Bees are essential for most of the fruit and vegetable crops produced in New England. The value of pollination to agriculture is estimated at more than $200 billion a year worldwide. However, the abundance of and diversity of pollinators are declining in landscapes across the United States.

At the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of New Hampshire (UNH), scientists are conducting research that not only assesses the state of native bees but also developing ways that citizens can help support these important members of our ecological and agricultural communities.

Experiment station researchers have been assessing the status of the state’s native pollinators. In the first-ever assessment of New Hampshire’s bee population, scientists found that the Granite State has more than 100 native bees. They even discovered nearly 20 bee species that had not been previously documented in the state. The White Mountain National Forest alone is home to nearly 140 species of native bees, including two species of native bumble bees that are in decline in the Northeast.