Greetings from beautiful Cache Valley in Northern Utah, home of
the USDA-ARS Pollinating Insects - Biology, Management and
Systematics Research Unit Have you ever, on a hot summer day, or
maybe early in the spring, stopped to watch the flowers for a
moment and noticed insects scrambling around on them? You
wonder, "Are they bees? They don't exactly look like bees to
me?" Another time, perhaps you are in your garden or out on your
ranch, you notice similar insects coming in and out of small
holes in the ground, or emerging from small holes in the side of
your house or barn, these may be carrying pollen on their legs
or hind ends. What are these insects? What are they doing? And
how do they know where to go to find the flowers? How do they
find their way back to their little holes? What is down inside
that hole? What happens to these insects in the winter when it
gets too cold for there to be any flowers? Are these insects
good or bad for my garden or my farm? Do they ever get sick?
These are questions the scie