Krystle Hickman, California Native Bee Specialist

Krystle Hickman is a National Geographic Explorer and community scientist based in Los Angeles whose work bridges conservation, science, and visual storytelling. With a deep passion for nature and an artist’s eye for photography, Hickman is dedicated to raising awareness about the decline of native bee species while revealing the complexity and beauty of the ecosystems they sustain. Her work takes her across the globe, where she documents rare and often overlooked native bees using ethical, non-lethal methods that prioritize conservation.

Beyond the field, Hickman’s impact reaches wide audiences. She has appeared on numerous television and digital platforms, been featured on popular podcasts such as Ologies, presented at the 2024 United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP16) in Colombia, and lectured at institutions including Harvard, UCLA, and UC Irvine. Through her research, photography, and public engagement, Hickman continues to inspire curiosity and stewardship for some of the planet’s most essential — and vulnerable — pollinators.

Today, we interview Krystle Hickman, author of The ABCs of California's Native Bees, photographer, speaker, and all-around fascinating woman!

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Tell us a bit about your background and career.

I was working as a marketing manager at a financial firm when I first got into bees. Like a lot of people, I became interested in honey bees after seeing the quote often attributed to Albert Einstein: “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left.” I assumed it referred to honey bees, so I started going out and photographing them to help spread awareness about saving bees.

While doing that, I photographed a bee I couldn’t identify. I asked people I thought were bee experts at the time, beekeepers, but they couldn’t identify it either. Eventually, I found an entomology group on Facebook that included melittologists, or people who study bees. They told me the bee I had photographed was a native bee, and they also fact-checked a lot of what I believed. They explained that the Einstein quote was an internet invention from the late 1990s. Einstein never said it, and it is not even true. They also told me that native bees, not honey bees, are the ones most at risk and potentially endangered.

After that, I started going to gardens, mountains, and deserts to focus on photographing native bees. Eventually, I photographed a species called Perdita nasuta. Those images ended up being the first photos of living representatives of that species, and I also documented a previously unknown behavior. From there, I connected with more melittologists, quit my job, and fully committed to this work.

Was photography always a passion of yours?

I’ve always loved photography. It’s been amazing to see taking pictures turn into a career and a meaningful way to document the world around me.

What is it about bees that first intrigued you?

Their uniqueness and beauty. Bees became my gateway to spending more time outside and understanding different ecosystems. There are over 20,000 bee species in the world, and we still have so much to learn. Sitting with them and slowly piecing together how their world works is completely enthralling.

Can you give us one or two bee facts that would surprise people?

Most bees, about 90%, are solitary. They do not live in hives, and there is no queen. Many of them live in burrows in the ground or in small cavities.

Another surprising fact is that about 13% of bees are parasites of other bee species. These include kleptoparasites and social parasites. They do not build their own nests or collect pollen. Instead, they lay their eggs in the nests or burrows of host bee species.

What was your impetus for writing your book?

I had been documenting native bees in California for a couple of years when one of my regular photography locations was destroyed for fire abatement. It was an area very few people visited, and I had documented over 30 bee species there. After the tractor removed all the native plants, the bees never returned. Habitat loss is one of the leading causes of bee decline, and I witnessed it firsthand.

I also realized I had never taken a landscape photo of what the area looked like before. Now it only exists in memory. That experience pushed me to photograph not just bees, but also the landscapes and plants they depend on, which ultimately led to this book.

What are the most common native bees in California?

There are quite a few, including bumble bees, sweat bees, fairy bees, miner bees, and mason bees.

Based on your experience, what are the three or four most important things people who care about bees need to do?

First, it is important to understand that honey bees are invasive farm animals. They compete with native pollinators for resources, especially during drought years.

Second, planting native plants is one of the best ways to help native bees.

Finally, saving native bees means protecting the entire native ecosystem, including species people may dislike or consider pests, such as spiders, wasps, aphids, and thrips. You cannot pick and choose which creatures you want and still expect the ecosystem to thrive. A healthy, biodiverse ecosystem naturally balances itself. Wasps keep aphids populations in check, spiders do the same with wasps, birds with spiders, and so on.

What advice would you give to aspiring conservationists? Are there any common pitfalls to avoid?

There is no single right way to do this work. You can just go out and start taking photos. You don’t need expensive equipment. A cell phone is more than enough. Make sure to consult experts because there is a lot of misinformation online. Also remember that nature doesn’t have to be a place you travel to. You can make discoveries in your own backyard.

What else do you hope readers take away from your book?

The book focuses on California. Beyond the fact that I live here, I chose this state because it is one of the most biologically diverse regions in the world. California has more native bee species than countries like Argentina or France, and the numbers are almost on par with the entire continent of Australia. What is happening here is a reflection of what is happening globally.

The ABCs of California's Native Bees

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 native bees in California: those cloaked in green or black or red, that live alone in the ground or sleep inside flowers, that invade nests and pillage resources like infinitesimal conquerors, or that, unlike more generalist honeybees, are devoted exclusively to the pollen of a single type of flower. 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 such 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 and the lands they call home.