What is a bee?

Bees are insects which feed pollen to their developing young, making them excellent pollinators. There are at least 632 species of bees in Oregon, including five managed species, a number of introduced species and a wide range of native species. Bee biodiversity varies across the state, with the highest diversity in the southern and eastern regions of Oregon.

Bees in the state can be characterized as managed bees (honey bees, mason bees, some bumblebees), species that are wild bees (i.e., reproduce without human management), native bees (i.e., species that occurs naturally in a region) and exotic bees (i.e., species introduced to Oregon from another region).