The native bee community in a high grassland area in Santa Catarina State, Southern Brazil, was studied during 2001 and 2002, using entomological net sampling on flowering plants. The goals were to know the potential bee pollinators in this particular habitat, their abundance and diversity and to fill the gaps in their geographic distribution. Sixty-three bee species in 4 families were collected. Six bee species are new state records. Representatives of Colletidae were not sampled and Halictidae was strongly represented (65% of the species, mainly Dialictus and Augochloropsis). Megachilidae was sampled (5 species) as well as Andrenidae (3 species). The decreasing sequence of importance was almost the same for species and individuals, without the introduced species Apis mellifera L. Threatened (Bombus spp) and specific bee species of this environment were of particular interest. The total number of sampled taxa represent nearly thirteen percent of the bee species known to occur in Santa Catarina State. Capture rates for different bee genera varied temporally as the bees' activity was strongly influenced by the cold season. The bee species composition found shows similarity of 35% to distant but similar environments. The high grasslands in Santa Catarina State conform to an archipelago framework, that likely corresponds to an island biogeographical pattern in terms of apifauna composition and dynamics.