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News

  • Forestry Field Trip to Learn More About Beech Leaf Disease

    Steven Junkin
    May 19, 2023

    Forest Society Foresters Wendy, Steve and Gabe all recently attended a field visit to Bear Brook State Park to see the beech leaf disease outbreak ...

  • Floodplain provides wildlife habitat during high water

    Dave Anderson, Ellen Kenny
    May 2, 2023

    The silver maple floodplain forest is specifically adapted to withstand the extreme flooding regime of the larger rivers in NH.

  • 2023 Tree Farmer of the Year: Colleen O'Neill

    Rita Carroll
    April 5, 2023

    Langwood Tree Farm has participated in the N.H. Tree Farm program since 1979

Forestry Friday: Why Bees Need Forests Too

Gabe Roxby
April 7, 2023
Wildlife
Forestry
A bee in pollen on a flower.
A trout lily mining bee. (Photo: Nevin Cullen 2022)

Did you know that our forests provide important habitat for bees and other pollinators?  At a recent forestry meeting, Forest Society foresters learned all about this topic from Kass Urban-Mead of the Xerces Society.   While we often think of bees as only utilizing flowers in our gardens or fields, our forests provide critical habitat features to these important pollinators. 

A new study estimates that one-third of our native bees in the northeast are forest specialists, taking advantage of the nectar and pollen produced by trees and spring ephemerals in the forest understory.  Another third are specialists to open habitats such as fields and meadows, and the final third are generalists, using both types of habitat. 

Spring Beauty mining bee rests on a white spring beauty flower.
A Spring Beauty mining bee (Andrena erigeniae) on a spring beauty flower in Vermont. (Photo: Emily May)
Did you know that there are nearly 4,000 species of native bees in North America and over 20,000 species worldwide? Bumble bees are probably our most well-known social native bee, and some will overwinter and nest in leaf litter on forest floors, as well as collect forest pollen.

Most native species are solitary bees, where only a single female bee takes care of a nest, and is only active for only 4-6 weeks each year. Solitary bees emerge as adults, create a nest (commonly in cavities, soil, or dead wood), and must collect enough pollen to feed the next generation of bees in the few weeks before they die. They lay eggs on the pollen they collect, which hatch, eat the pollen, and then overwinter (often as pupae).

A bee (Andrena distans) on cranesbill flower.
Andrena distans on cranesbill. (Photo: Heather Holm)
Many species have only one generation each year, so the offspring won’t emerge until the same time the next year.  Many of our forest-associated species are active in spring, when canopy trees are blooming and light can easily reach the forest floor.

Because solitary bees have short flight periods, they sometimes specialize on plants that bloom during their adult lives. Many forest-associated solitary bees are active in spring and specialize on spring ephemeral flowers.  For example, the trout-lily mining bee almost exclusively feeds its young on trout lily pollen!

Sustainable management of our forests for health and diversity can benefit many species of wildlife, including bees and other pollinators!

 

  • See more pollinator photos on Heather Holm's website. Holm is author of Pollinators of Native Plants, Bees, Wasps, and Common Native Bees of the Eastern United States.

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Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests54 Portsmouth St.Concord, NH 03301
Phone: 603.224.9945Fax: 603.228.0423info@forestsociety.org
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