When you mention bees, most people envision the domesticated Western Honey Bee, Apis mellifera. Our common cultural understanding of "bees" usually centers on this one species. Their specific type of hive living and the production of large stores of honey are especially prominent images circulating in our culture. Few people realize these features are extrememly uncommon. Most bee species are solitary animals that nest in the ground or hollow stems. As highly managed, cultivated agricultural animals, Western Honey Bees are more like insect versions of dairy cows than they are like the vast majority of other bee species. Domesticated honey bees were introduced to the Americas, and many other places in the world, from the Middle East and North Africa. The only other domesticated honey bee is the Eastern Honey Bee, Apis cerana, which is farmed in much smaller numbers in parts of Asia.
Bees, in their great diversity and numbers, are vital to the production of our food, pollinating 75% of the fruits, nuts and vegetables we eat. Our emphasis on the Western Honey Bee distorts the reality that much of this pollination is done by wild native bees, who are up to four times more efficient at pollination than domesticated honey bees. Bees pollinate 80% of all flowering plants, making them our most important pollinators and a keystone species vital to the health of all terrestrial ecosystems.
Bee stings often dominate our culture’s perception of human-bee interactions. The truth is, most bees are non-aggressive and will not sting humans. Well over half don’t even have stingers, or have stingers so small they can't penetrate your skin. The vast majority of bees are furry vegetarians who tend not to sting humans, and if they do, it’s only when they are physically harassed. Many are solitary, nesting in the ground, hollow stems, old logs, and stone piles all around us. Some visit us to gently lick the salt they need from our sweat. We encounter a great diversity of wild native bees every day in warm weather, yet we notice few of these interactions. Sometimes we don’t even recognize bees as bees.
These ubiquitous, important animals are essentially strangers to us. Current research shows that about 25% of wild native bees are at risk of extinction globally, with one-third of North American species at risk. They need our help.
This interdisciplinary art and ecology project was created to increase awareness and challenge misleading cultural perceptions of wild native bees. Increased public awareness lays the groundwork for motivating people to reduce or reverse harmful activities associated with declining bee numbers. Through artwork, writing, habitat creation, and science-based information, this project brings new perspectives about these vital and remarkable animals. The project also provides information and instructions to help people create their own native bee habitats to improve conditions for these vitally important animals.