The document provides information about pollination and bees. It discusses how both male and female bees collect nectar for energy but only females gather pollen to feed their brood. It also explains that the byproduct of bees gathering these resources is plant pollination. The document then gives more details about different types of bees, including how they build nests and care for larvae.

1. Pollination 101
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
Bee & Pollinator Discovery Center

2. Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
Bee & Pollinator Discovery Center
Pollination 101

3. Pollination 101
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
Bee & Pollinator Discovery Center

4. 20,000 and Counting/Diverse Bees
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
Bee & Pollinator Discovery Center

5. Diverse Bees
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
Bee & Pollinator Discovery Center
Flowers
For Food and More
-
The wild bees buzzing on flowers in your
garden might be doing a number of things.
Both male and female bees sip surgery
nectar for energy. Only female bees gather
pollen for themselves and their brood. They
also collect flower resins and oils for nest
building. The byproduct of all this dining
frenzy is pollination, and the seeds that
form, for our world’s flowering plants. Pollen is a plant protein, perfect for growing bees.
Female bees stock their nests with pollen balls
that feed larvae as they grow from egg to adult.
Male bees have no nest to go home to. Look for
them sleeping curled up in flowers or with their
jaws clamped onto leaves.
-
The wild bees buzzing on flowers in your
garden might be doing a number of things.
Both male and female bees sip surgery
nectar for energy. Only female bees gather
pollen for themselves and their brood. They
also collect flower resins and oils for nest
building. The byproduct of all this dining
renzy is pollination, and the seeds that
orm, for our world’s flowering plants. Pollen is a plant protein, perfect for growing bees.
Female bees stock their nests with pollen balls
that feed larvae as they grow from egg to adult.
Male bees have no nest to go home to. Look for
them sleeping curled up in flowers or with their
jaws clamped onto leaves.
Flowers
For Food and More

6. Champion Pollen Movers/Pollen Lift
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
Bee & Pollinator Discovery Center

7. Wild Bee Real Estate
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
Bee & Pollinator Discovery Center

8. Wild Bee Real Estate Details
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
Bee & Pollinator Discovery Center
For a Bee-FriendlyYard
Many bee species are declining.
Some are listed as threatened or
endangered. Habitat loss is a prime
cause, but together we can tip the
balance for wild bees. Here’s how
your own yard can play a part.
Keep the Flowers Coming
Plant for overlapping blooms from early spring into fall.
Plant for plentiful pollen and nectar.
Feature native shrubs and wildflowers.
Hold the pesticides.
Make Room for Nests
Keep a patch of bare ground, without mulch or plants.
Leave a twelve-inch stubble when you trim perennials after winter.
Start a ‘no-rake’ corner with a boulder, fallen leaves or old logs.
Provide stem bundles for nesting, and replace every two years
Photo credit: Courtesy Heather Holm Photo credit: Courtesy Heather Holm
Photo credit: Courtesy Heather Holm Photo credit: Courtesy Heather HolmPhoto credit: TBD
Sometimes
things don’t go as planned . . .
Loners by Lifestyle
Whether they nest above or below
ground, most wild bee species are
solitary. A female bee spends her
short adult life provisioning a nursery
with pollen. She lays an egg on each
pollen ball and seals her nest. The
young are left to hatch, grow and
emerge on their own a year later.
Bumblebees live in colonies that last a single season. The queen
may choose an abandoned mouse hole, leaf pile or empty
birdhouse. Her nest is built of wax pots holding nectar, pollen
or growing larvae.
Photo credit: Courtesy Elaine Evans
Photo credit: Courtesy Dennis L. Briggs Courtesy Robbin Thorp
Above Ground Living
The other third of Minnesota’s
bees nest in cavities. Some
chew into soft, rotting logs.
Others find abandoned holes
in dead trees. Still others use
the hollow broken stems of
last year’s wildflowers.
Below Ground Nurseries
Over two-thirds of Minnesota’s bee
species nest in the soil. Unlike wasps,
they’re unlikely to sting. Some are even
stingless. A female bee takes several
days to dig her underground burrow,
which can reach as deep as two feet!
Monitor
Reading Rail
Peak Intos
Flip Graphic
bottom
Flip Graphic
If a cuckoo bee sneaks into another bee’s nest
and lays her egg, the cuckoo larva has both a
pollen loaf and the other unlucky larva to
munch on.
Photo credit: Courtesy Heather Holm
Flip GraphicTop Peek Into Six:
Bumblebee Nest
Photo credit:
Courtesy Elaine Evans
Photo caption:
Bumblebee nest
Photo credit:
Courtesy Joel Gardner
Photo caption:
Carpenter bee nest
Peek Into Five:
Carpenter cross-section
Peek Into Four:
Carpenter bee in stem
Photo credit:
Courtesy Colleen Satyshur
Photo caption:
Carpenter bee
Peek Into Three:
Leafcutter in rock
Photo credit:
Courtesy Heather Holm
Photo caption:
Leafcutter bee
Peek Into Two:
Ground Nester/Bee Poking Out
Photo credit: TBD
Photo caption:
Mining bee
Peek Into One:
Ground Nester/Tunnel
Illustration caption:
Mining bee nest
Wood Tone For Example Purposes Only Final Colors TBD

9. Honey Bees
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
Bee & Pollinator Discovery Center

10. Honey Bees
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
Bee & Pollinator Discovery Center
A queen is the mother of
all workers, drones and
future queens in a colony.
Lifespan:
About 2-3 years
Job:
Lay eggs, as many as
1,500 daily
How many?
Female worker bees run
the hive. They raise the
next generation, find and
process food and other
supplies.
Lifespan:
About 6 weeks
Job:
Almost everything!
How many?
Drones are male honeybees.
A drone that mates with a
queen in open air dies
immediately. By fall, the
workers evict any remaining
drones.
How many?
Lifespan:
About 8 weeks
Job:
Mate with Queen
Honeybee
As many as 60,000* honeybees live in a
single hive. And each kind of bee has a
special role to play.
Hive
Two compound eyes
with over 6,000 lenses that see
a different color range than we do
Antennae
to smell, taste, check flight speed,
monitor temperature and humidity
Four wings
that beat 250 times per second,
to fly forward, backward and sideways
Two hind legs
with baskets of stiff hairs,
to carry pollen back to the hive
Two front legs
to clean antennae
Two middle legs
that brush pollen
into pollen baskets
Honey stomach
for carrying nectar home
Two compound eyes
with over 6,000 lenses that see
a different color range than we do
Antennae
to smell, taste, check flight
speed, monitor temperature
and humidity
Four wings
that beat 250 times per second,
to fly forward, backward and sideways
Two hind legs
with baskets of stiff hairs,
to carry pollen back to the hive
Two front legs
to clean antennae
Two middle legs
that brush pollen
into pollen baskets
Honey stomach
for carrying nectar home
Fold-out tongue
to suck up liquid nectar,
honey and water
The Incredible
The queen is an egg-laying machine, with little
time for more. Worker bees run the hive, and
their task list is long.
Workers build and repair the wax combs, tend to
the queen, feed growing bees, guard the entrance,
and more. Outside, they collect nectar, pollen,
water, and resin from trees.
Worker Bee
Life Path
House Bee
Days 1–18
Field Training
Days 18-21
Field Bee
Days 21–42
Any time off?
Even with so much to do, workers
spend more time resting than
working—as long as their colony
isn’t under stress. When challenges
hit, they ramp up to work harder
(and die younger) to help the hive
recover.
of a Worker Bee
How many? How many?

11. Honey Bees
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
Bee & Pollinator Discovery Center
Hive
on the Inside
It’s pitch black inside a hive. None of the bees
can see. Yet its 50,000 residents constantly share
reports on conditions inside and outside. This
steady news? feed guides how each bee
contributes to colony needs.
Whole Body
Conversations
Honey bees buzz bodies, touch antennae, rub legs, and
lick and smell each other to communicate. Much of the
sharing is by chemical pheromones passed through the
hive: guard bees (“Alarm!”), the queen (“I’m alive and
well”), young brood (“Feed me!”)
The overall mix of messages creates a colony status
report.

12. Style Sheet
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
Bee & Pollinator Discovery Center
Palette
Rich Brown
Usage
Main Titles, copy, and
direct print graphics
48%
71%
76%
63%
c
m
y
k
Golden Honey
Usage
Secondary Titles, accents
c
m
y
k
5%
25%
95%
0%
Tan Base
Usage
Base color for reading
rails, and all non-wood
pop-offs
c
m
y
k
14%
14%
21%
0%
Materials Natural Warm Tones
Photography Big Images/Simple arrangements
Typography
Top Title layer: Gill Sans MT Bold
Copy color combinations
Bottom Title layer: Gill Sans MT Regular
Titles
& Copy
Body Copy: Garamond 45% Title Scale
Plants
& Pollinators
-
The wild bees buzzing on flowers in your
garden might be doing a number of things.
Both male and female bees sip surgery
nectar for energy. Only female bees gather
pollen for themselves and their brood. They
also collect flower resins and oils for nest
building. The byproduct of all this dining
renzy is pollination, and the seeds that
orm, for our world’s flowering plants. Pollen is a plant protein, perfect for growing bees.
Female bees stock their nests with pollen balls
that feed larvae as they grow from egg to adult.
Male bees have no nest to go home to. Look for
them sleeping curled up in flowers or with their
jaws clamped onto leaves.
Flowers
For Food and More
The Incredible
The queen is an egg-laying machine, with little time for more.
Worker bees run the hive, and their task list is long.
Workers build and repair the wax combs, tend to the queen,
feed growing bees, guard the entrance, and more. Outside,
they collect nectar, pollen, water, and resin from trees.
Worker Bee
Hive
on the Inside
It’s pitch black inside a hive. None of the bees can see. Yet its
50,000 residents constantly share reports on conditions inside
and outside. This steady news? feed guides how each bee
contributes to colony needs.
Sometimes
Things Don’t Go as Planned . . .
Slat Wall
Lightly treated
Direct Print
Printed Wood
Water Marked
Printed Reading Rail
Warm Wood
Dark Warm Stain