Greenbelt, MD
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About Bee City USA
Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA work to galvanize communities to sustain pollinators, in
particular the more than 3,600 species of native bees in this country, by increasing the
abundance of native plants, providing nest sites, and reducing the use of pesticides. Bee City
USA and Bee Campus USA are initiatives of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.
About Native Pollinators
Bees transfer pollen between flowers, enabling the incredible diversity of plants on our planet
to fruit and reproduce. Pollinators are keystone species in essentially every ecosystem on earth,
facilitating the reproduction of over 85 percent of all flowering plants and over two-thirds of
agricultural crops.
In addition to the domestic honey bee (Apis mellifera), a species brought to North America
from Europe, there are more than 3,600 species of bees native to the United States. These wild
bees are generally quite different than the domesticated honey bee–most of them live solitary
lives, with a single female doing all of the work to build a nest, collect pollen and nectar, and
lay eggs.
Unlike the honey bee, which nests above-ground and can be managed in wooden hives, more
than two out of three wild bees live underground in nests that can be hard to spot from the
surface! Some dig down and lay their eggs several feet below ground, while others make nests
near the soil surface or in hollowed out plant stems above ground. While bees are the most
important pollinator, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, wasps, and hummingbirds also contribute
to pollination.
Research has shown significant declines in native pollinator population sizes and ranges
globally with up to 40 percent of pollinator species on Earth at risk of extinction in the coming
years as a result a variety of environmental stressors including habitat loss and degradation,
exposure to pesticides, diseases and pathogens, and climate change.
Pollinator Conservation Resources
Bee City USA Resources
Additional Resources
USGS Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab
National Pollinator Week Presentation 2021 Slides and Notes