Busy Bees in Your Garden November 20, 2010

Did you know that the majority of bees living and pollinating in Arizona are not honey bees, Africanized or not, but rather solitary native bees more than 600 species in the Tucson basin alone! These little-known and often maligned creatures range in size from small, blue orchard mason bees to big, black carpenter bees. Considered keystone species in any ecosystem, they are important pollinators of desert plants and many commercial fruit, vegetable and forage crops. Bee expert Dr. Steve Buchmann and landscape designer Greg Corman discuss our harmless native bees and how to encourage them in urban gardens from the use of appropriate native plants to the construction of constructing nesting habitats from recycled materials.