Michigan Insects in the Garden – Season 2 Week 6: Wool Carder Bees

The wool carder bee (Anthidium manicatum) is a distinctive, fuzzy, non-native bee easily identified by its alternating yellow spots on its head, thorax, and abdomen. This pollinator specifically prefers plants with fuzzy foliage such as lamb’s ear, oregano, cosmos, and mullein. Female wool carder bees scrape the fuzzy leaves of these plants to construct their nests. These solitary bees typically have one female per nest and build their homes in rotting wood or bee hotels. The wool carder bee, native to Europe and parts of Asia, was first detected in New York during the 1960s and has since spread widely across the United States, including Michigan, where it was first identified in 2001.