An Arizona bumblebee is 500 times faster than honey bees in pollinating flowers. The carpenter bee, another U.S. native found in Arizona, is very hardy, surviving desert conditions. These are two examples of native bees that have commercial potential as crop pollinators. Scientists are now matching bees with crops they pollinate best.
Pollen bees provide an alternative to honey bees, which face danger on at least two fronts.
In many parts of the country, mites attack honey bees' breathing tubes. And, in the southwest, an Africanized strain crossbreeds with the European honey bee. Non-honey bees are not affected by mites or Africanized bees. Plants take in needed CO2 through leaf openings called stomates, but gaping stomates let precious water escape. Over five months' time, the plants all used about the same amount of water.