The ultimate bee book for bee enthusiasts and experts alikeThe Bees in Your Backyard provides an engaging introduction to the roughly 4,000 different bee species found in the United States and Canada, dispelling common myths about bees while offering essential tips for telling them apart in the field.The book features more than 900 stunning color photos of the bees living all around us-in our gardens and parks, along nature trails, and in the wild spaces between. It describes their natural history, including where they live, how they gather food, their role as pollinators, and even how to attract them to your own backyard. Ideal for amateur naturalists and experts alike, it gives detailed accounts of every bee family and genus in North America, describing key identification features, distributions, diets, nesting habits, and more.

1 INTRODUCTION 71.1 Is This a Bee? 8
1.2 Bee Names 12
1.3 The Bee Lifecycle 14
1.4 Where Do Bees Live? 17
1.5 Bee Sociality 18
1.6 What Do Bees Eat? 21
1.7 A Bee's Enemies 22
1.8 A Bee's Body 27
1.9 How to Study Bees 34
1.10 Identifying Bees 39
Key to the Chapters of this Book 44
1.11 Appreciating Bees 48
2 PROMOTING BEES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD 50
2.1 Bees as Pollinators 52
2.2 Providing Habitat 55
2.3 Providing Food 60
3 ANDRENIDAE 70
Identification Tips 72
3.1 Andreninae 77
3.2 Protandrenini and Panurgini 82
3.3 Perditini 86
3.4 Calliopsis 90
3.5 Oxaeinae 92
4 COLLETIDAE 96
Identification Tips 98
4.1 Colletinae 101
4.2 Hylaeus 105
4.3 Diphaglossinae 108
5 MELITTIDAE 111
Identification Tips 112
6 HALICTIDAE 118
Identification Tips 120
6.1 Agapostemon 126
6.2 Halictus 129
6.3 Lasioglossum 132
6.4 Augochlorini 137
6.5 Nomiinae 141
6.6 Rophitinae 145
7 MEGACHILIDAE 149
Identification Tips 152
7.1 Lithurginae 159
7.2 Osmia 162
7.3 Hoplitis 167
7.4 Other Osmiini 170
7.5 Anthidium 176
7.6 Other Anthidiini 179
7.7 Megachile 184
8 APIDAE 189
Identification Tips 193
8.1 Xylocopa 203
8.2 Ceratina 206
8.3 Exomalopsini 209
8.4 Emphorini 212
8.5 Common Eucerini 218
8.6 Peponapis and Xenoglossa 224
8.7 Other Eucerini 227
8.8 Anthophorini 232
8.9 Centris 238
8.10 Bombus 242
8.11 Apis mellifera 246
8.12 Euglossa 251
9 POLLEN THIEVES 254
Identification Tips 256
9.1 Cuckoo Bees: Apidae 262
9.2 Cuckoo Bees: Halictidae 274
9.3 Cuckoo Bees: Megachilidae 275
Appendix: Guide to the
Pronunciation of Bee Names 278
Index 279
Photographic Acknowledgments 288