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  1. Community IPM
  2. Public Health IPM
  3. Bees
Bees

Stephen L. Buchmann, Stacey Bealmear, Scott Prajzner, Vicki Wojcik

WildHoneyBeesCommunity
Section Shortcuts
Identification
Leafcutter and Mason Bees
Bumble Bees
Honey Bees
Sweat Bees
Mining Bees
Long-horned Bees
Squash Bees
Carpenter Bees
Yellow-faced or Masked Bees
Cuckoo Bees
Publications
Identification
Bees, like other Hymenoptera, have three body segments; a head, thorax, and abdomen. The head has the compound and simple eyes, segmented paired antennae, and mouthparts including mandibles for biting, and the proboscis for drinking nectar. The thorax bears the legs and four wings (two forewings and two hind-wings coupled by tiny hooks). The abdomen contains digestive organs and the sting in females.
Bees
Female bees have special pollen-carrying hairs (scopa) usually on the legs, or in the case of leafcutters, under the abdomen. Honey bees and bumble bees carry pollen packed tightly into a ball on pollen baskets (corbiculae), concave areas on their hind legs.

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Leafcutter and Mason bees
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Family: Megachilidae. Head as broad as thorax; large mandibles; black body with pale bands on abdomen (metallic green or blue for Osmia); scopa under abdomen; 7 - 20 mm. Solitary, nest in beetle holes or wood nesting blocks, some in soil. Female Megachile cut circular pieces from leaf margins to form larval cells. Other species collect mud (Osmia) or resin as nesting materials.

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Bumble bees
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Family: Apidae. Robust, hairy colorful bees; black body covered with black, yellow, orange or whitish hair bands; pollen baskets on hind legs; 10 – 28 mm.

Bumble Bees live in social colonies; nesting underground, under boards or rodent burrows. They buzz pollinate flowers like tomatoes, which have pored anthers.


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Honey bees
Family: Apidae. Triangular - shaped head; black eyes and dark legs, golden brown hairs; orange abdomen with black stripes; concave areas, pollen baskets on hind legs; 15 - 19 mm.
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Large social colonies, 30,000 or more; live in manmade hives, tree hollows or rock outcrops. If you use a hand lens and look closely, honey bees actually have hairy eyes.

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Sweat bees
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Family: Halictidae. Diverse group including small brown or black bees with abdominal bands to vividly colorful metallic green and yellow. Pollencarrying hairs on hind legs; 3 - 12 mm. Parasitic forms often have red abdomens and lack pollen carrying hairs. Solitary, communal and semisocial soil nesters; some are attracted to salt in your sweat.

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Mining bees
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Family: Andrenidae. Black or dull metallic body often with brown or reddish hairs; usually elongate; scopa on upper regions of legs; 6 - 15 mm. Perdita diverse genus, bright yellow, black and whitish bees; 2 - 7 mm. Solitary or communal (some Macrotera spp.), nest in sand soils. Females have depressions (fovea) along their eyes that glisten due to short velvety hairs.

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Long-horned bees
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Family: Apidae. Usually robust and very hairy, dark body often with pale hair bands on abdomen; dense scopa on hind legs; males have very long antennae, as long as body; 7 – 20 mm. Solitary to communal ground nesting bees. Some genera and species are especially attracted to asters, sunflowers and mallows

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Squash bees
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Family: Apidae. Honey bee-sized (Peponapis) brownish bees with light spot on face; often long sharp mandibles; males with long antennae. They specialize on pollen and nectar of wild gourds and cultivated pumpkins; 14 - 18 mm. Solitary; ground-nesting often in pumpkin fields. Coarse dense scopa on hind legs.

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Carpenter bees
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Family: Apidae. Shiny dark black bees (golden green-eyed males in one species); sparse hairs on abdomen; robust with massive jaws; scopa on hind legs; 20 - 28 mm. Solitary to communal nest in dead tree trunks, Agave, Yucca and Sotol stalks. Other than bumble bee queens, the largest bees in AZ.

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Yellow-faced or masked bees
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Family: Colletidae. Slender; almost hairless black bees with scattered yellow markings. Bright facial stripes; no scopa as they carry pollen internally in the crop, sometimes called the honey stomach; 5 - 7 mm. Other bees in this family (Colletes spp.) are larger, fuzzy gray with distinctive heartshaped heads. Solitary bees; nesting in dead twigs and stems and beetle burrows.

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Cuckoo bees
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Family: Apidae. Slender and wasp-like; often with few hairs (will be branched hairs); red or black or yellow body, banded abdomens; Triepeolus is black and white with red legs; relatively thick antennae; no scopa; 5 - 18 mm. Males and females visit flowers for nectar but do not collect pollen. Females are cleptoparasites of other bees, laying their eggs in another bee’s nest. At least 10% of all Arizona bees are parasitic.

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Bee Publications
  • May 2016
    Wild Honey Bees in Community Environments – May 2016
    Publication (PDF, 1.04MB)
    Featuring Wild Honey Bees in Community Environments. The background on some common types of bees is discussed with suggestions on how to prevent bees from becoming too much of a pest in your life. Some bees can be beneficial while others can be harmful, identification plays a very important role in bee IPM.
  • Sep 2015
    Court Opinion on Sulfoxaflor with relation to Bees
    Publication (PDF, 206KB)
    This is a document from the United States Court of Appeals. This case is a challenge to the EPA’s approval of insecticides containing sulfoxaflor, which initial studies showed were highly toxic to honey bees
  • Aug 2015
    Pest-proofing Your Home
    Publication (PDF, 5MB)
    Authors: Dawn H. Gouge, Shaku Nair, Shujuan Li and Tim Stock
    Many pests encountered in homes and structures can be prevented by using simple techniques collectively known as “pest-proofing”. If done correctly, pest-proofing your home saves you money by reducing pest management costs, and more importantly, reduces potential pesticide exposure. This publication describes general indoor and outdoor pest-proofing measures and some of the major pests encountered in and around homes and structures.
  • May 2015
    EPA’s Proposal to Mitigate Exposure to Bees from Acutely Toxic Pesticide Products
    Publication (PDF, 534KB)
    This document discusses the EPA's proposed mandatory pesticide label restrictions to protect managed bees. The proposed requirements would not supersede existing, more restrictive product use specifications.
  • Jul 1999
    Growing Alfalfa for Seed in Arizona
    Publication (PDF, 29KB)
    Authors: Stephen H. Husman
    Due to worldwide shortages of non-dormant alfalfa seed, production opportunities and acreage have increased recently in central Arizona. This article gives some suggestions regarding growing alfalfa for seed in Arizona.
  • No Date
    Arizona Bee Identification Guide
    Publication (PDF, 761KB)
    Authors: Stephen L. Buchmann, Stacey Bealmear, Scott Prajzner, Vicki Wojcik
    A guide on how to Identify the bees most commonly found in Arizona, as well as some information regarding the role of bees.

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