Chart: active months of Houston native bees
Active months of native bees around Houston
Click on image for the chart depicting the months of greatest activity for certain native bees in the Houston-Galveston region.
For questions about identifying bees, ask an expert at BugGuide. Create an account at http://bugguide.net in order to upload your images to the site. If the relevant structures of the insect are in focus (legs, thorax, abdomen, and wings) bee experts should be able to identify the insect in your picture.
Backyard Guides
Backyard Guide: Houston
The backyard guide provides informtion on some of the most common bee species you may encounter in your garden. With practice you will be able to recognize the different bee species visiting your plants. You will be amazed at the diversity in your own backyard!
Backyard Guide: Denver
Colorado has the 5th highest diversity of bees in the United States, and possibly higher. Colorado hosts a colorful bee fauna that includes species that are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, brown, and/or black, and that range in size from the tiny Perdita salicis (3.5 mm, about the size of a gnat) to the large queens of Bombus nevadensis (26.5 mm, larger than a quarter).
See Colorado Native Bee for fantastic photos and information, they are dedicated to providing education about native bees.
A comprehensive list of documented bee species in Colorado can be found in the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History’s “The Bees of Colorado” by Virginia L. Scott, John S. Ascher, Terry Griswold, and César R. Nufio.
