According to Washington State University’s Honey Bees and Pollinators Program, commercial beekeepers in the United States are reporting hive losses ranging from 60 percent to 100 percent, outpacing previous years where losses generally came in between 40 percent and 50 percent. The reason for this is still unexplained; even so, it’s prompting introspection about what can be done if honeybee populations can’t be sustained at current levels for crucial agricultural tasks of pollinating crops. One answer is the mason bee, a bona fide native of North America, unlike the European-transplanted honey bee. It is one of the 4,000 bees native to the U.S. and has the exact kind of democratic sensibilities that have generally been rewarded in the New World, with both the classic aversion to forming hives and a strict anti-monarchial policy of no queens.
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