When most people think of bees, a fuzzy black and yellow creature roughly about the size of a nickel probably comes to mind. The standard honey bee, heroicized for its pollinating skills, can be spotted in most areas of the United States. Despite its popularity elsewhere, it is surprisingly not the most common species here in Santa Barbara. Here, the honey bee happens to be invasive and more villainous to native ecosystems than one might imagine.

Recently, an exciting new exhibit, “Through the Looking Glass: A Microscopic Look at our Native Bees,” has been installed at the UC Santa Barbara library to showcase some of the true local bees in the area in an effort to change the public’s perception of native biodiversity. 

Available until June 30, the installation is an easily accessible and a creative approach to teaching others about the abundance of pollinators in the neighborhood. Located in the Ocean Gallery on the first floor of the UCSB Library, students can view images and physical specimens of pinned bees and wasps collected from around Santa Barbara. The species on display come in a variety of different colors and sizes, the smallest tinier than a grain of rice!  

The project is headed by entomologist and researcher Katja Seltmann, the Director of the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration here on campus. With around 4,000 different species of bees in North America, Seltmann studies how phenotypic traits of bees relate to environmental factors. Studying this relationship is helpful for understanding the functional redundancy of the different species in the local ecosystems. In other words, Seltmann looks at the impact of having multiple bee species present in an ecosystem, especially when they fulfill the same role or function in their environment.

“If you’re relying on one species or one thing and that fails, then you could have some kind of an ecosystem collapse around that,” Seltmann said when asked about the importance of understanding these traits. Not only are bees vital for wildlife habitats but also for pollination in agricultural ecosystems. Studying the different characteristics of these species is crucial not just for the preservation of natural ecosystems but for the production of food and flora.  

The exhibit is an extension of the National Science Foundation project called The Big Bee Project, which Seltmann started in 2021. The project consists of UCSB working in collaboration with 12 other institutions across the U.S. to collect and digitize thousands of high-resolution pictures of bees in order to better observe and understand their traits. This online database is called the “Bee Library” and is growing every day as researchers continue to contribute their findings. 

“The Big Bee Project [gives] us the background information to be able to ask quantitative questions around bee morphology and bee distributions,” Seltmann explained. With digitally available records, researchers readily have access to a vast amount of data that can be used to better identify and describe bees based on their different traits. This provides scientists with the equipment to study morphology, or the different structural components which make up an organism. Using this database, researchers can study traits such as hairiness, color, wing patterns, body size and venation patterns, and how they contribute to their roles in specific environments and biodiversity levels. 

In addition to the database’s usefulness, it’s fascinating because of the amount of information it is able to relay.  “[The] diversity alone is incredible … When you start thinking about it in the sense, inside that tiny little millimeter wasp, there is an endocrine system, there are flight muscles, there’s a reproductive system, there’s a brain,” Seltmann said, describing her passion for her work. With one slight variation in these complex species’ morphology, their function in the ecosystem can become entirely different. The Big Bee Project gives the public access to observe these traits, from the cute and fuzzy striped bumblebees to the slightly terrifying jet black wasps.

In addition to the online library, a podcast titled “Antenna Alley,”  featuring short anecdotes about pollinators, was developed as a subset of the project. While the library installation and database provides an easy way to observe the traits specific to bee species, “Antenna Alley” translates the information in a unique and interesting way with contributions from a variety of different artists, such as The Virus and Irene Moon. Throughout each episode, the narrator discusses informative yet quirky stories which focus on a specific pollinator. On occasion, there are even recordings of the bugs and their habitats playing quietly in the background!

This exemplifies how, in many ways, The Big Bee Project has pushed the boundaries of Seltmann’s field. Its creation has not only benefited the scientific community but created ways to represent local biodiversity to wider audiences. 

As Seltmann explained: “You don’t have to go far to find amazing biodiversity. And I think that that’s something that is worth taking from the exhibit … It’s just a way to get people excited.” The exhibit is a chance to show students and visitors a tiny portion of the diverse and beautiful ecosystem in our very own backyard.  

In an area where we are fortunate enough to have access to an abundance of local produce, it is easy to take pollinators’ hard work for granted. Whether or not you’re interested in bees, perhaps find a moment to explore the exhibit. Take some time to stop and smell the roses … just like the bees do!

A version of this article appeared on p.13 of the Mar. 6, 2025 edition of the Daily Nexus.