A Pictorial Guide to Bees
of the
Humboldt Bay Dunes
by Susan E. Nyoka
Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge
RELEASE 1.0 - July 2004
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How to Recognize a Bee
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Sweat Bee    Mason Bee    Carpenter Bee    Wool-carder Bee    Mining Bee    Leaf-cutter Bee
Common Name: silver bee
Scientific Name: Habropoda miserabilis
Flight season: March- early June

Recognition characters: Large (15-21mm), robust bees with dense silvery-gray pile on the thorax, sparser on abdomen. Females carry pollen in scopae (brushes of specialized hair) located on the hind legs; males have white marking on lower face.
Female
 Male
Males emerge prior to the females, and can be observed as early as mid-March, swarming over open sand in search of females. Once located, many males will attempt to mate with a single female, forming a "mating ball", pictured below.
Rob_Irwin 039.jpg


Nest sites: Nests ending in a single cell are excavated in open sand to a depth of 40- 60 cm or more. Although females work alone to excavate their nests, aggregations of several to many nests may be located in discreet areas, probably due to optimal microclimate conditions at those sites.
Hm_nests.jpg

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Preferred flowers: 
willows, Salix ssp.
Hooker's willow (Salix hookeriana)

beach pea, Lathyrus littoralis
beach pea (Lathyrus littoralis)

California figwort, Scrophularia californica ssp. californica
California figwort (Scrophularia californica ssp. californica)