Bee diversity and flower visitation interactions were surveyed from 1998-2002 through sweep netting on flowers in six sites in the Southeastern United States: Tall Timbers Research Station (Leon County, Florida), Wade Tract (Thomas County, Georgia), St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge (Wakulla County, Florida), Osceola National Forest (Baker and Columbia Counties, Florida), and natural sites in Lowndes County, Georgia and at Fort Stewart Army Base (Bryan and Liberty Counties, Georgia). 178 species from 6 families and 41 genera of bees were collected (29 species of Andrenidae, 55 Apidae, 13 Colletidae, 38 Halictidae, 42 Megachilidae, and 1 Melittidae). In the two main study sites, species accumulation curves continued to rise with additional sampling days. Ten species are new state records for Florida, while one is a new record for Georgia. Bees were collected from 239 plant species, with most specimens from Asteraceae. 38 parasitic species were collected (21.3% of total diversity), but the number of specimens of parasitic species was limited to 155 (4.7%). Many species were generalists (71%) with 29% considered pollen-specialist species, primarily in the Andrenidae. These protected areas serve to conserve a high diversity of native bee species in the region.