There is a swarm of very small bees working the blossoms of the trumpet vine this morning. Much smaller than the familiar European honeybees and bumblebees, I’m not sure what kind they are. Properly identifying them is a little harder than I thought.

According to Penn State University, there are at least 437 different species of bees in the Commonwealth. New York is home to over 450. Let’s learn a little bit about these vital pollinators and how we can help them and help ourselves and the environment in the process.

European honeybees were brought to Jamestown, VA on a British ship in 1622, long before the American Revolution. They were introduced as farm livestock, and the honey was used as a sweetener (long before colonists had access to sugar).

Our native bees have been here for millions of years. Over time, they have developed relationships with our native plants. Many bee species are generalists, but some are specialists and only gather pollen from a single species of plant or from a group of similar plants.

As we all know, bees transfer pollen from plant to plant as they gather it and enable reproduction in most of our vegetation (some species like Kieffer pears are self-pollinating). Without bees we would not have fruits, nuts, seeds and many of our vegetables.

There are many different types of bees, including honeybees, bumblebees, mining bees, sweat bees, carpenter bees, digger bees and mason bees, to name a few. Pennsylvania has 110 different types of sweat bees alone. Most species of bees are solitary, with only 10 percent being social and raising their young cooperatively.

Most of the solitary bees nest in the ground in dugout burrows with multiple chambers. Leaving areas of loose soil will provide places for these bees to nest and will keep them around gardens to provide pollination.

Other species of bees nest in cavities of trees and plants. One special group is the cuckoo bees. They are kleptoparasites and sneak into other bee nests to lay eggs. The host bee then provides the food and raises the young cuckoo bees.

What is causing bee populations to be on the decline? The answer is the usual suspects. Loss of habitat is the biggest. Improper use and overuse of insecticides is another.

What can we do to help bees (and help ourselves and the environment)? The answer is easier than you think. Mix a few native flowering plants in with the ornamental ones in our gardens. Leave some loose dirt for bees to nest in. Use insecticides sparingly.

The State of New York adopted a Pollinator Protection Plan in 2016 to help. PA has the Pennsylvania Pollinator Protection Plan (P4) as well as several Pollinator Habitat Plans through entities like PennDOT. It’s good to see the government stepping up to help protect our vital bee populations. A lot more work needs to be done.

I’m still not sure what kind of bee is hammering the trumpet vine blossoms. It doesn’t really matter. I’m just glad that they are out there doing their job.

Let’s all enjoy the outdoors!

John S. Van Etten is the current president of the Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs of Sullivan County, Inc.