NOTES ON THE NATIVE BEE POLLINATORS IN NEW YORK APPLE ORCHARDS

Abstract

We surveyed apple orchards in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. Pollinator guilds included many honey bees and native bee species known to be effective pollinators of apples. Of the 31 native bee species collected, 14 species belong to eight subgenera of Andrena. Cavity-nesting mason bees were represented by a single female blue orchard bee, Osmia lignaria Say. The most numerous bees were mining bees in the genus Andrena. This paper serves as a preliminary look at the native bee pollinators in apple orchards in New York State.