#Cellophane Bee

[drhoz]

#2202 - Leioproctus sp. - Hairy Colletid Bee

Quite honeybee-like, but half the size. The genus includes the most common native bees in New Zealand, but are also widespread in Australia and temperate South America. Over half of Australia's bees are in the family.

The Colletidae also known as  plasterer bees or polyester bees, because of the cellophane-like sealant they apply to to ther nests from their mouthparts. All but one known species are solitary, but some will nest collectively.

Athenree Gorge, Aotearoa

[official-bee-posts]

Official bee post :(

Black oil beetle larvae, Meloe proscarabaeus, hitching a ride on bees. The bees are Colletes sp. and Halictus quadricinctus, respectively.

Female oil beetles in the genus Meloe lay their eggs in a burrow dug into the soil. Larvae hatch, find flowers to climb, and wait for bees to visit before climbing onto their bodies. When the bee returns to her nest, the larvae disembark and feed on the provisions (often pollen and nectar) and bee larvae in the nest. The larvae don’t harm the adult bees and only eat the larvae incidentally - they could survive on nest provisions alone.

Adult black oil beetle:

Photos 1-2 by hjallevad and 3 by carnifex

[celestialmacros]

Ground-nesting bee time! (Well, all the warm months are, but I see them mostly first thing in the spring before everything grows in.)

Unequal Cellophane Bee female in her nest (Colletes inaequalis)

March 13, 2024

Southeastern Pennsylvania

[herpsandbirds]

Is there any cutie patootie bee photo's that you've save in your files cuz I really need to see it 🥺

I'm low on Dopamine and Serotonin and I Really really need your help!! 🥺

Sure thing sugarplum. I have a few bees for you!

Texas Striped Sweat Bee (Agapostemon texanus), family Halictidae, San Francisco, CA, USA

photograph by Russ Aguilar

Cellophane-Cuckoo Bee (Epeolus sp.), family Apidae, San Francisco, CA, USA

photograph by Russ Aguilar

Yellow-faced Bumble Bee (Bombus vosnesenskii), family Apidae, San Francisco, CA, USA

photograph by Russ Aguilar

[a-muscle-the-size-of-your-fist]

Everyone has tags now!

Everyone Was Stoked; It Was Like The Whole School Was Totally Coked Or Something (𝕃𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕡𝕠𝕡 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕒𝕨 𝕄𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕤)

I'm Not A Girl I'm A Swarm Of Bees; Wrapped In A Skin Suit; Perfect Teeth (𝔼𝕕����𝕥𝕙)

Mr. Cellophane Should Have Been My Name 'Cause You Can Look Right Through Me; Walk Right By Me; And Never Know I'm There (𝔽𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣)

I'm Fired Up And Tired Of The Way That Things Have Been (𝔽𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 & 𝕃𝕚𝕡𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕜)

Game Face On; Hit The Pose Like Perfect! Smack My Face On The Pavement; Nurses! (𝕁𝕦𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕥)

Tiptoe Through The Window; By The Window That Is Where I'll Be; Come Tiptoe Through The Tulips With Me (𝕃𝕚𝕡𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕜)

In The Valley Of The Dolls We Sleep; Got A Hole Inside Of Me (ℙ𝕠𝕡𝕡𝕪)

You Take A Mortal Man And Put Him In Control; Watch Him Become A God! Watch People's Heads A-Roll! (𝕊𝕨𝕒𝕟)

So, I have become positively deranged for fandoms not on this blog. I have sort of made blogs for them but I don't intend on sharing until they're finished. I sort of doubt anyone here would be interested just based on fandoms but if you want to know you can ask!

At any rate, I'm trying to come back here, and against my better judgment, I'll be adding five-ish more characters!

Poppy from Poppy Playtime!

Edith Rose Sawyer/Heather Miller from Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D!

Foster Lambert and The Lipstick-Face Demon from Insidious! These two will come as a package deal and is post-Red Door.

Swan and Juliet Starling from Lollipop Chainsaw!

[wachinyeya]

Scientists Buzzing After Unique Native Bee Colonies Discovered Right on Their College Campus https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/scientists-buzzing-after-unique-native-bee-colonies-discovered-right-on-their-college-campus/

“””In a charming coincidence, a pair of bee and insect specialists from Washington College are buzzing with excitement about a unique and newly documented population of native bees right on their very own campus.

Although the large group of ground-nesting bees has been noticeable on one corner of the campus for years, recent identification of at least five different species all using the same area has sparked interest from researchers.

The section of the college green located in front of East and Middle Halls is a hotspot for these vital pollinators, with ground-nesting ‘mining’ bees from the Andrena and Colletes genera thriving on the hill at the base of the halls.

Recently, thanks to her keen eye and love of insects, photographer Pamela Cowart-Rickman realized that the area has multiple species of native mining bees all nesting together, something that has not been well documented.

Cowart-Rickman, who studied biology at WC as an undergrad and developed a love of insects has tentatively identified five different species that are all sharing the same nesting grounds. They include four different Andrena (mining bees), one Colletes (cellophane bees), and likely three cuckoo bees in the genus Nomada.

The Washington College site provides rare nesting habitat for multiple native bee species, several of which are uncommon and unidentified,” said Sam Droege from the US Geological Survey’s Bee Lab.

“We always talk about providing plants to support native bees and other pollinators, but we rarely think about providing adequate nesting habitat for their survival. These native bees provide beneficial pollination to fruiting trees and plants, not only on the College campus, but also the Chestertown community.”

“They have been nesting amongst and on top of each other for several years in this same location,” said Cowart-Rickman of the bees she has spotted. “The various Andrena have the largest nesting area and emerge first in late February. The Colletes have a smaller area and emerge later in late April.”

Cowart-Rickman devotes her free time to photographing insects and has been helping researchers identify and track populations. She has found and documented several species for MD Biodiversity, BugGuide, iNat, and researchers at the Canadian National Collection of Insects.

When she realized what she had stumbled upon right outside her own office building on campus, she reached out to Dr. Beth Choate, deputy director of the Washington College Center for Environment and Society. Choate, who has published research on the abundance of wild bee populations in urban and rural gradients, was also intrigued by the nesting sites Cowart-Rickman had found. The two decided to investigate further.

“On a nice day in the spring, you can see the male bees hovering right at grass level. There were hundreds of these males searching for a female to mate when we were out there,” said Choate.

Females create a small burrow in the ground for rearing young and a ball of pollen and nectar is placed in each to feed the larval bee when it emerges from the egg, Choate explained. Once the males and females mate, the female returns to her nest and lays the egg in the carefully constructed burrow to develop.

“Ground-nesting bees need bare, minimally covered ground in order to dig into the soil. They also prefer sunny and well-drained soil, but it will be interesting to learn what is unique about the soil in this space and why the aggregation has become so large,” said Choate.

“Since ground-nesting bees are solitary and do not form colonies, they generally aren’t as noticeable as this aggregation. Females often create nests near one another; however, an aggregation this large is unique.”

After seeing one of Cowart-Rickman’s nesting bee photos on iNat, and realizing the rarity of the site, Dr. Jordan Kueneman, a researcher with Project GNBee who is working on tracking ground-nesting bees at the Danforth Lab at Cornell University, reached out to Cowart-Rickman about possibly providing further research samples and information.

“We were very excited to learn about the ground-nesting bee aggregations at Washington College, for a myriad of reasons,” said Kueneman. “First, the size of the aggregation is substantial, and multiple species are utilizing areas of the overall site to nest. This scenario is ideal for understanding nesting requirements for bees and how those vary by species.

“Second,” Kueneman continued, “intermixed aggregations of nesting bees are particularly interesting to study from an ecological perspective, as the cost/benefits of varying nesting strategies and behavior can be more easily studied, particularly in the context of phenology, nest architecture, and risk of parasitism.”

He noted that due to its location, the Washington College aggregation can easily provide the opportunity for students and the public to learn about the biology of ground-nesting bees and the value they provide to the environment. He is also hopeful that knowledge of the history of the area and the site’s management can help inform how ground management practices on campus have impacted the population in the past and provide opportunities to explore how current management will impact this population in the future.

Research and monitoring of the aggregation will continue as teams from both schools work together to study what makes this site so appealing to multiple species of bees.

[smallestapplin]

Can I touch them?

-🔞

-🔞

This is based off a conversation me and Zed from @onestepbackwards had about @r0-boat beemas au.

🔞18+Only! Mdni! Proshippers DNI!🔞

Cw : wing play. Reader is GN

-

-

-

Being in the hive was a dream come true, yet despite how loving and accepting your mates are, you had one question.

Their wings seem sturdy yet fragile, could you touch them?

Their cellophane like wings always shine so brightly, casting beautiful colors when the light hits them just right.

Or how they flutter and buzz happily.

Your attention is always drawn to them, how they shine is always mesmerizing. None of the bee hybrids have noticed yet, only seeing their sweet royal and getting excited.

Currently you were walking with one of your drone mates, Jackie. The man was happily explaining the schedule of the day to you.

But your eyes couldn’t look away from his wings. Jackie was always a bit antsy or gets nervous easily, his wings would give it away, as when he gets nervous his wings twitch.

You walk behind him, eyeing the beautiful colors they make, when you decide what to do.

You speed up your steps a little, just to get right behind him as you carefully place a hand on his back, fingers gently caressing the base of his wings.

His reaction was instant, freezing, body quaking as he lets out an awfully loud whine. Clipboard hitting the ground with a clatter, as Jackie doubles over, kneeling on the ground, panting.

You nearly panic, fretting over the poor drone.

“Oh no! Jackie, sweetie are you okay!? Let’s get you up, can you stand?”

When you see his face though, your mouth snaps shut.

The bee hybrid’s face is completely flushed, eyes glossy and glazed with drool sliding down his chin. Your eyes trail lower, widening at the sight of the bulge pressing against his pants.

“Jackie?” You move you hand lower, trying to place it on his lower back to help him.

“W-wait-!! Mmph! Fuuu-!”

You jerk your hand back, looking at the downed drone with worry.

He’s heaving, breath coming out an harsh wheezes mingled with soft whines. His wings twitch sporadically as his body falls limp to the ground.

“I’m so sorry!”

You know what you’ve done, but you feel bad for making the poor thing drop like this.

Jackie, however, is loving every second! He had no idea his wings were so sensitive like that! And having you, his sweet royal touch them with such care, he wants more, he craves it.

He doesn’t even know if he can stand, or if he could face you with his likely messy face.

“M’fine! I-it’s…haah…just not feeling well, yeah!”

You pick up his clipboard, trying to hide your obvious staring. Licking your lips at seeing his poor green pants, with a large dark spot where his cock is straining against.

You look around the hallway, seeing that it’s just the two of you, though you’re not sure for how long.

Grabbing his arm, you softly shushing the whimpering drone.

“I got you, let’s get you to someplace you can rest.”

You barely manage to get the shaking man up, before the sound of footsteps echo.

A couple of other, worried looking drones appear, quickly taking Jackie from you and back to the rooms.

“Wait I should-“

“We are so sorry, Royal! But you’re running late, and the kings sent us as they were worried.”

“But Jackie-“

“He will be fine. Please, we are sorry, but come with us.”

Unbeknownst to you though, word got around quickly. All the drones, guards, and workers were beside themselves.

None of them ever thought their wings could be so sensitive! Though, most were jealous Jackie got to experience it from you first.

It took him all day to recover, mind reeling from your soft, warm touches on his delicate wings.

By the time you reached the kings, half the hive knew of what transpired.

However you sit with the kings, after Ingo’s worried scolding of course, the two stand beside you leaning down to point at what needs to be done today, and how to prepare yourself.

But you aren’t focused, not on the rules anyway.

Eyes flickering to the sets of wings, how Ingo’s wings move with him, much like his hands when he talks.

Or how Emmet’s wings give a small flap, buzzing softly in his excitement.

Loving how their glassy wings shimmer in the light.

After what happened with Jackie, you desperately want to touch their wings too! Wondering how they would react, are all their wings as sensitive? Or was it just Jackie?

“Dear?”

You look up to Ingo, meeting his concerned gaze.

“Are you alright?”

Emmet perks up at his brother’s words, leaning down to you.

“Can’t have our sweet royal unwell. Nope!”

They coo over your bashful face, not noticing your hand coming up, not until it was too late.

Emmet tenses, shuddering as you touch his wings. His eyes go wide, his breathing turning shaky feeling you gently rub his wings.

“I’m sorry! It’s just your wings are so pretty, I couldn’t look away.”

Emmet’s face blushing a bright green, his wings trembling at your gentle caresses.

He bites his lip, eyes fluttering back as he leans into you.

“D-darling that’s so-MM! O-oohhh I’m- gonna, fuuuuck!”

Emmet cries, hips humping into the air as a wet spot forms on his white pants. You’re just as surprised as you were with Jackie, but you can’t help but chuckle at the trembling king.

Emmet collapses to the ground, barely holding himself up with the table. He leans against you, pressing his shaky wings more into your hand.

“More! More! Please, again again, I need it!”

His smile quivers with a shriek, drool dripping down his chin. His cocks twitching at your laughter.

“I never thought you’d beg so prettily like this. Such a well behaved king.”

His nails drag across the table as his maw hangs open. His spit hanging and coating his chin and coat, but he doesn’t care! He just needs more, he needs it! Wants it!

A softer whimper catches your attention, making you look over to your other king, who’s pouting.

Ingo has his hands crossed in front of him, hiding his throbbing cocks from your view. His face bright green, and silver eyes refusing to meet yours. Hard from all his thoughts if you doing that to him! He wants your attention, your touch, it’s not fair!

“My royal…please?”

The older king flares his wings out a little, silently asking for you to touch him too. You smirk at his shy he so about it.

Emmet whimpers as your hand slows, nearly shocking you with how he throws himself back at him.

“No! No! M’sooo close! Please I want it, milk me!”

Both their antennae’s twitch, smelling the air and smelling just how aroused you are from seeing them fall apart like this.

You pat Emmet’s head, trying to sooth him before you focus on Ingo.

“Use your words, honeybee. What do you want.”

His face darkens, whimpering at your order.

“Please, please touch me. I want you to touch me too! I want you too…I-I’ll be good! I promise!”

You raise a hand, gesturing for him to sit by your legs, which he’s quick to do, nearly tripping as he does so. His back facing you while he sits at your feet, wings up and out for you to hold.

“Such good pets for me!”

You coo at your trembling lovers.

Ingo waits with baited breath for your touch, jumping once your hand slides from the base of his glossy wing down to the end, and back up again.

He can’t stop the squeal that rips from his throat, his back arching as he cries out from your touch.

You can’t help but smirk at having both of these large bee hybrids at your feet, both squirming and creaming their pants.

You’ve never has them this loud.

“Oh! Haaa! Royal! S-so good, so goodsogoodsogood-!” Ingo squeals, eyes squeezed shut. Body twisting and squirming.

Quickly growing addicted to the feeling.

“M-m‘sensitiiiive! Cumming! I’m cummiiiing!!” Emmet wails, painting his pants once again with his cum.

You tugging and caressing his wings is too much!

They want more! For this to never end!

And by the end of it all, the entire hive wants you to make them cum over and over again from their wings alone.

[queer-cosette]

any time

“Thank you for coming” you message me

The night after your birthday party

“It meant a lot to me”

And I wish I could tell you

“I’d rearrange the earth to make time for you

I’d do everything in my power to make you happy

I’d buy you a mountain if that’s what you wanted”

But that’s far too intense for what you expect from me

So all I say is “of course, any time”

And when you open your gift

And frown until you realise what it is

And then gasp like a little kid on christmas morning

And try to remove the cellophane

So enthusiastically your fingers slip

- those skilled, gentle fingers losing their elegance

In your moment of delighted glee -

And you have to hand it to me to open it

Because my nails are sharper than yours

And you vibrate excitedly next to me

Like a bee that’s found a good source of nectar

And then you take it and meet my eyes and say

“I can’t believe you remembered”

I wish I could tell you the truth

That I’ve remembered everything you’ve ever told me

That I carry it in my heart like a vault

That information about who you are

Is so so precious to me

That I couldn’t bear to forget -

But that’s too intense, so instead

I just smile and say

“Happy Birthday.”

Ao3

[thesingingbullfrog]

Rufous-backed Cellophane Bees. We had hundreds of these guys hang out at the goat barn yesterday. They are a beneficial native ground nesting bee and pose no threat to humans. The females line their nests with a waterproof material that resembles clear plastic (cellophane) when it dries.

[celestialmacros]

First native bee of the year! And pollen covered as a bonus. I'm very happy.

Unequal Cellophane Bee (Colletes inaequalis)

February 27, 2024

Southeastern Pennsylvania

[a-muscle-the-size-of-your-fist]

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CHARACTER TAGS - ALL MUSES

Your Heart Is A Muscle The Size Of Your Fist; So Keep On Lovin'; Keep On Fightin' (𝔸𝕝𝕝 𝕄𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕤)

I Heard A Scream In The Woods Somewhere (𝔹𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕣 𝕎𝕚𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕄𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕤)

Some People Are Just Born With Tragedy In Their Blood (𝔽𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝔻𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕄𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕤)

There Are Devils To Slay And Dragons To Ride; If They See You Coming; Hell They Better Hide (𝕀𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝕄𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕤)

Everyone Was Stoked; It Was Like The Whole School Was Totally Coked Or Something (𝕃𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕡𝕠𝕡 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕒𝕨 𝕄𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕤)

We Twist In Torment And Make-Believe; There's A Truth And We All Submit (ℙ𝕠𝕡𝕡𝕪 ℙ𝕝𝕒𝕪𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕄𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕤)

I Never Thought I'd Live To See The Dead Walk (ℝ𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝔼𝕧𝕚𝕝 𝕄𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕤)

So How Did You Learn To Be Sick; So Cunning? It's Easy To Sing But You Just Keep On Humming Along (𝕊𝕒𝕨 𝕄𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕤)

Serial Killers Know How To Party (𝕊ℍℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕊 𝕄𝕌𝕊𝔼𝕊)

Don't Make A Sound; They're Not Dead; Just Sleeping (𝕊𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕥 ℍ𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕄𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕤)

Why Must I Digest You When Every Single Bite I Take Gives Me Chronic Stomach Ache? (𝕋𝕖𝕩𝕒𝕤 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕒𝕨 𝕄𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕒𝕔𝕣𝕖 𝕄𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕤)

Mirror My Melody; Transfer My Tragedy; Got A Curse I Cannot Lift (𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℚ𝕦𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕪 𝕄𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕤)

I Can Be the Monster; I Can Be The Teeth Sunk In Your Skin (𝕌𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕝 𝔻𝕒𝕨𝕟 𝕄𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕤)

CHARACTER TAGS - SINGLES

I'm Not A Good Person Ask Anyone Who Knows Me; I'm Mean And Bitter And A Failure (𝔸𝕕𝕒𝕞)

And When She Walks All The Wind Blows And The Angels Sing (𝔸𝕤𝕙𝕝𝕖𝕪)

I Want To Ride My Bicycle I Want To Ride My Bike (𝔹𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕪)

I Will Battle For The Sun And I Won’t Stop Until I’m Done (𝔹𝕠𝕓𝕓𝕪)

It Skulks Around In The Shadows Watching Me; It's Waiting! It's Torturing Me By Waiting! (ℂ𝕒𝕥ℕ𝕒𝕡)

I Might Be The Villain In Somebody Else's Story But That's Fine (ℂ𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕒)

Kill Me I’m A Monster I Beg You Now ‘Cause I’m Not A Killer (ℂℍ𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕥𝕥)

Hey There; I Know It's Hard To Feel Like I Don't Care At All (ℂ𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕝)

My Life Is Like A Video Game Trying Hard To Beat The Stage (ℂ𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕤)

Fingers Blistered From The Nightly Scratching At The Window Which Won't Open Far Enough To Let Air In (ℂ𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕪)

I'm Beginning To Lull Myself Into A False Security 'Cause It's Easier To Lie To Yourself Than To Face Reality (𝔻𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕕)

Do You Feel Okay? You Look Pretty Low; Very Handsome Awkward (𝔻𝕪𝕝𝕒𝕟)

I'm Not A Girl I'm A Swarm Of Bees; Wrapped In A Skin Suit; Perfect Teeth (𝔼𝕕𝕚𝕥𝕙)

And Everyone Tells You You’re Better; They Beg And Plead And Scream That You’re Better; But You Could Never Be Better Than You (𝔼𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕤)

I Can Hold The Weight Of Worlds If That's What You Need; Be Your Everything (𝔼𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟)

Mr. Cellophane Should Have Been My Name 'Cause You Can Look Right Through Me; Walk Right By Me; And Never Know I'm There (𝔽𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣)

I'm Fired Up And Tired Of The Way That Things Have Been (𝔽𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 & 𝕃𝕚𝕡𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕜)

Why Are People Always Hating On Me? Hmm Must Be ‘Cause I’m Really Good Looking (𝔽𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕜𝕚𝕖)

They Won’t Like What I Say I Force It Out Too Corrupt They Hate Me Anyway (𝕀𝕒𝕟)

Don’t Let Me In With No Intention To Keep Me; Jesus Christ; Don't Be Kind To Me; Honey Don't Feed Me; I Will Come Back (𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕠𝕓)

Oh; He's Sweet But A Psycho; A Little Bit Psycho (𝕁𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕤)

I'm Bigger Than My Body; I'm Colder Than This Home; I'm Meaner Than My Demons; I'm Bigger Than These Bones (𝕁𝕖𝕤𝕤)

Game Face On; Hit The Pose Like Perfect! Smack My Face On The Pavement; Nurses! (𝕁𝕦𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕥)

And Then My Eyes Got Used To The Darkness And Everyone That I Knew Was Lost And So Long Forgotten (𝕃𝕒𝕟𝕖)

The Rhythm Of Rebellion From The Rattle In Your Bones; A Sonic Liberation; Salvation In Your Headphones (𝕃𝕒𝕣𝕜)

Tiptoe Through The Window; By The Window That Is Where I'll Be; Come Tiptoe Through The Tulips With Me (𝕃𝕚𝕡𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕜)

You Look At Me But You Don't See; Understand I'm A Sinner; Don't Corner Me; Don't Lecture Me (𝕃𝕠𝕘𝕒𝕟)

You're Looking Good But You're Feeling The Pressure (𝕃𝕦𝕚𝕤)

The Tide Is Rising High; It's Sink Or Swim; It's Hit Or Miss; What Will You Pick? (𝕃𝕪𝕟𝕟)

I Cut My Tongue On The Rust Of A Silver Spoon (𝕄𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕜)

When My Time Comes Around Lay Me Gently In The Cold Dark Earth; No Grave Can Hold My Body Down (𝕄𝕒𝕥𝕥)

I Never Knew You Could Hold Moonlight In Your Hands Until The Night I Held You (𝕄𝕒𝕩)

He Was In The Habit Of Taking Things For Granted; Granted There Wasn't Much For Him To Take (𝕄𝕚𝕜𝕖)

I've Had To Work Much Harder Than This For Something I Want; Don't Try To Resist Me (𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕦)

Staying Up Until The Morning I Wish I Was More Discerning (𝕆𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕒)

What Doesn't Kill You Will Make You A Killer (ℙ𝕖𝕥𝕖)

Of Course I Get Manic When I Cause A Panic (ℙ𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕣)

In The Valley Of The Dolls We Sleep; Got A Hole Inside Of Me (ℙ𝕠𝕡𝕡𝕪)

Oh My Yeah I Get So High I Can’t Think Sometimes I Try And Drown In My Drink (ℝ𝕠𝕣𝕪)

If I Wasn't A Narcissist I Wouldn't Like Me Either (𝕊𝕔𝕠𝕥𝕥)

I Hope I Become A Ghost And Make Sure The Future Turns Out Fine (𝕊𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕤)

You Take A Mortal Man And Put Him In Control; Watch Him Become A God! Watch People's Heads A-Roll! (𝕊𝕨𝕒𝕟)

You'll Learn Right Now I Don't Play Nice And If You Hurt Me Once I'll Kill You Twice (𝕋𝕒𝕣𝕒)

Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby; Nothing’s Gonna Take You From My Side (𝕋𝕣𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕤)

I Feel So Bad I Got A Worried Mind; I'm So Lonesome All The Time (ℤ𝕠𝕖)

PET TAGS

If You Want Me To Wait I Will Wait For You; If You Tell Me To Stay I Would Stay Right Through (𝔹𝕦𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕥)

I Guess I'm Waiting For Nightfall Or A Solar Eclipse (𝔻𝕦𝕜𝕖)

Here Come The Wolves; They're Coming To Get You (𝕎𝕠𝕝𝕗𝕚𝕖)

VERSE TAGS

V: Don't Scream Your Story's Marred With Bad Intentions - Main Verse - Canon events have happened unless previously discussed. Dead muses can be interacted with as ghosts/zombies or in flashbacks. Note: Adam is dead for this AU.

V: Just Let The Sun In; It's Love! - Everything Is Fine And Nothing Hurts Verse - No canon events have happened. Typically a modern AU unless there's a specified time period in the media.

V: Everything Is Alright; Yeah Tell Me That You're Alright - Post-Canon Fix-It Verse - All canon events happened but Something happened to rewind things. All dead characters are alive again and are okay. They have scars from their deaths, however.

V: Smile For The Camera But Don't Flash Your Teeth - Werepire Verse 1 - Please see muse list for Werepire species of each muse - A verse in which supernatural creatures are real and people know about them. They are integrated into society like normal people for the most part.

V: I Could Be Honest; I Could Be Human; I Could Become The Silver Bullet In Your Head - Werepire Verse 2 - Please see muse list for Werepire species of each muse - A verse in which supernatural creatures are real and they are not widely known by the general public. They must hide themselves and present human as much as they can, and many do by means of magic.

V: The Smell Of Flowers Was So Thick And Sickly Sweet I Felt Like I Might Choke To Death - Hanahaki Verse - Please see muse list for the flowers that they cough up in the verse. UNDER CONSTRUCTION - A verse in which unrequited love leads to the coughing up of flower petals. It can be fatal if the infected person does not get the surgery to remove them or confess and have those feelings returned.

Blair Witch Verses

V: And Everybody Says They Know Better; And Maybe They’re Right - Non-Blair Witch AU - Ellis didn’t go to the forest to look for Peter because Bullet got sick after stealing a piece of pizza with onion on it. He made it because Ellis took him to the vet immediately, but he missed going to the search party. Lane and Talia never went with the group to the woods because of Lane's father interfering and making them late.

V: I Still Felt Real Depressed But I've Got Plenty Of Other Things To Spend My Time - Fix-It AU - Ellis reasons with the witch and manages to undo a lot of the damage to those he cared about. As long as they remain in Black Hills Forest, he is allowed to have Emmett and Carver around. He spends a lot of time with them and calls Jess whenever he has a signal. Lane does not become possessed due to Ellis' relationship to the Witch. She takes pity on him, but cannot let him go, so he remains with Ellis and the others.

V: Sometimes The Short End Of The Stick Is The Sharpest - Becoming Carver AU - Ellis destroyed all of the witch's sigils and eventually became Carver. He is a gentler Carver and is still depressed and guilty. He hates what he's done and craves death much of the time. All he wants is his freedom.

V: Hey Would It Be So Bad If I Stayed? I'm Just A Ghost Out Of His Grave - Ghost!Ellis AU - As a ghost, Ellis haunts the woods and the surrounding area. He is joined by the other dead in the forest and is often subjected to the witch's desires and whims. He spends a lot of time with her and the other ghosts in the forest.

Final Destination Verses

Insidious Verses

Resident Evil Verses

V: I Wanna Start From The Top Maybe Like A Do-Over - Patch Notes AU - Post-canon Fix-It AU. Nobody stayed dead, nothing hurts, and everything is fine.

Saw Verses

Silent Hill Verses

The Quarry Verses

Until Dawn Verses

V: Can You Forgive Me All These Things That I Have Done? What's It Like To Be Two Times Martyred? - Hunter Verse - Post-Canon Supernatural Hunter Verse. All muses are available to become hunters of the monsters that terrorized them or all supernatural creatures.

EVENT TAGS

None At This Time

ON-BLOG & TAGS

I'll Build A New House In Every Town I Pass Maybe Then I Won't Always Feel Lost And Trapped (Adam & Peter)

All You Need Is Just Some Good Fxcking Music You Can Headbang To (Adam & Scott)

A Woman's Voice; I Quickly Ran; Into The Trees With Empty Hands (Ellis & Lane)

I Am Aware That You Are All Assholes; Who The Hell Cares About All Of That Though? (Lark & Scott)

And He Tells Me He's Sick And He's All Alone (Logan & David)

Me Without You Ain't Right (Mike & Jess)

ON-BLOG SHIP TAGS

We Creep About The Floor To Indulge Like Rats (Adam ♡ Lark)

A Mí Ne Gusta Que Me Digan Poesía; Al Oído Por La Noche Cuando Hacemos Groserías (Ashley ♡ Luis)

Eres Una Obra De Arte; Con Solo Mirarte; Algo Que Da Paz (Luis ♡ Ashley)

He Doesn't Know What He Deserves But He Still Falls So Hard It Hurts (David ♡ Logan)

You're A Lesson That I Wish I'd Never Learned So Well (Lark ♡ Scott)

I Shouldn't Have Fallen In Love; Look What It Made Me Become (Logan ♡ David)

I Just Wanna Feel Alive And I Do When I’m With You (Mike ♡ Jess)

Combat Baby; Come Back Baby; Fight Off The Lethargy; Don't Go Quietly (Scott ♡ Adam)

I'm Too Sweet To Be Salty About It; Too Sour To Be Happy Without It (Scott ♡ Lark)

& TAGS (SPECIFIC)

& Tags With @lovely-cadavers

Frown Gets Her Way Like Every Step To The Daylight Keeps You Stumbling On (Ashley & Leon - lovely-cadavers)

Have You Ever Been Close To Tragedy Or Been Close To Folks Who Have? (Clancy & Jack - lovely-cadavers)

I've Never Had To Knock On Wood; But I Know Someone Who Has; Which Makes Me Wonder If I Could (Clancy & Lucas - lovely-cadavers)

I Got These Terrible Dreams Where I Do Terrible Things; I Don't Want To Believe It's You I Am Doing Them To (Ethan & Jack - lovely-cadavers)

Oh; Now You Are A Handful; I Forgot About Handfuls (Ethan & Karl - lovely-cadavers)

I Got The Devil In The Details And He's Gonna Teach Me Wrong From Right (Ethan & Lucas - lovely-cadavers)

I Just Wanted To Protect You; But Now I'll Never Get To (Ethan & Rose - lovely-cadavers)

Come Back To Me A While; Change Your Taste In Men (Luis & Leon - lovely-cadavers)

Say What You Want And What You Want Is Behind Your Teeth (Moreau & Alcina - lovely-cadavers)

They Tell Me That You're Lonely; It's No Surprise When You Walk Around All Day Wearing Those Lonely Eyes (Moreau & Donna - lovely-cadavers)

I'll Be Just Fine Pretending I'm Not; I'm Far From Lonely And It's All That I've Got (Moreau & Karl - lovely-cadavers)

Stronger Folks You Could Not Find; They Ain't Afraid To Speak Their Minds (Zoe & Jack)

'Cause At Night; The Sun In Retreat; Made The Skyline Look Like Crooked Teeth (Zoe & Lucas - lovely-cadavers)

& Tags With @inthepines-inthepines

Can't You See Me? You And I We Are The Same (Ellis & Carver - inthepines-inthepines)

But On The One Day They Close Early; That's The One You Want To Stay (Ellis & Emmett - inthepines-inthepines)

But Please Don't Give Up Dear Walls; Don't Let The Ceiling Fall (Ellis & Jess - inthepines-inthepines)

& Tags With @but-ive-been-called-worse

It Feels Like We're Dying But Baby We're Doing Just Fine (Adam & Amanda - but-ive-been-called-worse)

You'll Never Hear This Song; You'll Never See The Movie In My Head (Adam & Lawrence - but-ive-been-called-worse)

Forget Everything You Think You Knew Of Who I Used To Be I Look Much Better As The Enemy (Cecilia & Amanda - but-ive-been-called-worse)

Pretty Boy Don't Speak; You Pretty Boys Are Only Good For One Thing (Mallick & Brit - but-ive-been-called-worse)

Float Like A Butterfly Sting Like A Killer (Peter & Amanda - but-ive-been-called-worse)

The Saint Charade Is Over Plastic Royalty Exposed (Peter & Lawrence - but-ive-been-called-worse)

People Like You Are Why People Like Me Exist (Peter & Mark - but-ive-been-called-worse)

You're Something To Die For But Don't Hold Your Breath Now; You're Just Killing Time (Peter & Lindsey - but-ive-been-called-worse)

& Tags With [Placeholder]

Here We Are Just About The Same; Foggy Little Feline; Drowsy Little Dog (CatNap & DogDay - Placeholder)

& Tags With @21xpickup

I Died So I Could Have You; I Died So I Could Haunt You (Clancy & Lucas - 21xpickup)

I've Got Friends In All The Right Places; I Know What They Want And I Know They Don't Want Me To Stay (Ethan & Lucas - 21xpickup)

They're Hiding Their Faces; Their Smiles Can Break The Heart In Two (Zoe & Lucas - 21xpickup)

& Tags With @emilesmuseassembly

Don't You Want To Get Matching Necklaces? Each Of Us Can Wear One Half Of The Heart (Jess & Matt - emilesmuseassembly)

The Only Thing Constant Was The Constant Reminder He'd Never Change (Mike & Matt - emilesmuseassembly)

& Tags With @trapped-twins

Don't Look So Down And Out; Built Your House You Burned It Down (Logan & David - trapped-twins)

Everybody Said Uh-Oh; Let's Go; Here Comes Trouble But Trouble Does Come In Threes (Specs & Adam & David)

What If There's Nothing More To Me? I'm Just Skin And Bones; There's No Mystery? (Specs & Adam - trapped-twins)

The Bright Ideas Always Get Lost Along The Way (Specs & David - trapped-twins)

& Tags With @wr4th-of-the-gods

Stay Right Here; We Can Change Our Plight; Storming Through This Despite What's Right (Chell & Stacy - wr4th-of-the-gods)

& Tags With @homelander-rp-blog

You Got A Reaction Didn't You? You Took A White Orchid Turned It Blue (Clancy & Homelander - homelander-rp-blog)

They Cannot Steal The Light That Shines From Who You Once Were (Ethan & Homelander - homelander-rp-blog)

& Tags With @thxwxlf

I'mma Shake You Off Though; Get Up On That Horse And Ride Into The Sunset; Look Back With No Remorse (Bobby & Kekipi - thxwxlf)

I've Got An Animal Inside Of Me; I'm Getting Sick Sick Sick Of Pushing It Down (CHackett & Kekipi - thxwxlf)

& Tags With @suniside-crossing

Don't Be Scared My Friend; Death Is A Beginning Not An End (CatNap & DogDay - suniside-crossing)

& Tags With @riggedtraps

Put Your Fist Up If You Wanna Do Something; Make Your Mind Up If You Wanna Do Something (Logan & Amanda - riggedtraps)

& Tags With @dollhidden

Strutting Through The City; Her Heart Has Got No Pity For You (Ethan & Alcina - dollhidden)

Tragedy Comes In Threes; Third Degree Apathy (Ethan & Bela - dollhidden)

I Need You To Hurt Me; I Need You To Fight Me; I Need You To Kill Me; I Need You To Destroy Me (Ethan & Cassandra - dollhidden)

It's Not That I'm So Unprepared; It's Just You'd Think I'd Grow Out Of This; Wouldn't You? (Ethan & Daniela - dollhidden)

& Tags With @twinklefairy-dust

Is It Wrong There's A Song That Is Called Barracuda? There Is None That Is Named After You! (Moreau & Jazmin - twinklefairy-dust)

& Tags With @mountaindmned

You Don't Have Long; I Can Feel You Feel Strong; But You Don't Bow To Kings Or Anybody (Chris & Jack - Mountaindmned)

& Tags With @fromgallowsandgraves

I've Played With Chance Like You; I Loved To Toy With Fate But Oh; I Didn't Have A Clue (Peter & Adam - fromgallowsandgraves)

SHIPPING TAGS (SPECIFIC)

Ship Tags With @lovely-cadavers

'Cause I'm In Too Deep And I'm Trying To Keep Up Above In My Head Instead Of Going Under (Clancy ♡ Lucas - lovely-cadavers)

If You Rise Again Take A Form I Know (Ethan ♡ Jack - lovely-cadavers)

Baby; No One's Honest Anymore But We Could Be Different (Ethan ♡ Karl - lovely-cadavers)

No Te Vayas Quédate (Luis ♡ Leon - lovely-cadavers)

Ship Tags With @inthepines-inthepines

Somebody Somewhere Will Clean Out Your Wounds With Dirty Fingers (Ellis ♡ Carver - inthepines-inthepines)

If You Need A Little Sunshine You Can Borrow Some Of Mine (Ellis ♡ Emmett - inthepines-inthepines)

Seems Like We've Waited Long Enough For Someone Else To Make Us Feel Complete (Ellis ♡ Jess - inthepines-inthepines)

Ship Tags With @but-ive-been-called-worse

I Need Love So Someone Bring Me A Photographer (Adam ♡ Lawrence - but-ive-been-called-worse)

'Cause When I Mess Up You Never Give Up Your Love; Yeah I'm A Fuck-Up But You Swear I'm Enough (Mallick ♡ Brit - but-ive-been-called-worse)

I'll Fill The Graveyards Until I Have You (Peter ♡ Mark - but-ive-been-called-worse)

Shipping Tags With [Placeholder]

I'm Daydreamin' With My Chin In The Palm Of My Hands; About You And Only You (CatNap ♡ DogDay - placeholder)

Ship Tags With @trapped-twins

I'll Be Your Lucky Star If You Promise That You'll Never Let Me Go (Logan ♡ David - trapped-twins)

Ship Tags With @suniside-crossing

I've Grown A Mouth So Sharp And Cruel; It's All That I Can Give To You My Dear (CatNap ♡ DogDay - suniside-crossing)

[love-fi]

Cellophane Bee Macro Photograph by Stephen Geisel Via Flickr: Cellophane Bee Macro Photograph by Stephen Geisel Prints: society6.com/product/fuzzy-cellophane-bee-macro-photograp... Photo Blog: luv-fi.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/steviegeisel/ Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/

[asgardian--angels]

Hi, I’m also a NH resident - what can you tell me about the native bees that are here?

I know it’s a pretty general question, but I’ll take all the info dumping you’re willing to do

Thanks!

Readers, this is a long post, so feel free to press J and skip it if it's not for you. But if you live in the northeast it may be of interest!

Hiya fellow New Hampshirite! I could talk oodles about our native bees, especially since I did field research on them in undergrad and continue to work with native bees in the northeast, first for my MS and now in my job (upstate New York currently). The things I say here are broadly applicable to all of New England, as 1) this region is relatively homogenous in its bee fauna (melittofauna) given that it's temperate and has similar habitats (particularly in its high cover of hardwood forests and few grasslands), and 2) New Hampshire is poorly studied in terms of its bee diversity relative to other New England states, which I'll get to.

A bit of bee background

As you may or may not know, wild bees are nothing like honeybees. The vast majority of bees are solitary, not social, so they live singly in nests - either underground tunnels, or excavations in stems or wood, occasionally human structures - and in our area are generally univoltine, meaning they have one generation per year (this changes as you move further south in the US, sometimes even the same species switches to multivoltinism given a longer growing season). Solitary bees include everything from mining bees (Andrena), leafcutter bees (Megachile), mason bees (Osmia), cellophane bees (Colletes), longhorned bees (Melissodes), masked bees (Hylaeus), and many others. Our social bees - which comprises a wide spectrum from weakly social to primitively eusocial behavior (honeybees are 'advanced' eusocial) - include groups like carpenter bees (Xylocopa virginica, Ceratina), bumble bees (Bombus), and many metallic sweat bees (e.g., Lasioglossum). Many others are kleptoparasites, or brood parasites - a higher diversity than social bees actually. These do not collect pollen or build nests, rather they target a specific host bee species and lay their eggs in the host nest, where their larva eats all the pollen provisions meant for the host. These 'cuckoo bees' as they're called include nomad bees (Nomada), cuckoo sweat bees (Sphecodes, sometimes called blood bees though this is a misnomer as there are actual blood-feeding bees in the tropics), cuckoo leafcutter bees (Coelioxys), longhorn cuckoo bees (Triepeolus, Epeolus), and several others that are much less common.

Eight-toothed cuckoo leafcutter bee, Coelioxys octodentatus. It targets the nests of several species of leafcutter bee.

Bees collect pollen for their offspring. Most are generalists, visiting and collecting pollen from many families of flowering plants. But in our area, around 15% (this number is much higher in the southwest and other ephemeral/highly diverse habitats) of our bees are diet specialists, also known as oligolectic. They evolved to feed their young pollen from a specific group of plants, anything from one family (e.g., Asteraceae) to, commonly, one or a few related genera (e.g., Solidago) or rarely even one species (e.g., Macropis nuda on Lysimachia ciliata). In our area, these 'monoleges' are typically so because there's only one suitable representative of that plant group present in New England, but they may use more hosts further south (though, not always! We still have much to learn about the true specificity for these species, it's difficult to really know how specialized they are). True monoleges are more frequent in arid regions where there is a high proportion of endemic plants, and with it, endemic bees. Specialist bees often have adaptations to make them more efficient at collecting pollen from their hosts, and they tend to be more rare than generalists because they are only found with their host, which may have a patchy distribution, and are only out for a short period of time - as little as two weeks, when their host is flowering. A full list of known specialist bees in the eastern US and their hosts can be found here. Fowler (2016) is the peer-reviewed journal article version of this that is specifically for the northeast.

Bees in New Hampshire

New Hampshire probably has somewhere between 300-400 species of bees, based on estimates from surrounding states, the region as a whole (which is around 450), and museum records. I curate an ongoing project on iNaturalist to list all known bee species in the state, which you can see here. That has around 300 species (only 78 have actually been observed in NH on iNat), which is a hefty handful more than the few contemporary published surveys have found - entirely done by the Rehan Lab (now at York University), where I studied and worked for two years. Those surveys were centered in the southeastern portion of the state (Strafford Co, at and around UNH), the White Mountains, and in the Ossipee Pine Barrens. I helped with all of these surveys! They produced several new state records. The vast majority of historical bee collections by past naturalists were focused in the Durham area as well, making our idea of bees in the state very skewed and leaving vast swaths of the state, and many habitats, unexplored. This matters, because our state may seem a monolith of forest but it isn't!

Bee communities differ by geography, habitat, soils, and specific local plant composition. While New Hampshire doesn't quite have the diversity in ecoregions or plant species that some other states have (the southwest has around 800-1200 bee species per state), things do differ, and what we do have is special in its own right.

Geography: We sit at a boundary of north and south in terms of insect species, with northern New England representing the (current) northernmost range for some 'southern' species, and the southernmost range for 'northern' species in North America. In southern NH, you will likely find the same sort of bees that you'd find in Massachusetts, most of those also being found in New Jersey or even North Carolina, or as far west as the central states. That's how you end up with bees like Agapostemon texanus in New Hampshire! But in the north country, the composition of bees starts to change, with many more traditionally Canadian species becoming common. This is well-observed in bumble bees - around and north of the White Mountains, you really start to see more of the tricolored bumble bee (Bombus ternarius) and northern amber bumble bee (Bombus borealis, aptly named). The majority of our remaining population of the yellow-banded bumble bee (Bombus terricola), a regionally declining species, is in the White Mountains.

Yellow-banded bumble bee, Bombus terricola. One of several bumble bees in North America to decline severely in the last 30 years due to pathogens spread from commercially reared bumble bees along with habitat loss, pesticides, and climate change.

Habitat & Soils: While many bees are habitat generalists, many others are associated with specific habitats due to pollen preferences or nesting substrate preferences. We have plenty of forest bees, which may have been the predominant bees prior to historic land clearing - a good proportion of our specialists only visit spring-blooming flowers on the forest floor, like Andrena erigeniae (spring beauty miner) on Claytonia (spring beauty), or Andrena distans (cranesbill miner) on Geranium maculatum (wild geranium). Others like woody forest plants common to our area, like the rare Andrena kalmiae which visits sheep laurel (Kalmia angustifolia). Many bees even visit wind-pollinated trees and spend time in the forest canopy! Several species of bumble bees also rely on forest or forest edge habitat for nesting, and forest wildflowers are important resources for newly emerged queens. We also have a handful of solitary bees that nest in logs, thus depending on forest, like Augochlora pura and Lasioglossum coeruleum.

Other bees are specialized, or at least prefer, habitats like wetlands (which we still have many of, because our rate of historic wetland destruction is one of the lowest in the country), fields (which we never had many of, and these species are likely more common now, though they probably peaked in the farming era pre 1850s), alpine/montane habitat (found in either the Whites and/or the Mt. Monadnock area), coastal dunes (which we've mostly destroyed), heath (which New England has lost a lot of), and others. Most of these species are poorly documented in New Hampshire, because - in all places - bee surveys skew towards open habitat like meadows. There's likely a lot of hidden diversity locked away in these habitats, including many of the region's rare bees. A 2014 study (Wagner et al.) of power line rights-of-way found not only nearly half of the region's bee fauna along this one multi-state stretch of transmission line, but in NH, documented what is often considered North America's rarest bee - Epeoloides pilosulus. Not too shabby for humble New Hampshire! Power line ROWs are some of NH's only maintained early successional, and particularly native shrubland, habitat, making it immensely important for our bees as well as many wildlife.

Above: Dufourea novaeangliae, a pickerelweed specialist bee only found in freshwater emergent marshes. Very poorly documented in New Hampshire but easily recognizable and probably all over the place.

Soil also affects what bees live where. Much of northern New England has a highly sandy soil type, which differs vastly from nearby New York and even Vermont (thanks, granite!). Because of this, our plant communities are noticeably different from these states - plants that thrive here are those that do well in harsh conditions, i.e. our poor, sandy, acidic soils. This means oaks and pines, winterberry holly, and a lot of ericaceous plants, aka blueberries, laurels, rhododendrons, partridgeberry, huckleberry, maleberry, leatherleaf, and many others. The understory composition of those forest floor plants is also quite different as well, favoring things like starflower, goldthread, wintergreen, and fringed polygala rather than the squirrel corn, hepatica, and foamflower that need richer, moister soils. Thus, we may not have all of the specialists that need those rich forest flowers, but we have many specialists on those ericaceous plants - and there's a LOT - that are rare in those other states. You probably know just how common lowbush blueberry is in New Hampshire. There's nearly a dozen specialists on blueberry. Sand in general also produces unique bee communities, as many bees (and wasps) are specialized to nest only in sand, thus those are likely more prevalent here than elsewhere.

Colletes validus, the blueberry cellophane bee. Nearly absent in New York but likely quite widespread in NH - there's a nice nesting aggregation near my house where I took this photo. As the name implies, they primarily collect pollen from blueberry.

Lasioglossum vierecki, a sandplain specialist. Highly abundant in this specific habitat, but entirely absent anywhere else.

Documenting New Hampshire's Bees

Sadly, New Hampshire is lagging far behind other northeastern states in documenting our bee fauna. As I mentioned, our existing surveys have only covered a small portion of the state and there have been no statewide standardized survey efforts. New York and Vermont have recently completed gigantic, statewide atlases of their bee diversity (linked), and Massachusetts has so much going on I couldn't possibly link it all here, including many grassroots initiatives by towns to go pollinator-friendly, from large-scale habitat restoration to pesticide-free pledges (I recommend signing up for the Mass Pollinator Network newsletter). I do work on Martha's Vineyard, where they're conducting the Martha's Vineyard Atlas of Life, including bee surveys (a great paper by Goldstein and Ascher 2016 details a comprehensive bee survey of the Vineyard, showing all the cool rare bees they have! Such is the way with islands). Not to mention the hub of bee research for this region is in Ontario, at York University. That place has been surveyed to death in comparison to us.

Thanks to the efforts in these neighboring places, we have a pretty good idea of what bees should occur here. But much work needs to be done to actually find them and update decades-old records of species that haven't been formally documented in a very long time. Getting a handle on our bees is very important, across the country and the world, because long-term monitoring is the only way we can track declines. There are a handful of bees that may be extirpated from New Hampshire due to changes in land use, diseases, and pesticides. A big example is the rusty-patched bumblebee (Bombus affinis), which used to occur in NH, but was last seen in the early 90s and is presumed extirpated. Another is that yellow-banded bumblebee, which used to be found throughout the state, but due likely to climate change among other factors, it has receded into the mountains where it is colder and it has less competition from other bumble bee species. It may disappear from the state entirely within the century (this altitudinal range shift has been found in many bumble bees across the world due to climate change). Other bees are becoming more common, like the common eastern bumble bee, while others still are moving north into NH, or have been introduced from Eurasia (like wool-carder bees or rapidly spreading giant resin bee, Megachile sculpturalis).

Giant resin bee, Megachile sculpturalis, introduced to eastern North America in the 1990s. It can outcompete and displace native wood-boring bees like carpenter bees.

So what work is being done in New Hampshire currently to document and protect our bees?

UNH used to be the hub of bee research in the state, due to the Rehan Bee Lab, but even though that lab has moved to Canada, a lot of work still goes on through the Cooperative Extension, including on their research farms where optimal pollinator habitat restoration techniques are being studied. There is some information on their website, such as resources for planting meadows and native plants for NH gardens, though admittedly not all of it is easy to find, and much of the research that's been done in the past few years doesn't appear to be on there at all (unless it's somewhere I'm not seeing).

Lately, much of the attention for pollinator conservation in NH has been directed at our local NH Audubon chapters. In particular, the McLane Audubon Center (Concord) has been undertaking a massive effort to install a native pollinator meadow from seed in the past couple of years, experimenting with different site prep methods. They have been hosting an extensive webinar series which are all available to watch for free, many of which are about our native pollinators.

Apart from this, it's mainly been up to individual nature centers and preserves to create resources and install pollinator habitat, which many have done! But we lack a centralized effort at the state level. There are unfortunately still very few native plant nurseries in NH, and there is no organizational effort to help the public find them. I've been trying over the years to compile a list but many of them are wholesale only. A few dedicated retail nurseries are Bagley Pond Perennials in Warner, Foundwell Farm in Pembroke, and NH Native Perennials in Madison. Wholesale nurseries (meaning you can request them at your regular garden center) are Van Berkum Nursery and American Native Beauties. Otherwise, local nurseries may sell a varying selection of native plants if you hunt for them. You're likely better off finding nurseries in Massachusetts if you live in the southern half of the state - there's many more, or ordering seeds and plants online from the Wild Seed Project, based in Maine, Prairie Moon Nursery, or Ernst Seed. See more at the end of the post.

So how else can we work on documenting our native bees? Until we do a statewide atlas, it comes down largely to citizen science observations. New Hampshire residents are strongly encouraged to record bee sightings to websites like iNaturalist, Bumble Bee Watch, Beecology, and BugGuide. I'm a reviewer on three out of four of these sites so if you post in New England I'll likely see it. While a lot of our native bees cannot be identified from photos, even good ones, plenty can, including some rare and specialized species, making it valuable to go out and look for them in likely habitat, or even just to document what's in your yard.

You can encourage more species of bees to your yard by planting native wildflowers, shrubs, and trees. Keystone species in our area include goldenrods, milkweeds, black cherry trees, willows (not weeping willow), red maple, blueberries, asters, brambles (e.g., black raspberries), shrubby dogwoods, Joe-Pye weeds, sumac trees, wild strawberry, serviceberry, and many others. To support butterflies and moths, and by extension birds, the best thing you can plant is an oak tree, as they support over 500 species of caterpillar in our region. It's also great to plant native grasses, like little bluestem, purple lovegrass, poverty oatgrass, and panic grass, that thrive on our poor soils, instead of large turfgrass lawns that do not do well in these conditions. New Hampshire lawns rarely look healthy! A native lawn of wild groundcovers, forest plants, moss, ferns, sedges, or the above grasses would do much better.

A wet meadow in south-central New Hampshire, featuring Joe-Pye weed, goldenrods, and asters.

Further Resources

In addition to the links throughout this post, there are many more resources to learn about pollinators and native plants in our region.

Online:

Grow Native Mass - a wealth of resources

Wild Seed Project - another wealth of resources

Vermont Wild Bee Survey - user-friendly guide of Vermont's bees

Cornell Danforth Lab; Creating a Garden for Specialist Bees - comprehensive guide for supporting our region's often rare and imperiled specialists

UMass Dartmouth Gegear Lab - resources on supporting locally imperiled bees

Xerces Society - ample resources on establishing pollinator habitat in their Resource Center and Publications Library

GoBotany - user-friendly key for identifying New England plants

Landscape Interactions - behind some of the region's largest and most comprehensive pollinator corridor planting plans, mostly in Massachusetts. Download their master plan documents for free and see how municipalities are implementing these designs.

Heather Holm's website - lots of plant lists and info sheets for native bees, wasps, and plants (some are outside the northeast)

Pollinator Pathway - a ton of broadly applicable information

Bees of New York - great profiles on many northeastern bees

Homegrown National Park - put your native yard on the map and learn more about plants to support the most species

Print:

Bringing Nature Home, by Doug Tallamy (and any of his other books)

Pollinators of Native Plants and Bees: An Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide, by Heather Holm (and any of her other books)

The Northeast Native Plant Primer, by the Native Plant Trust

Deer-Resistant Native Plants for the Northeast, by Ruth Clausen and Gregory Tepper

... plus many others that I cannot all name here. Check your local Audubon gift shop, Barnes and Noble, Toadstool Bookshop, or nature center to find these regionally specific books. One last great book is The Nature of New Hampshire, by Dan Sperduto and Ben Kimball, which covers every natural community in the state. A must-have for lovers of our good old granite state.

I hope this sated your curiosity! And I hope this can be of use to many of you who live in northern New England. As always, feel free to drop me a line anytime on here if you have questions or want to chat about our native pollinators. All photos in this post are my own. Now go out and find some bees!

[thunniform]

Unequal cellophane bee covered in blue pollen from a Scilla flower. (2022/04/30)

[zhooniyaa-waagosh]

I've officially recognized three kinds of native bees visiting my wildflower mixes; leaf cutter bees, cellophane bees, and now carder bees. I am absolutely thrilled. This is exactly what I wanted when I planted these flowers and I'm so glad to know that so many of our least appreciated bees are benefiting from my work.

My squash is also starting to form flowers so hopefully we'll be getting some squash bees too :)