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The ABCs of California's Native Bees
Journey through the world of California native bees, one letter at a time.
National Geographic Explorer Krystle Hickman has spent a decade capturing exquisitely detailed photographs of native bees and making exciting discoveries about their behavior in the field. In her debut book of natural history, she offers an intimate look at the daily habits of rare and overlooked bees in those cloaked in green and black and blue, that live alone in the ground or sleep inside flowers, that invade nests and enslave other bees like infinitesimal conquerors, or that, unlike more generalist honeybees, feed only on native blooms in wild lands. A committed conservationist and community scientist who knows all too well how precarious the wellbeing of these insects is, Hickman shares her adventures in local native plant gardens and throughout the far reaches of California to bring the beauty of our diverse ecosystems into wondrous bee's-eye view. Meant for all curious readers, this collection of bee stories—one for each letter of the alphabet, matching the first letter of a bee's scientific name—will leave you both wowed and compelled to help save these fascinating beings.
National Geographic Explorer Krystle Hickman has spent a decade capturing exquisitely detailed photographs of native bees and making exciting discoveries about their behavior in the field. In her debut book of natural history, she offers an intimate look at the daily habits of rare and overlooked bees in those cloaked in green and black and blue, that live alone in the ground or sleep inside flowers, that invade nests and enslave other bees like infinitesimal conquerors, or that, unlike more generalist honeybees, feed only on native blooms in wild lands. A committed conservationist and community scientist who knows all too well how precarious the wellbeing of these insects is, Hickman shares her adventures in local native plant gardens and throughout the far reaches of California to bring the beauty of our diverse ecosystems into wondrous bee's-eye view. Meant for all curious readers, this collection of bee stories—one for each letter of the alphabet, matching the first letter of a bee's scientific name—will leave you both wowed and compelled to help save these fascinating beings.
- GenresNature
240 pages, Hardcover
Published October 21, 2025
2 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 12, 2025
I got a request to review a book that was quite timely for me. This year I decided to start a vegetable garden. I had been convinced by friend of mine that growing a garden would be therapeutic, relaxing, and enjoyable, and boy was she right! I have definitely enjoyed growing a garden and seeing the literal fruits of my labor.
Never in my wildest dreams would I think I would get a chance to review a book about native bees, and all of a sudden, I had a California Native Bee book in my hands!
I was so amazed when I turned the book over to read the description that I saw someone who looked just like me on the cover. A black woman wrote this book! I immediately shared the cover of the book with my friend who had convinced me to garden, and she was also amazed. This is my first time reading a bee book, but to read one from a Black woman, is just phenomenal.
While reading this book and looking at all of the amazing nature photography she has taken, I immediately thought of how this book is needed in the library. Many of our libraries here in Southern California have seed libraries, and having this book as a resource in the seed library would help other gardeners to grow specific flowers, plants, and shrubs that attract the native bee population and help them thrive.
I know you’ve probably heard that bees are in trouble of extinction, but it’s not all bees. It’s the native bees. The bees you normally see out and about are honey bees, specially a single species; the Apis meliifera or the Western Honey Bee (AKA European Honey Bee), was introduced to North America in 1622.
Krystle Hickman, a community scientist and conservation photographer takes her readers on a journey from A-Z discussing native California bees and describing their habitat, the risk of extinction, their impact on the environment, the challenges that face these bees due to human activity, and she guides you through this book on how to look for, protect, and advocate for native bee populations in nature.
Native bees are naturally occurring in a particular region or ecosystem without being introduced to the area by human activity. These same native bees can be indicator insects that help others identify a shift in the ecosystem, like climate change, pollution, or habitat loss by their changes in their numbers or complete absence in areas they were abundant.
Reading this book has encouraged me to grow native California plants and flowers next growing season! California is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. Hickman explains that there are more bees native to the state of California than to countries like Argentina or France. She explains that in order to save native bees, we have to save native plants, and we can do that through regenerative gardening. “Regenerative gardening practices benefits not only native bees but also every element of the rehabilitated ecosystem, from soil organisms to insects, birds, and all those who breathe the air around us.” (p.11)
Some native bees are called pollen specialists. These bees need a specific plant to pollinate because pollen from that specific flower provides provisions to its offspring. These pollen specialists are more vulnerable and sensitive than bees that are pollen generalists to environmental changes, like habitat loss caused by human development and climate change. These pollen specialists rely solely on specific plants for survival. Those native plants have a bigger impact on the evolution of those specific bees and the future of their offspring. Pollen generalists bees, on the other hand, collect pollen from any and everywhere, as they are not associated with a specific plant or flower to sustain its offspring. They can accept pollen from various plants/flowers in general.
Hickman discussed The Sunflower Turret Bee from Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve. She travelled there to document and observe this native bee, and she realized that ALL of the sunflowers were picked and how the bees were absent from this location, probably looking elsewhere for food because they specifically pollinate the Asteracea flowers (Common Sunflowers), the Helianthus annus. There were no flowers for the bees to return to, and lost their source of provision in this area.
Here is a list of different types bees that you may not be aware of:
- Bumble bee
- Pollen-specialist bee
- Generalist Bee
- Crepuscular bees (come out during dawn/dusk)
- Solitary bees
- Kleptoparasite bees
- Social parasite bees (population control bees)
Growing up as a kid, I thought all “bees” were the same. However, now as an adult who gardens, and who has tried to live a smaller footprint in the world, have come to learn that all bees are not the same. I’m grateful to also live in one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world, and I feel such a responsibility, especially after reading this book, to take time to help out the native flower and bee populations. As a gardener, you rely on pollinators to help you grow food, and it’s so important to be responsible with how you move in this world, especially because there is so much devastation to the land due to developments and the increasing devastation of climate change.
Bees go extinct because of habitat fragmentation and loss, and in order to save native bees, we have to save native ecosystems.
One statistic that I found astounding in her book was that 99% of the grassland in California has been destroyed by non-native invasive grasses, development, watershed suppression, grazing, fire suppression, and fire abatement.
Although Hickman’s book is overall light, fun, playful, filled with colorful imagery, and has amazing facts about bees, there is an underlying acknowledgment of the urgency to help save native bees and native plants/flowers from extinction. Bees are not scary, and they actually mind the business that pays them (in pollen), and nothing else. However, I do acknowledge that there are people who are deathly allergic to bee stings, so I don’t want to minimize that there are some danger to bees, but bees are really out here to upkeep the ecosystem, pollinate fruits and vegetables, sustain nature, and maintain the earth’s flora and fauna we all enjoy. Humans aren't typically on the list of things to explore. Hickman also brings the science of bees to the reader in such a way that you get heavily immersed in her words, her photographs, and you become empathetic to the bees’ plight and predicament. As a reader, I felt compelled to want to change things on a conservation level.
Hickman describes how to identify bees by observing their location, time of year, and plant association. She also explains how to take photos of the body of the bee, and the importance of conferring with a bee expert to confirm the species of bees you may see. She explains that in the past, scientists would collect physical bees, which lead to a lot of dead bees in order to identify the bee, but today, bees can be identified via photo. She highlights that apps, such as iNaturalist, can be used for identification and observing different bee species.
Important and crucial factors to consider regarding conservation efforts as a person in the world can be as simple as being aware of your surroundings and by not disturbing the land, trees, flowers, shrubs, and other flora/fauna related to the habitat you are in. “A single passerby could unintentionally destroy [a bee’s] entire habitat in a single day.” (p.175)
Hickman consistently acknowledges and honors indigenous communities that are/were displaced. She celebrates biodiversity. She calls awareness to overdevelopment and human actions that destroy ecosystems, and is an advocate for conservationism and protected areas for nature to thrive. She has inspired me to become a community scientist, a native gardener, and surprisingly to dust off my camera and get back to my photography roots. Observing nature shows us how interconnected and complex everything is in nature. Nature has the resilience to rebound; however, we can’t take anything for granted.
Overall this book is a solid 5, and I would definitely recommend this book to be accessible everywhere, especially in libraries, schools, seed libraries, and nursery/garden centers. This book is definitely needed!
Thank you to Coriolis and the author Krystle Hickman for this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Never in my wildest dreams would I think I would get a chance to review a book about native bees, and all of a sudden, I had a California Native Bee book in my hands!
I was so amazed when I turned the book over to read the description that I saw someone who looked just like me on the cover. A black woman wrote this book! I immediately shared the cover of the book with my friend who had convinced me to garden, and she was also amazed. This is my first time reading a bee book, but to read one from a Black woman, is just phenomenal.
While reading this book and looking at all of the amazing nature photography she has taken, I immediately thought of how this book is needed in the library. Many of our libraries here in Southern California have seed libraries, and having this book as a resource in the seed library would help other gardeners to grow specific flowers, plants, and shrubs that attract the native bee population and help them thrive.
I know you’ve probably heard that bees are in trouble of extinction, but it’s not all bees. It’s the native bees. The bees you normally see out and about are honey bees, specially a single species; the Apis meliifera or the Western Honey Bee (AKA European Honey Bee), was introduced to North America in 1622.
Krystle Hickman, a community scientist and conservation photographer takes her readers on a journey from A-Z discussing native California bees and describing their habitat, the risk of extinction, their impact on the environment, the challenges that face these bees due to human activity, and she guides you through this book on how to look for, protect, and advocate for native bee populations in nature.
Native bees are naturally occurring in a particular region or ecosystem without being introduced to the area by human activity. These same native bees can be indicator insects that help others identify a shift in the ecosystem, like climate change, pollution, or habitat loss by their changes in their numbers or complete absence in areas they were abundant.
Reading this book has encouraged me to grow native California plants and flowers next growing season! California is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. Hickman explains that there are more bees native to the state of California than to countries like Argentina or France. She explains that in order to save native bees, we have to save native plants, and we can do that through regenerative gardening. “Regenerative gardening practices benefits not only native bees but also every element of the rehabilitated ecosystem, from soil organisms to insects, birds, and all those who breathe the air around us.” (p.11)
Some native bees are called pollen specialists. These bees need a specific plant to pollinate because pollen from that specific flower provides provisions to its offspring. These pollen specialists are more vulnerable and sensitive than bees that are pollen generalists to environmental changes, like habitat loss caused by human development and climate change. These pollen specialists rely solely on specific plants for survival. Those native plants have a bigger impact on the evolution of those specific bees and the future of their offspring. Pollen generalists bees, on the other hand, collect pollen from any and everywhere, as they are not associated with a specific plant or flower to sustain its offspring. They can accept pollen from various plants/flowers in general.
Hickman discussed The Sunflower Turret Bee from Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve. She travelled there to document and observe this native bee, and she realized that ALL of the sunflowers were picked and how the bees were absent from this location, probably looking elsewhere for food because they specifically pollinate the Asteracea flowers (Common Sunflowers), the Helianthus annus. There were no flowers for the bees to return to, and lost their source of provision in this area.
Here is a list of different types bees that you may not be aware of:
- Bumble bee
- Pollen-specialist bee
- Generalist Bee
- Crepuscular bees (come out during dawn/dusk)
- Solitary bees
- Kleptoparasite bees
- Social parasite bees (population control bees)
Growing up as a kid, I thought all “bees” were the same. However, now as an adult who gardens, and who has tried to live a smaller footprint in the world, have come to learn that all bees are not the same. I’m grateful to also live in one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world, and I feel such a responsibility, especially after reading this book, to take time to help out the native flower and bee populations. As a gardener, you rely on pollinators to help you grow food, and it’s so important to be responsible with how you move in this world, especially because there is so much devastation to the land due to developments and the increasing devastation of climate change.
Bees go extinct because of habitat fragmentation and loss, and in order to save native bees, we have to save native ecosystems.
One statistic that I found astounding in her book was that 99% of the grassland in California has been destroyed by non-native invasive grasses, development, watershed suppression, grazing, fire suppression, and fire abatement.
Although Hickman’s book is overall light, fun, playful, filled with colorful imagery, and has amazing facts about bees, there is an underlying acknowledgment of the urgency to help save native bees and native plants/flowers from extinction. Bees are not scary, and they actually mind the business that pays them (in pollen), and nothing else. However, I do acknowledge that there are people who are deathly allergic to bee stings, so I don’t want to minimize that there are some danger to bees, but bees are really out here to upkeep the ecosystem, pollinate fruits and vegetables, sustain nature, and maintain the earth’s flora and fauna we all enjoy. Humans aren't typically on the list of things to explore. Hickman also brings the science of bees to the reader in such a way that you get heavily immersed in her words, her photographs, and you become empathetic to the bees’ plight and predicament. As a reader, I felt compelled to want to change things on a conservation level.
Hickman describes how to identify bees by observing their location, time of year, and plant association. She also explains how to take photos of the body of the bee, and the importance of conferring with a bee expert to confirm the species of bees you may see. She explains that in the past, scientists would collect physical bees, which lead to a lot of dead bees in order to identify the bee, but today, bees can be identified via photo. She highlights that apps, such as iNaturalist, can be used for identification and observing different bee species.
Important and crucial factors to consider regarding conservation efforts as a person in the world can be as simple as being aware of your surroundings and by not disturbing the land, trees, flowers, shrubs, and other flora/fauna related to the habitat you are in. “A single passerby could unintentionally destroy [a bee’s] entire habitat in a single day.” (p.175)
Hickman consistently acknowledges and honors indigenous communities that are/were displaced. She celebrates biodiversity. She calls awareness to overdevelopment and human actions that destroy ecosystems, and is an advocate for conservationism and protected areas for nature to thrive. She has inspired me to become a community scientist, a native gardener, and surprisingly to dust off my camera and get back to my photography roots. Observing nature shows us how interconnected and complex everything is in nature. Nature has the resilience to rebound; however, we can’t take anything for granted.
Overall this book is a solid 5, and I would definitely recommend this book to be accessible everywhere, especially in libraries, schools, seed libraries, and nursery/garden centers. This book is definitely needed!
Thank you to Coriolis and the author Krystle Hickman for this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
January 9, 2026
Honeybees get all the press, but there are many thousands of other bee species. This book contains photos, all taken by one determined person, of a small fraction of the ones living in California, along with text about their behavior and how she took the photos.
Most of these bees don't live in female-only colonies ruled by a grotesquely fat queen. Bee royalist propagandists would have you believe that is the only way a bee can be. However, in most species the males and females live mostly solitary lives. The males essentially just drink all day and Always Be Chasing the ladies. The ladies try to outrun the guys, collect pollen to feed their young, and in a large number of predator species, lay eggs that will hatch tiny assassins to kill and eat the eggs of prey species.
Finding and photographing these bees takes lots of time, effort and patience. We are lucky that the author is willing to do the work, because I'm surely not gonna go out in the wilds and mess around in the dirt in all kinds of weather. Frankly, I can't even tell the difference between most of these, even with close-up pictures.
But I do appreciate seeing the ones that visit my flowers. I plant native flowers when possible, and I've seen at least 10 species in my tiny yard. It is amazing, but if you plant it, they will find it.
Most of these bees don't live in female-only colonies ruled by a grotesquely fat queen. Bee royalist propagandists would have you believe that is the only way a bee can be. However, in most species the males and females live mostly solitary lives. The males essentially just drink all day and Always Be Chasing the ladies. The ladies try to outrun the guys, collect pollen to feed their young, and in a large number of predator species, lay eggs that will hatch tiny assassins to kill and eat the eggs of prey species.
Finding and photographing these bees takes lots of time, effort and patience. We are lucky that the author is willing to do the work, because I'm surely not gonna go out in the wilds and mess around in the dirt in all kinds of weather. Frankly, I can't even tell the difference between most of these, even with close-up pictures.
But I do appreciate seeing the ones that visit my flowers. I plant native flowers when possible, and I've seen at least 10 species in my tiny yard. It is amazing, but if you plant it, they will find it.
January 14, 2026
I used to have a big holly tree in my back yard that grew right next to the second-floor balcony. Its flowers were tiny, not much to look at, but when they were in bloom for two months there would be a non-stop massive influx of pollinating native bees that would go on for close to two months. My wife hated them, but I got into the droning buzz and loved that I was supporting the local bee ecosystem. When I stumbled across this book, it was my chance to learn more about California native bees.
I had no idea that there were enough different native bee species to make it possible to have one with a name for each letter of the alphabet. I had no idea that there are parasitic bees. I barely knew that many bees are solitary - no hives, no honeycombs, no waggle dances. There is a lot of information here, though the author is a photographer, not a scientist. And the bees have such great names. My favorite was the Delightful Hyaline Cellophane Bee. By far the best part of the book was the pictures. The contrast between the bees and flowers was always beautiful. The pictures gave a strong sense of the alien strangeness of these creatures, and the ability to see detailed bee body parts in the picture added much to the written text.
I had no idea that there were enough different native bee species to make it possible to have one with a name for each letter of the alphabet. I had no idea that there are parasitic bees. I barely knew that many bees are solitary - no hives, no honeycombs, no waggle dances. There is a lot of information here, though the author is a photographer, not a scientist. And the bees have such great names. My favorite was the Delightful Hyaline Cellophane Bee. By far the best part of the book was the pictures. The contrast between the bees and flowers was always beautiful. The pictures gave a strong sense of the alien strangeness of these creatures, and the ability to see detailed bee body parts in the picture added much to the written text.
January 5, 2026
Amazing photographs and stories! Each letter in the A-Z title corresponds to some part of the name of a bee species native to California. Not a field guide but rather Ms. Hickman offers an ode to their habitats, behaviors, as well as great stories about what it took to get the photograph- or even find them in the first place. Inspiring stories challenge the reader to find their own nature and tell their own stories. I hope she writes a sequel!
January 8, 2026
It’s about damn time somebody made a dedicated book focusing on California’s multiple native bee species for a more general audience, and Hickman’s beautiful coffee table book is rich with scientific information, stirring nature writing, and gorgeous photography. Read this book you fools! And plant native plants so we can sustain our populations of native bees
January 1, 2026
I really enjoyed this read. There was a lot of emotions in the vignettes ranging from hopeful to hopelessness about humans. I also didn't realize how horny male bees are. Totally got a laugh out of some of the descriptions.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews