For the last few years I have been increasing the population of a wild bee I attracted. I knew they were Mason bees due to them making mud homes. But I have had some trouble figuring out which species they are.
There are over 300 species of Mason bee "Osmia". And looking at all the pictures online I get lost in figuring out which kind of species I have. For a long time I thought I had a "Red Mason Bee" also known as Osmia bicornis.
Though I was unsure of this, as my female bees do not have two horns on their head, just the normal bee antennae. Also the coloring of Osmia bicornis abdomen is different from what mine look like. As the Red Mason bee has a furry gingery color to their whole abdomen. Mine have more of a flat black except for their underside which can consist of a fuzzy yellow color. Also not the Osmia Cornifrons as again their abdomen is lacking alot of hair and do not have horns.
With my upcoming classes I will be teaching on Mason bees I wanted to be more sure of what kind of bee I have. I saw on Reddit there is a bee group so I got to posting on there a description of my bees, their behavior and some closeups I have taken over the years.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/bees/comments/k63xtu/red_mason_bee_identification_north_ga/
They confirmed my suspicion that I may not have a "Red Mason bee" as they tend to be more in Europe and prefer to live more up North. Though they do think it may be "Osmia Taurus" which indeed has been spotted in the Southeast United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmia_taurus
Osmia taurus
Looking at pictures of this species it looks alot like mine and I am pretty sure that is indeed the species I have. Knowing this I can now do more detailed research into it and add my findings to my powerpoint presentation I will be giving during my bee classes.
Some of the interesting facts I found about Osmia Taurus were reported by the University of North Georgia and Georgia Gwinnett College. Below is a quote from their findings.
Mysteriously appeared in Maryland and nearby states soon after release of the extremely similar O. cornifrons, in the 1970s, by USDA scientists. Now widely distributed in the mid-Atlantic states, and likely to be found elsewhere due to wide movement of hibernating orchard bees.
In 2011, all three species were first found to be in the area. Subsequently, over the next four years, each species has had different impacts on the native bee community itself. Most importantly in terms of native bee impact is the species Osmia taurus. Accidentally introduced in the 1970's when Osmia cornifrons was brought over from Japan to pollinate orchard crops, O. taurus has since made its way progressively south. Known to be disruptive to other cavity-nesters, the population of this species has grown rapidly - out-nesting of many of the native cavity-nesting Osmia sp. This talk will outline the progression of each species into North Georgia, their impacts on native species, and the implications of their establishment to the native pollination guild already present.
Interestingly they are reported as "pests" as they out compete other "cavity-nesters", I saw this behavior when it came to Carpenter bees. The little Mason bees would cling onto the big Carpenter bees and drop them out of the air. Honestly if this is the extent of their invasiveness I am completely okay with that. As Carpenter bees are very destructive to wood structures and I do not want them anywhere near my property.
So from the research done, these bees are relativity new to the area. I found them in 2018 about 7 years after this report saw them for the first time back in 2011.
Glad I finally figured out which kind of bee I have, eventhough they are considered "pests" as they were accidentally released many years back. I plan on raising them and will keep an eye on their behavior around Honey bees. As my observations so far is they coexist with colony bees without issues just competitive toward other "cavity-nesting" bees.
