Brooklyn Botanic Garden, in New York City, has its very own bee species named “Lasioglossum gotham”, which is about the size of a grain of rice (around 3mm in length) and is one of four species recently discovered in the New York area.
In fact, the bees were actually discovered in 2009 by John Ascher from the American Museum of Natural History. The tiny bees nest underground and DNA testing has shown it to be a new bee species, along with others discovered in Westchester, Suffolk, and Nassau Counties. Over 200 species of bees live within New York’s parks and green spaces.
These tiny bees get their food from drinking the sweat of humans and animals (for salts and electrolytes), as well as from pollen and nectar. They are also very important for the pollination of wildflowers, crops, and fruits.
Let’s hope pesticides, fertilizers and GMO crops don’t interfere with allowing this bee species to flourish.
Via FerreBeekeeper & New York Times
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