Kyle Felling

This week on Discover Nature, keep an ear-, and an eye out for native bees buzzing about the bushes, trees, flowerbeds, and even the ground beneath our feet. Learn more about Missouri's native bees on this week's Discover Nature. Missouri is home to more than 450 species of native bees that play a critical role in pollinating agricultural crops and maintaining reproductive processes for native plants — in turn, supporting diverse wildlife species, soil health, and water quality.

In Missouri’s woods this time of year, there’s something new to see every day. Learn more about Missouri's Flowering Dogwood on this week's Discover Nature. For weeks, redbud blooms have stolen the show, painting pink streaks through the understory, but this week, Missouri’s state tree takes the spotlight.

This week on Discover Nature, while enjoying spring in Missouri, keep a watchful eye to the ground for snakes leaving their winter dens. Learn more about Missouri's Eastern Copperheads on this week's Discover Nature. The eastern copperhead is the most common of Missouri’s five species of venomous snakes. Its color varies from grayish brown to pinkish tan, with distinctive hourglass-shaped crossbands on its back. Copperheads live on rocky hillsides and along forest edges.