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Simon @Pixabay

Solitary Bees

When most people think of bees, they picture honey bees: black-and-yellow striped insects living in hives, producing honey, and working under a queen. But in reality, the bee world is far more diverse. There are over 20,000 known species of bees worldwide, and more than 90% of them are solitary.

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David Hablützel @Pixabay

WHAT ARE SOLITARY BEES?

Solitary bees - such as carpenter bees, leafcutter bees, and mason bees - live very different lives from honey bees or bumble bees. Each female solitary bee is fertile and builds her own nest, without the help of worker bees or a queen. There’s no division of labour in these species, and they don’t produce honey or beeswax.​Instead, solitary bees collect pollen and nectar to feed their young. They pack these resources into small nest compartments (called cells) and lay one egg per cell before sealing it off. Once this provisioning is complete, the adult bee typically dies, having left all the food her larva will need to develop into the next generation.​

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Dede @Pixabay

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Barbara P. Meister @Pixabay

WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT?

Solitary bees are incredibly important pollinators. Some species have evolved special body structures for carrying pollen, making them highly efficient at their job. In fact, a handful of solitary bee species are even managed for commercial pollination because of their effectiveness.

WHERE DO THEY NEST?

These bees nest in a variety of places. Many are fossorial, meaning they dig tunnels in the ground. Others use hollow plant stems, twigs, or holes in wood to build their nests. Within these nests, females often lay male eggs closer to the entrance and female eggs deeper inside.While each female builds and provisions her own nest, some solitary bee species are gregarious—they prefer to nest close to others of their kind. These groups of nests are called aggregations and can sometimes look like colonies, but there’s no social structure linking the bees together. In some cases, bees will even share a nest entrance, forming communal groups where each female still takes care of her own offspring independently. Sharing a nest may help reduce the risk of predators and parasites.

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Heisabe @Pixabay

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David Hablützel @Pixabay

Despite being bees, solitary species are not aggressive and rarely sting—some don’t even have functional stingers. Their peaceful nature, combined with their essential role in ecosystems as pollinators, makes them both fascinating and important contributors to biodiversity.

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