Did you know that Alberta is home to over 200 species of bees and 170 species of butterflies? These bees and butterflies come in a vast array of colours, shapes, and sizes.
The bees that we have in Alberta are solitary bees, this means that they don’t live in colonies or hives. Instead, our native bee species live by themselves in tunnels, cavities, and plant debris like dried leaves and grass. Unlike social bees that live in hives, solitary bees are non-aggressive and do not swarm. We’ve got species of leaf-cutter bees, bumblebees, masked bees, sweat bees and mason bees. Although these bees don’t produce honey, they still require nectar from flowers. These species rely on flowering plant material for food and have adapted alongside flowering plants that are native to Alberta.
Like bees, butterflies also rely on nectar from flowering plants for food. The nectar that flowers produce is sticky and sweet and full of natural sugars, the perfect food for these hard-working pollinators. As pollinators collect nectar, they pick up pollen. The pollen that they carry from one flower to the next will make it to the pistil of the flower, where pollination occurs.