🐝 The Apiary 🐝

The world's most widespread managed bee, responsible for pollinating one-third of our food. Lives in colonies of up to 60,000.

Native to Asia, these bees have developed remarkable defenses against the Asian giant hornet, forming 'hot defensive bee balls.'

Fuzzy, rotund, and beloved. Their buzz pollination technique shakes pollen loose from flowers that other bees cannot access.

Solitary bees that tunnel into wood to make their nests. Despite their size, they are gentle giants.

Named for their habit of using mud to construct their nests. Super-pollinators—one mason bee does the work of 100 honeybees.

Artists among bees, they cut perfect circles from leaves to line their nests. Essential alfalfa pollinators.

Solitary ground-nesters who emerge in spring, with striking tawny-orange fur. They dig tunnels in lawns and gardens.

Tiny metallic bees attracted to human perspiration for its salt. They come in stunning greens and blues.

Male orchid bees collect fragrances to attract mates, storing scents in specialized leg pouches.

Australian native with stunning blue stripes. Masters of buzz pollination, clinging to flowers and vibrating.

The cuckoos of the bee world—they lay eggs in other bees' nests and let them raise their young.

Named for scraping plant fuzz to line their nests. Males are unusually aggressive, defending flower patches.

Named for their extraordinarily long antennae, which can exceed their body length.

They line their underground nests with a cellophane-like secretion that's waterproof and antimicrobial.

Building enormous open-air combs high in trees across South Asia, they perform mesmerizing wave defenses.