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How to identify it
- A dark solitary bee: the head, thorax, abdomen and legs are black and lightly covered in hair that ranges from yellow and orange to light brown.[1]
- The wings are clear with a light brown tint and dark brown veins.[1]
- A resting female in UF's photos measures about 9 mm (roughly 3/8 inch) from the top of the head to the wing tips.[1]
- Its general body form resembles a mining bee (Andrena). Features that set it apart include the lack of facial foveae, a single suture below each antenna, and a lobe on the labrum (upper lip) found in no other bee.[2]
- Females are usually seen on cranberry or blueberry blossoms.[1][2]
Look-alikes
| Look-alike | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Mining bees (Andrena) | Mining bees resemble it in general body form. The cranberry bee has no facial foveae and has a lobe on the labrum that no other bee has.[2] |
Where it lives
It is native to the eastern United States and Canada, recorded from Louisiana to the East Coast and from Florida north. A population found on a cranberry farm in Quebec in 2005 was the first record for Canada and the northernmost for the genus in North America, about 550 km beyond earlier records from Massachusetts.[1][2]
Biology and life cycle
It is a pollen specialist on Vaccinium, foraging largely on blueberry and cranberry for both pollen and nectar. In Quebec, pollen in its nest cells was entirely from cultivated cranberry. It has also been seen visiting deerberry, Allegheny blackberry, red raspberry and yellow loosestrife.[1][2]
Adults emerge in early spring, with timing depending on region and climate. In the Quebec cranberry field they were active in July, during the crop's bloom.[1][2]
After mating, each female digs her own nest in loose soil; the Quebec nests were in a dike between the cranberry beds and the bog. She lines each cell with a glandular secretion and provisions it with pollen for her young, which come out the following spring.[1][2]
It forages in light rain and moderate temperatures. Melitta bees can buzz-pollinate, shaking loose pollen that clings tightly to the flower's anthers.[1]
Damage and signs
Health risk
Neither source reports it stinging people; UF describes it only as a solitary bee whose females tend their own nests, and both treat it as a beneficial pollinator.[1][2]
Control
Prevention
No control is needed. To help it, follow pesticide labels for products that can harm pollinators, plant a variety of flowers and provide healthy soil and a water source. Yards and gardens can offer nesting sites as its habitat shrinks.[1]
Common questions
- Is the eastern cranberry bee a pest?
- No. It is a native solitary bee and an efficient pollinator of cranberries and blueberries.[1][2]
- Does it only visit cranberries?
- It forages mostly on blueberries and cranberries, and in Quebec its nest provisions were all cranberry pollen. It has also been recorded on deerberry, Allegheny blackberry, red raspberry and yellow loosestrife.[1][2]
- Why does it matter to cranberry growers?
- Cranberries need bees for pollination. Researchers suggest studying how to manage farms to encourage this native bee as a cranberry pollinator.[2]
Sources
- University of Florida IFAS Extension (EDIS), “Eastern Cranberry Bee Melitta americana Smith (Featured Creatures EENY-772, L. Komondy and C. Jack, 2021).” journals.flvc.org/edis/article/view/126468 (accessed 2026-11-09)
- Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club (The Canadian Field-Naturalist), “Payette A. First record of the bee Melitta americana (Smith) (Hymenoptera: Melittidae) for Quebec and Canada. The Canadian Field-Naturalist 127(1):60-63 (2013).” doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v127i1.1409 (accessed 2026-11-09)
- iNaturalist, “Melitta americana taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/458973 (accessed 2026-11-09)