Creature Feature Tuesday

🐝 Georgia Native Bee Spotlight

Meet one of Georgia’s most important pollinators: the southeastern blueberry bee (Habropoda laboriosa).

This fuzzy, fast-flying native bee is a spring specialist—and it has a sweet job: pollinating blueberry blossoms. Unlike honey bees, this native bee “buzz pollinates” by vibrating its flight muscles to shake pollen loose, making it incredibly efficient at boosting blueberry yields across Georgia farms and gardens.

Even better, it’s gentle, solitary, and active early in the season when many other pollinators are just waking up. Without it, Georgia’s blueberry harvest wouldn’t be nearly as abundant.

💙 Next time you enjoy local blueberries, remember: a tiny native bee did a very big job to make it possible.

Photo: University of Georgia CAES