Types of Bees
Now, can you guess how many types of bees there are? ......Well?
What about worldwide?
Alright, here is the answer:
There are around 25,000 known species of bee worldwide (about 4000 species in the US, and over 250 species in Britain)....and there are probably more to be discovered!
These 25,000 species can be divided into over 4000 genera (types of bees) belonging within 9 groups or 'families', all under the banner - or 'Super-family' - 'Apoidea'.
Apoidea also includes 'sphecoid wasps', from which bees are believed to be descended.
Firstly, if you would like to read some general resources about the different bee species:
Click here to read about honey bees.
See this link to read about bumblebees
Click this link to find out about solitary bees.
However, this page provides some introductory information.
Here is a table outlining the types of bees by 'family' or 'taxa', as follows:
|
Super-family: Apoidea (Note: This family also includes 'Sphecoid Wasps', not detailed here) |
|
|---|---|
| Family | Notes |
| Apidae | Includes: honey bees, bumblebees and stingless bees. |
| Megachilidae | Mostly solitary bees, including leafcutter and mason bees. |
| Andrenidae | Mining bees. A large family of bees, with many species. It includes the genera 'Andrena', with other 1300 species alone. |
| Colletidae | Believed to consist of around 2,000 species, and includes plasterer and yellow-faced bees. |
| Halictidae | Often called 'sweat bees', these are smallish bees, mostly dark coloured, but some having green, yellow or red markings. |
| Melittidae | A small family of bees in Africa, with around 60 species belonging to 4 genera. |
| Meganomiidae | Small bee family of about 10 species in 4 genera. Found in Africa. |
| Dasypodaidae | Originally called 'dasypodidae'. Small bee family found in Africa, with more than 100 species in 8 genera. |
| Stenotritidae | Small bee family with around 21 species in 2 genera. Found in Australia. Originally part of the 'Colletidae' family. |
Note that some writings do not refer to Meganomiidae or
Dasypodaidae as 'higher taxa', where as, APIDAE is split into "APIDAE,
Apinae", "APIDAE, Xylocpinae" and "APIDAE, Nomadinae".
As I said, there are about 25,000 types of bees, and I’m not going to
pretend I can write about all of them on this site! Instead, I’m going
to focus on the types of bees people most commonly have a query about.
But
before I do that, let me just tell you that if you want to know where
bees fit into the grand scheme of things, then take a look at this fun
link about the insect order
'Hymenoptera',
which actually includes other types of insects, including ants. I hope
you like the drawings!
There are also many books available from Amazon which can help you
learn all about bees, from bee identification, to beekeeping books, as
well as posters....
For US visitors, I recommend
For UK visitors, I recommend
In the meantime, you may like to read on for an overview of the bees most people want to know about.
Here they are:
The Honey Bee -(Family: Apidae)
Honey bees are classed as ‘social’ bees, as they live in colonies usually consisting of around 50,000 – 60,000 workers.
There are 10 types of honey bee world wide, and one hybrid: the Africanized bee. The European Honey Bee (pictured) Apis Mellifera is commonly kept by beekeepers in the West, who then harvest their honey.
For more information about honey bees,
click here.
As with many types of bees, honey bees have been experiencing problems, and you may have heard of Colony Collapse Disorder or the
'missing bees'
phenomenon. Honey bees play an important role, along with beekeepers, in conservation. Learn more
here.
Honey bees are also used extensively in crop
pollination
too, and along with other bees, they help to put food on our plates.
The Bumblebee (Family: Apidae)
Most bumblebee colonies are fairly small, from 50 to 400 workers, but usually around 120 to 200. Pictured left is Bombus lucorum - The White-tailed bumblebee.Most species are ‘social', but there are also 'social parasite' species, known as 'cuckoo bumblebees'. These parasitic bumblebees inhabit the nests of other bumblebee hosts.
Bumblebees are also excellent pollinators of all kinds of flowers, and are a welcome and familiar site in gardens. Their efficiency as pollinators is partially down to their furry body shape, but also because they have the ability to
'buzz pollinate'.
To read more about bumblebees generally, take a look at my section about
bumblebees.
Leafcutter and Mason bees (Family: Megachilidae)
These types of bees are solitary bees. With solitary bees, usually, a single female mates, then constructs a nest alone, and provides for the egg cells that will become larvae.
However, some solitary bees in one sense, do live in a simple form of society (or social group) in that a few individual bees may nest close to each other, and in some cases, even share nest guarding and foraging duties!
Mason bees like to make nests in crevices, sometimes in old mortar, where as leaf cutter bees like hollow stems and ready made holes in wood.
Here is a nice little picture of a leafcutter bee, that has neatly cut away a piece of leaf it will use for constructing its egg cells. Note, that leafcutter bees will in no way harm the plant from which it has removed the segment of leaf.
And after all, we humans don't worry when we dead head roses, or prune our shrubs, do we?
Learn more about
leafcutter bees.
There's also more information about
mason bees .
Solitary bees are increasingly being reared for commercial
bee pollination.
This is happening with bumblebees too, although I wish they would first sort out the environmental factors linked with bee decline, such as pesticide use.
Digger Bees and Carpenter Bees (Family: Apidae –originally, they were classified in the family ‘Anthophoridae’)
These are also solitary bees, and are good pollinators.
Not surprisingly, digger bees usually make their nests in soil. They have hairy bodies, and can be up to 3cm long!
Carpenter bees vary. Some species in the USA, for example, may have a ginger brown, hairy body, or have predominantly black shiny bodies. This picture I took (left), is of a carpenter bee species that is found in Italy and some other southern European countries. It's called a 'Violet Carpenter Bee' - Xylocopa violacea. It likes to nest in old wood. Recently, it has been spotted in the UK, but is a very recent arrival. You can learn more about these kinds of bees on my link about
carpenter bees.
Mining Bees (Family: Andrenidae)
Not to be confused with 'Digger Bees', Mining bees belong to a different family of bees altogether - and it's a huge family of bees, consisting of thousands of types of bees across the world. Mining bees are solitary, although females usually build nests quite close to each other.
From the name, you probably guessed that mining bees excavate tunnels and cells under-ground. If you're lucky, you may see evidence of them in your garden: little mounds of earth in lawns, borders, or even in pots that look a bit like worm casts. In general, they seem to prefer sandy soil. They will not cause any damage, and indeed, mining bees should be welcomed in the garden, as again, they are not only enchanting little creatures, they are also valuable pollinators of plants and flowers. Pictured here is the Tawny Mining Bee – Andrena fulva, a species found in Europe.
Learn more about
mining bees.
Stingless Bees in the family Apidae
Mostly found in tropical climates, a fascinating range of species, with diverse feeding and nesting habits. Read more about Stingless Bees.
Learn more about
honey bees.
Find out how they
make honey,
or learn about the
health benefits of honey.
There's also information about
swarming.
Learn more about bumblebees.
Learn about the bumblebee
life cycle.
and about
bumblebee nests.
You may have heard a lot about
'honey bee deaths'
and
'missing bees'.
Find out about the problems faced by our different types of bees and why and
how we need to help them, as well as other bees.
Learn more about the
plant pollination process.
Or find out how
flowers attract insects
such as bees, to ensure they are pollinated.
I hope you'll enjoy learning about the different types of bees and bee-related topics. I'm adding more content every day, so keep coming back!
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