Canada's Bees

Believe it or not, Canada has about 2,000 species of bees! There are not only honey and bumble-bees but also leafcutter, carpenter, sweat, mason, orchard, and digger bees to name a few. All are important pollinators.

You may attract more than butterflies to your garden — other pollinators, such as bees, may also appreciate your efforts.

<p>Roughly how many species of bees are there in Canada?<br>(a) 45<br>(b) 130<br>(c) 475<br>(d) 800</p>

Get to know Canada’s 16 bee families, including the masons, the nomads and the plasterers, and why they have such interesting names. You’ll also discover answers to mysteries like why our bees aren’t as aggressive as more social species like honeybees.

Some thoughtful gardening and a little planning is all it takes to help our native bees. Follow these tips to provide habitat for a diversity of bee species:

Approximately one-third of all human food is prepared from plants that depend on animal pollinators — and bees make the biggest contribution. The most familiar bee is the honey bee (Apis mellifera), which was introduced from Europe almost 400 years ago. Although we may first picture the honey bee when we think of pollinators, our native bees, such as the bumble bee or the mason bee, are often actually more effective and efficient pollinators. Unlike the social honey bee, which shares labour and caretak-ing of its young, most of our native bees are solitary. This means that each female prepares her own nest, provisions it with food (nectar and pollen) for her offspring, lays her eggs and provides little further care.