RESOURCES
Key Readings
Buchmann, Stephen, and Gary Paul Nabhan. 1996. The Forgotten Pollinators. Washington, DC: Island Press. The book that started the public interest in pollinators.
Committee on the Status of Pollinators in North America and the National Research Council. 2007. Status of Pollinators in North America. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Heinrich, Bernd. 2004. Bumblebee Economics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Kearns, Carol, and James Thomson. 2001. The Natural History of Bumblebees. Boulder: University of Colorado Press. Information on all aspects of North American bumble bee biology as well as instructions for maintaining bumble bees in captivity. The book includes a photographic field guide to aid in the identification of over 50 species of North American bumble bees.
Krombein, Karl V., Paul D. Hurd Jr., David R. Smith, and B. D. Burks. 1979. Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. Available online.
Michener, Charles D. 2007. The Bees of the World, 2nd ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. The definitive academic text on bee biology by the dean of bee biology.
Michener, Charles D., Ronald J. McGinley, and Bryan N. Danforth. 1994. The Bee Genera of North and Central America (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books. Technical scientific key to the genera found in North America.
O’Toole, Christopher, and Anthony Raw. 2004. Bees of the World. New York: Facts on File. A wonderful book, even if the publisher put a fly on the cover.
Stephen, W. P., G. E. Bohart, and P. F. Torchio. 1969. The Biology and External Morphology of Bees: With a Synopsis of the Genera of Northwestern America. Corvallis: Agricultural Experiment Station, Oregon State University-Corvallis. A readable though technical guide with detailed discussions of bee morphology, behavior, and biology.
Thorp, Robbin, Donald S. Horning Jr., and Lorry L. Dunning. 1983. Bumble Bees and Cuckoo Bumble Bees of California. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Xerces Society. 2011. Attracting Native Pollinators. North Adams, MA: Storey Press.
Key Web Resources
Website for posting images of bugs. Some of the best photographs of insects can be found here. The site includes images of many bees that have been identified to the species level.
Online keys for many different plants and animals including bees.
The key to genera for bees is excellent.
www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators
US Forest Service guide to pollinators.
Commercial source for bee houses.
http://nature.berkeley.edu/urbanbeegardens/
Dr. Gordon Frankie’s wonderful urban bee gardening site.
Bee articles and planting and gardening guides from Pollinator Partnership.
The premier invertebrate conservation group’s site with pollinator fact sheets and planting guides.