Recently I’ve become very interested in bees - especially the solitary native bees. Everyone is familiar with honey bees (which were imported from Europe), but it’s the several hundred bee species that are native to Texas that do most of the hard work of pollination. They include leaf-cutters, mason bees, mining bees, squash bees, and sunflower bees. Unlike honey bees which live in hives, solitary bees do not defend their nest sites so they are less likely to sting.
They need a wide variety of flowering plants for nectar. Most are ground dwelling, but some prefer to raise their young in small holes found in deadwood, masonry - or bee boxes.
Could this possibly be my first Native Texas solitary bee? I’ve read that they’re small - and this little critter certainly is teeny-tiny. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to put on my bifocals to get a closer look at it. So I will wait for friends who are better educated (and have better eyesight) to chime in. My fingers are crossed… because the bee box is up and I’d love to have a resident.
