Bees perform the essential biological function of pollination, which is necessary for the reproduction of countless wild plants and is directly responsible for about 75% of the world’s food crops. Bees also support entire ecosystems by ensuring the health and diversity of flowering plants. Due to various environmental pressures, these pollinators are in decline, making it crucial to transform home gardens into safe, thriving havens. Creating a bee-friendly landscape involves providing three fundamental resources: a consistent food source, shelter, and a non-toxic environment. This guide offers practical steps to attract and support a healthy population of bees in your space.
Creating a Pollinator Buffet
The foundation of a welcoming bee garden is a diverse and continuous supply of nectar and pollen. Native plants are the superior choice, as local bee species have co-evolved with them, often making them over four times more attractive than non-native ornamental varieties. Wildflowers and native shrubs offer the precise nutritional balance and flower structure that local pollinators require.
To ensure a sustained food source throughout the season, implement succession planting by choosing plants that bloom at different times of the year. Having something in flower from early spring until late fall provides consistent nourishment for bee populations. Bees are highly efficient foragers and prefer to find a large concentration of resources in one spot.
Planting in large clusters, often called drifts, makes your flowers more visible and reduces the energy a bee expends flying between different food sources. A bee’s vision is tuned differently than a human’s; they cannot see the color red well, but they are highly sensitive to blue, violet, and a color known as “bee’s purple,” which is a combination of yellow and ultraviolet light. Prioritizing flowers in the blue, purple, and yellow spectrum will make your garden an irresistible beacon for foraging bees.
When selecting varieties, favor single-petal flowers over double-petal or highly ornamental cultivars. Double-petal varieties often have their nectar and pollen-producing structures bred out or physically obscured, making the reward difficult or impossible for a bee to access. Simple, open-faced flowers provide the easiest landing platform and the most direct route to the nutritional center.
Providing Essential Hydration and Shelter
A complete bee habitat requires more than just flowers; bees need safe access to water and protected places to nest and rest. Bees collect water for various reasons, including diluting crystallized honey, aiding digestion, and cooling their nests in hot weather. You can create a safe water source by setting up a “bee bath” using a shallow dish or plant saucer.
Fill this shallow container with pebbles, small stones, or marbles, ensuring the materials rise above the water level. This arrangement provides numerous dry landing spots for the bees, allowing them to drink safely without the risk of falling into the water and drowning. Place the bee bath in a spot near your flowering plants and replenish the water daily, as it evaporates quickly, especially on warm, sunny days.
Providing nesting sites is equally important, as approximately 70% of native bee species are ground-nesters. These bees create burrows in bare, well-drained, and sunny soil patches. Avoid applying a thick layer of mulch across your entire garden or tilling the soil unnecessarily, as this destroys established nesting sites.
The remaining 30% of native bees are cavity-nesters, such as mason and leafcutter bees. You can support these species by leaving hollow plant stems standing over winter or by creating simple bee hotels. A bee hotel consists of a block of wood with various-sized holes drilled into it, or bundles of hollow bamboo or paper tubes, which mimic the natural beetle holes and plant stems they use to lay their eggs.
Safe Gardening Practices
The final step in creating a bee sanctuary is ensuring the environment is free from harmful chemicals. Broad-spectrum systemic insecticides pose the greatest risk to bee health, particularly neonicotinoids like imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam. Since these chemicals are absorbed by the plant’s vascular system, they contaminate the pollen and nectar, poisoning the bees as they forage.
Even low-level exposure to these systemic chemicals can cause sublethal effects, such as impaired foraging behavior and reduced learning ability, which compromises the entire colony. When purchasing new plants from garden centers, look for those certified as pesticide-free, as many nursery plants may have been pre-treated with systemic insecticides.
Instead of relying on chemical sprays, adopt an integrated pest management (IPM) approach, which prioritizes non-chemical solutions. Use barriers, manual removal of pests, or employ natural alternatives like insecticidal soaps or horticultural oils. If a pesticide application is necessary, apply it late in the evening when bees are not actively foraging, allowing the product to dry and break down before they return the next morning.
Finally, embrace a little messiness in the garden by tolerating common “weeds” like dandelions and clover. These plants are often among the first to bloom in the spring, providing a crucial, early food source for newly emerged queen bees. Maintaining a truly safe garden involves seeing all of its naturally occurring flora as part of the ecosystem you are trying to support.