Wild bees are important pollinators of wildflowers, garden flowers and commercial crops, including fruit trees, berries, melons and garden vegetables. Although domesticated honey bees are often used to pollinate cultivated plants, wild bees are able to pollinate many flowers and crops that honey bees cannot.
The exhibition Wild Bees, now on a national tour, features spectacular color photographs of native bees in their natural habitats. The photographs are the result of a three-year project undertaken by photojournalist and writer Paula Sharp and nature photographer Ross Eatman, documenting native bee species of the Northeast. Sponsored by the New York State Environmental Protection Fund, the project culminated in the highly regarded website Wild Bees of New York.
Sharp and Eatman are now dedicating themselves to a similar project in Texas, documenting native bees of the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
The Houston Museum of Natural Science exhibition will include fascinating views of bee specimens magnified by a video microscope, as well as three detailed, large models of wild bees, an interactive bee identification guide and examples of wild bee homes.
Included with admission to the Cockrell Butterfly Center.