Common Native Bees of the Eastern United States: Your Way to Easily Identify Bees and Look-Alikes

Get this handy booklet to common bees (and their look-alikes) of the eastern USA, and learn how to identify them.

Bees are beloved garden visitors and are essential to a healthy ecosystem. We welcome their arrival and celebrate their vital work as pollinators, supporting the growth of flowers, plants, and trees. If you see bees in your area, keep this convenient guide close at hand. Designed for ease of use, the booklet is organized by group for quick identification. Narrow your choices by group, and view just a few bees at a time. The professional photographs showcase 160 species--including bee look-alikes, such as beetles, hoverflies, and wasps. Written by biologist, pollinator conservationist, and award-winning author Heather Holm, Common Native Bees of the Eastern United States features species found east of the 100th meridian (from eastern North Dakota down to eastern Texas and all the way to the Atlantic Ocean).

Book Features

• Pocket-sized format--easier than laminated foldouts


• Professional photos showing key markings


• Easy-to-use information for even casual observers


• The author's "Top 10 Things You Can Do for Bees"

Improve your identification skills and learn to make your backyard or garden a welcome place for bees, with this lightweight quick guide.

Heather Holm is a biologist, pollinator conservationist, and award-winning author. In addition to assisting with native bee research projects, she informs and educates audiences nationwide, through her writing and many presentations, about the fascinating world of native pollinators and beneficial insects, and the native plant communities that support them.

Her first book, Pollinators of Native Plants, was published in 2014; her second book, Bees, published in 2017, won six book awards, including the 2018 American Horticultural Society Book Award. Her book Wasps was published in February 2021.

Heather's expertise includes the interactions between native pollinators and native plants, and the natural history and biology of native bees and predatory wasps occurring in the Upper Midwest and Northeast.

Heather is a National Honorary Director of Wild Ones. She also serves on the board of the Friends of Cullen Nature Preserve and Bird Sanctuary, a 501(c)3 non-profit. In her spare time, Heather is an active community supporter, writing grants and coordinating neighborhood volunteer landscape restoration projects. Currently, she is working on three projects with volunteers, restoring approximately ten acres of city-owned park land in her neighborhood for pollinators and people. She lives in Minnesota with her husband.