Many bee raisers want to learn how to identify the bees that visit their yards and gardens. But, with over 4,000 species of bees in North America it can be challenging to identify bees down to the species level.Fortunately, there are some great resources to help people learn how to identify bee species. Below are a few of our favorites.
Helpful Identification Tools
If you'd like to dive deeper into identifying the bees in your yard, here are some great resources to help you along the way.
Crown Bees has a great selection of books and bee identification guides to help you learn the bees in your backyard! Check out Native Bees of Washington State Poster
iNaturalist is a social network where you can record, share, and discuss your observations of plants and animals with other naturalists and experts.
Discover Life is a free online tool to help identify species, track the impact of climate change, and participate in research projects.
Bug Guide is an online community of naturalists who collect photos of insects from the United States and Canada for identification and research. They also summarize findings in guide pages for each order, family, genus, and species.