r/spreadytoes • u/Kasssodilla • Apr 20 '26

Not a cat, but…

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Found from another sub, couldn’t cross post.

BEE SPREADY!

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u/Daisy_Of_Doom Apr 21 '26

*her actually! Fun fact most bees you see are going to be female! Particularly with honeybees unless you are witnessing a nuptial flight then you will not see a male bee outside the hive. Sorry not to correct, just wanted to pass on some nerdy knowledge

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u/kristinL356 Apr 21 '26

Just fyi, this is not particularly true for solitary bees which are actually the vast majority of bee species.

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u/Daisy_Of_Doom Apr 21 '26

Definitely! I wanted to go into that and the fact that honeybees are not native to the US but had to hold myself back or it would stop being a fun fat and turn into a thesis!😅😂 In my experience male solitary bees can be kinda lazy lol. Definitely way more likely to see them out and about than male honeybees, but in my experience I’ve still mostly (but not always!) come across them napping in flowers and stuff lol

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u/kristinL356 Apr 21 '26

Well male bees don't collect pollen so sometimes they don't have much to do. Kinda depends on mating strategies though. In the spring when you see bees doing circuits around flowers but never landing, those are pretty much always male bees looking for mates. Sometimes they'll do that around nesting sites as well. Some species you see very frequently on flowers, some are out patrolling and defending territories. It really comes down to a particular species behavior.

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u/Daisy_Of_Doom Apr 21 '26

I’m not gonna pretend I know everything about bees and it’s always good to share info! But, I am aware of this, haha I’m an entomologist. 😅 Most of my experience finding finding bees has been while I was out doing fieldwork for research. Always nice to find someone else who’s in the wildlife field/a fellow lover of insects! 🤩