of flies has be grossly and erroneously underestimated. Flies are represented by
160,000 species worldwide. 18,200 species are in Canada. There are at least 71 families that
visit flowers. The important ones include: Syrphidae, Bombyliidae, Tachinidae, Muscidae,
Calliphoridae, Empididae, Chironomidae, Culicidae (male mosquitoes are important
pollinators!), Ceratopogonidae (no-see-ums are the ONLY pollinator of cocoa!!) The most
important group fly pollinators are the syrphids, 490 species in Canada, 310 known species in
BC. Source: Andrew Young, PhD Candidate, Carleton University. Pers. Comm. March 2016,
.
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Learning Resources to Name and Indentify Garden
Pollinators
Mader, Eric, Matthew Shepherd, Mace Vaughan, Scott Hoffman Black, Gretchen LeBuhn. 2011.
Attracting Native Pollinators-Protecting North America’s Bees and Butterflies. Storey
Publishing. MA. 371 pp. Available from your instructor.
See Page 21-72 Part 1.3 Meet the Pollinators. ID and biology of all pollinators.
See Pages 215-261 Part 3. Bees of North America
Wilson, J.S. and Messinger Carril, O.J. 2015. The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North
America’s Bees. Princeton Univ. Press. 288 Considered the best guide to native bees in gardens
in North America.
Gordon W. Frankie, Robbin W. Thorp , Rollin E. Coville , Barbara Ertter. 2014. California Bees
and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists. Heyday Press, CA 299 pp.
Check out the whole website at http://www.helpabee.org/ This is the text for the Bee
Taxonomy Course at UC Berkeley with excellent photos and anatomical keys to common
genera. Almost all the information applies to BC.
Laurence Packer’s Bee Bar Coding Lab photos of our 800 spp of native bees in Canada including
the 210 species on Vancouver Island http://www.yorku.ca/bugsrus/resources/galleries/boc
Williams et al 2014. Bumblebees of North America http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10219.html
Learning Resources for Flower Visiting Fly ID
Miranda, G.F.G, Young, A.D., Locke, M.M., Marshall, S.A., Skevington, J.H., Thompson, F.C. 2013.
Key to the Genera of Nearctic Syrphidae. Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification No. 23,
23 August, 2013. A Photographic Key to genera is available online
http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/bsc/ejournal/mylmst_23/mylmst_23.html. doi:
10.3752/cjai.2013.23
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