Bee Box

This curious item is a "bee box", intended to provide habitat for mason bees and a variety of other, native bee species . RTPI installed this pollinator habitat last year, and it is already occupied and in use by our insect friends. While Honeybees often get a fair bit of attention from concerned conservation-minded people, it is not a well known fact that they are not a native species of bee in North America. In contrast, there are over 400 species of native bees just in New York State, and many of them are not well studied. Bees in our region are at risk from excessive use of chemical insecticides and herbicides, as well as loss of native wildflower habitat. These small boxes can leave a huge footprint in bumping up our native bee populations!