> Concern over the general decline in honey bee populations in the United States, including the recent devastation caused by colony collapse disorder, has prompted increased interest in understanding native bee populations. However, as important as native pollinators are in supporting agricultural systems, the status of the overwhelming majority of them remains largely unknown. 

> Since 2005, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) apiary inspection service has been conducting surveys of the native bee fauna of Pennsylvania, with the goal of establishing baseline biodiversity and habitat data for use in the development of native pollinator management practices. Through the 2007 field season, these survey efforts provided some 98 species, 27 of which are new to the state.

> With much concern over pollinator health, and the documented decline of honeybees, in particular, there is much need to begin to document the status of native pollinators. We cannot yet say for certain what is happening to native bees in Pennsylvania, neither about the status of pollinator health nor about the effects of pollinator decline, but current survey efforts will provide a baseline dataset for comparison of bee populations in future surveys.

SEE:
A Checklist of the Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of Pennsylvania
LEO R. DONOVALL,  AND DENNIS VANENGELSDORP
JOURNAL OF THE KANSAS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 83(1), 2010, pp. 7–24

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