There are several reasons for finding bees desirable in your yard or garden:
- Bees are a critical part of natural environments, and they provide a valuable service to humans when they pollinate our fruit and vegetable plants and wildflowers.
- Bees are fun to observe! Watch a bee forage, collect pollen or sip nectar from flowers. Bumble bees, large and easy to see, can be approached relatively closely to make observations.
- Bees, like birds and butterflies and many other animals in our yards, give us a sense of pleasure knowing that wild organisms can make productive use of artificial urban environments.
How should you incorporate bees in your garden? Group several “bee” plants together in flowering patches of one meter squared, to increase overall attraction of the site to a greater diversity of bees. Don’t use pesticides in your garden. If you must, use fast-acting, short-residual options, and apply at dusk when pollinators are least active.
Create homes for bees! Many of the wild bees you may encounter in your backyard garden make their burrow homes in the soil or in holes in trees. You can also encourage bee-residents by providing nesting blocks
Bees love these plant families:
Asteraceae – Daisy, Aster, Sunflower family
Lamiaceae – Mint, Lavender
Rosaceae – Rose, Apple, Cherry, Strawberry, Raspberry family
Learn more: http://pollinator.org/Resources/Better%20with%20Bees.pdf
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