What kind of bees are these?

NewWestGardener · April 5, 2020

There are a lot of small bees buzzing around my blooming Blue Damson plum tree. They are thicker than big ants but much smaller than honey bees. I googled Images of mason bees, but they don’t seem to match. Any knows about them?

KarenO · April 5, 2020

Appears to be a small species of wasp. So many different pollinators. My old plum tree is alive with all sorts of bees, wasps and even flies. Honeybees get all the good press but wasps are important pollinators as well

KarenO

NewWestGardener · April 6, 2020

I think you are right Karen, they look more like wasps than bees, and for sure good pollinators. I have mason bees housing but never got around to buy the babies to get started, maybe some wild ones just come on their own. I think those wasps are more than capable of pollinating the early flowers. I will have lots of blooms coming up for them as well, more plums, apples, pears, cherries, and many berries.
What a glorious day out there, happy gardening everyone!

April 5, 2020	#2
KarenO Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 5,929	Appears to be a small species of wasp. So many different pollinators. My old plum tree is alive with all sorts of bees, wasps and even flies. Honeybees get all the good press but wasps are important pollinators as well KarenO

April 6, 2020	#3
NewWestGardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada Posts: 564	I think you are right Karen, they look more like wasps than bees, and for sure good pollinators. I have mason bees housing but never got around to buy the babies to get started, maybe some wild ones just come on their own. I think those wasps are more than capable of pollinating the early flowers. I will have lots of blooms coming up for them as well, more plums, apples, pears, cherries, and many berries. What a glorious day out there, happy gardening everyone!