Bees and Bumble Bees
To make it easier to picture the various types of bees and bumble bees in the wild, browse the images below.
The honey bees, apis mellifera, originally from Europe, can be found all over North America, They are a social insect living in large groups called hives. They are made up of females, called workers, who collect the nectar and pollen that feed the hive, a queen, whose sole responsibility is to lay eggs, and the males, or drones, whose only responsibility is to fertilize the queen.
The common eastern bumble bee (bombus impatiens) is a nectar feeder and likes thistles, goldenrods, pickerelweeds, and azaleas. It is medium tongued and can be found from Ontario down the eastern United States to Florida and west to Michigan, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, and Wyoming, from temperate forests to great plains and backyards.
Brown-Belted Bumble Bee
A brown-belted bumble bee was feeding on the pickerelweed flowers in Tampa, Florida's Lettuce Lake Park.
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Pickereled Bumble Bee
A common eastern bumble bee feeds on pickerel weed flowers in Tampa, Florida's Lettuce Lake Park.
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Carpenter Bee
A carpenter bee feeds on a pickerel weed flower in Tampa, Florida's Lettuce Lake Park
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Goldenrod Feeders
Honey bees feeding on wand goldenrod in the Cockroach Bay Aquatic Reserve in Ruskin, Florida.
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Common Eastern Bumble Bee
A common eaqstern bumble bee hovers over an azalea before landing to collect pollen and nectar.
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Bombus Impatiens
The common eastern bumble bees were swarming all over the azaleas in Riverview, Florida collecting nectar and pollen in February of 2017.
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The Swarm
The honey bees (apis mellifera) were swarming all over this wand goldenrod (solidago stricta) in a field in Cockroach Bay Reserve, in Ruskin, Florida in mid November of 2016 collecting nectar and pollen.
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My Honey BW
The honey bees (apis mellifera) were swarming all over this wand goldenrod (solidago stricta) in a field in Cockroach Bay Reserve, in Ruskin, Florida in mid November of 2016 collecting nectar and pollen.
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My Honey
The honey bees (apis mellifera) were swarming all over this wand goldenrod (solidago stricta) in a field in Cockroach Bay Reserve, in Ruskin, Florida in mid November of 2016 collecting nectar and pollen.
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Bumble Bees Can Fly
A bumble bee hovers over a pickerelweed flower (pontederai cordata) it has been gathering nectar from at Lettuce Lake Park in Tampa, Florida.
This particular bumble bee (bombus terricola terricola), is a nectar feeder and is also known as the yellow-banded bumble bee. It is short tongued and a nectar robber and can be found from Nova Scotia to Florida and west to British Columbia, Montana, and South Dakota.
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Bee Suprised
Sunflower with a male metallic green sweat bee (agapostemon) visitor near the waters edge at E.G. Simmons Park in Ruskin, Florida.
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Polination
Bee pollinating flower at Lettuce Lake Park in Tampa, Florida.
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