Bee the North: Our mascot in push to save urban ecosystem, Sept. 18

That was a welcome article on Toronto’s official bee. At this time of year, this species is easy to find, even on downtown streets, especially on golden rod or rose of sharon. Information that the city used to make their decision came from our booklet on the Bees of Toronto (City of Toronto Biodiversity Series), which can be downloaded here: https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/8eb7-Biodiversity-BeesBook-Division-Planning-And-Development.pdf

This booklet contains images of most of the bees that can be found locally, as well as detailed information on their biology and where to find them (among other things). For images of most of the bees of Canada, our website can be consulted: https://www.yorku.ca/bugsrus/resources/galleries/boc

Also, anyone can contribute images of bumble bees for identification to Bumble Bee Watch: https://www.bumblebeewatch.org/ where the data are used by researchers to assess the conservation status of some of the most important of our native bees.