Vicki Sanders, Class of 2023 – Everyone is familiar with the Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) because it provides us with honey and is a pollinator of many plants. But did you know that it is not indigenous to North America? We have around 4,000 bees that are indigenous to our continent; and in Texas there are at least 1,100 native bee species, possibly up to 1,500. Unlike honeybees, our native bees struggle when they cannot find native plants which provide their primary sources of nectar and pollen.