Blog

Black and White bee

Most people you will ask will tell you they know of any one type of bee. The yellow and black bees that get an almost golden, honey like hue when the sunlight strikes their exoskeleton. These types of bees include the Africanized honey bee, bumble bee and carpenter bees. They may have nuanced differences in how they created but at first sight they are easily recognizable because of their characteristic yellow stripes on the abdomen.

Black and white bees must be an anomaly, right? No. They exist and they do not have some sort of mutation gene. They have been there right alongside the yellow and black species since time in memorial. In fact, when you look at the bee species there are quite a number of bees that feature interesting colors and nuances. Take for example the mason bee that has metallic blue/green colors merged into its dark body or the completely black Wallace bee, the giant bee species. These clearly show there is more color and pomp to bees than just the usual yellow and black.

The black and white bees

The black and white bees are also known as leaf cutter bees. They derive their name from the black and white hairs they feature on their thorax and that also appear at the bottom of their abdomens. These bees are distinct because of their large heads and equally massive jaws that they use to cut off pieces of leave used to seal off their nests.

The role of the black and white bee is to cross pollinate plants and they are excellent at their job. They will carry the pollen on their abdomen instead of on the back like you notice with the bumble bees. To be efficient at their role they have to be extremely fast. They are very similar in characteristics and mannerisms and even anatomy to the mason bees.

These bees are frequent visitors to bee hotels which have been set up by environment conscious gardeners.  Most commercial growers prefer to use black and white bees to pollinate their crops especially carrots, blue berries, alfalfa and onions among other plant. These bees are actually quite harmless to human being and their benefits to your environment are enormous. For this reasons you may not have to worry too much about having them buzzing around your outdoors. Their only downside is the cutting of leaves which may minimize the aesthetics of your plants with time. Most people looking to get rid of them prefer to set up a bee hotel further away from their crops and plants to lure the bees away.