Miss Apis Mellifera poses for a daguerreotype glamour shot:
Many North Americans think all bees are honeybees. Little Miss Apis Mellifera here is a (non-native) Western honeybee just like the domesticated ones that were first brought to the New World by European colonists in the 1600s. Unlike Miss Apis Mellifera, there are actually about 4,000 species of bees that are native to the United States. There are more kinds of bees than there are birds and fish put together! Our native bees are valuable crop pollinators – scientists estimate that native bees perform as much as $6.7 billion worth of pollination annually in the United States. More on native pollinators HERE and HERE.
It looks great!
This picture is fantastic. Did you take it? If not who and if you did do you sell your work somewhere?
Hi Robin, I am so flattered, thank you! Unfortunately, I am not selling anything right now. Thank you though for your support