The Diversity of Native Bees in Urban Settings

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Crystal Hickman is working on an ABC book based on California bees. Every single letter in the book is a different species or subspecies of bee. She says she feels like there's so many honeybees that are getting out into nature. "I literally spent time in the middle of nowhere in the desert and there's just honeybees everywhere"

Honeybees get all the attention, but native bees are the underbugs to root for. Photographer, author, and National Geographic Explorer Krystle Hickman shows us the wonders of indigenous bees through her lens focused on conservation of bees and their habitats. She covers their lifecycles, tunnels, turrets, fuzzy butts, frat house cuddling, and sexual dimorphism. We also chat about taxonomic fisticuffs, bee hotels, the mustard blight, monocultures, the teeniest livestock, and how to appreciate and photograph all of the marvels you’ve been overlooking. So grab a sunhat, order her deck of native bee flashcards, fill up your water bottle, and let's stare into the bushes to meet some tiny new friends.

Get Krystle Hickman’s gorgeous native bee flashcards, Native Bees of the Western United States, Volume 1

Links to Krystle’s work

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Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

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