Maryland's Wild Acres Creating a Wild Backyard - Bees Bees come
in all colors, shapes and sizes from the large carpenter bees to
the tiny Perdita minima. Over 4,000 species of native bees can
be found in the United States along with hundreds of non-native
bees like the honey bee. Honey bees were introduced from Europe
and now assist our native bees and other pollinators with the
task of pollinating flowering plants. Surprisingly, honey bees
are not effective pollinators for many native plants like
cherries, blueberries and cranberries. So, attracting a variety
of bees to your yard, particularly those which are native, will
help with all of your pollinating needs. Bees are considered to
be insects, and like all other insects, bees have a head, thorax
and abdomen. Bees also have six legs and two pairs of wings. On
their head, bees have well developed antennae that allow them to
feel and “smell” as well as five eyes: two large, compound eyes
and three smaller, simple eyes. Bees also have mandibles used
for a var