BC Bee Atlas

BC Bee Atlas at a glance

Started in 2022 as a pilot program.
Over 60 Master Melittologists from across the province (Vancouver Island, Gulf Islands, Lower Mainland, Kamloops, Kelowna)
Over 4500 bee specimens and their associated plants sampled to date
Emerging data on bee species and plant hosts documented in the BC Bee Atlas database
In 2023 season the BC Master Melittologists collected 1263 bee specimens! Preliminary identifications found more than 78 species, from 27 genera, foraging on 128 different plants.

Bee Atlas update - 2024

In 2024, BC Bee Atlas participants collected 2434 specimens from all six of the bee families present in BC (Apidae, Halictidae, Megachilidae, Andrenidae, Colletidae, and Melittidae).

The Bee Atlas has identified 150 different species in total so far, with 110 species from 2024.

Yellow loosestrife bee (Macropis nuda)

Globe mallow bee (Diadasia diminuta)

Important findings

Rarely seen native BC bees

All blue shortface bee (Dufourea holocyanea), specialized on snowberry
Biastes a genus of cuckoo bees belonging to the Apidae family
The yellow loosestrife bee (Macropis nuda), specialized on an oil producing plant (Lysimachia ciliata)
The globe mallow bee (Diadasia diminuta), a cactus bee that specializes on globe mallow

Introduced species from four different bee families

Apidae:

Common eastern bumblebee (Bombus impatiens)

Colletidae:

Punctate masked bee (Hylaeus punctatus)

Halictidae:

Lassioglossum buccale

Megachilidae:

European woolcarder bee (Anthidium manacatum)

Oblong woolcarder bee (Anthidium oblongatum)

Sleepy scissor bee (Chelostoma florisomne) - A new record for North America!

Alfalfa leafcutting bee (Megachile rotundata)

European mason bee (Osmia cornuta)