Pollinators are fundamental to the health of the planet and the productivity of human food systems. Bees are responsible for the reproduction of approximately 75% of the world’s food crops, making their presence in any garden a direct contribution to biodiversity. Luring these insects requires establishing an environment that consistently provides their foundational needs: forage, water, and shelter. This strategy moves beyond simple flower planting to encompass habitat management and the elimination of common environmental threats. Sustaining a bee population involves creating a continuous, safe ecosystem that encourages long-term nesting and foraging.
Designing the Landscape with Forage Plants
The most effective method for attracting bees is ensuring a continuous supply of high-quality forage. Bees possess trichromatic vision, making them highly attracted to flowers in the violet, blue, and yellow spectrums. They rely on ultraviolet nectar guides to locate pollen and nectar reservoirs efficiently.
Flower structure is equally important, as bees generally prefer open, shallow blossoms that provide an accessible landing platform. Simple, single-petal flowers, such as borage, clover, and coneflower, are more valuable than highly cultivated double-petal hybrids, which often lack accessible pollen or nectar. Planting in blocks of a single species, rather than scattered individual plants, allows bees to forage more efficiently.
Succession planting ensures continuous blooms from early spring to late autumn, preventing a “forage dearth.” Early-season sources like willow and crocus feed emerging queens, while late-season plants such as aster and ivy are essential for building winter stores. Incorporating native plants is recommended because local bee species have co-evolved with them, matching their nutritional requirements.
Providing Essential Resources and Shelter
Once attracted by food, bees need safe resources for hydration and nesting to become permanent residents. Bees require water to cool hives and dilute stored honey, but they can easily drown in deep, open sources. A safe watering station uses a shallow dish filled with pebbles, marbles, or damp sand, allowing them to land and drink without submerging. The water should be plain, as sugar water attracts ants and causes aggressive competition.
Providing shelter caters to the two main types of bees: cavity-nesting and ground-nesting.
Cavity-Nesting Bees
Solitary cavity-nesting species, like mason and leafcutter bees, utilize man-made bee hotels. These hotels contain paper tubes or drilled holes, preferably 6 to 10 millimeters in diameter and at least 15 centimeters deep. They should be mounted on a fixed post and face south or southeast to receive morning sun, which helps warm the bees for early foraging.
Ground-Nesting Bees
Up to 70% of native bee species are ground-nesting and require access to undisturbed, bare, or lightly vegetated soil. These species create subterranean nests, so leaving small, sunny patches of firm, bare dirt or incorporating sand mounds provides the necessary habitat. Leaving brush piles or standing dead plant stems also offers shelter and nesting material for other solitary species.
Using Active Lures for Specific Attraction
Active lures are specialized tools used primarily for attracting honeybee swarms, differing from general garden attraction methods. The most common commercial product is a synthetic mimic of the Nasanov pheromone, which worker bees naturally release to guide their colony. This lure is used by beekeepers to bait empty hive boxes or swarm traps, typically placed 8 to 15 feet high in a tree.
Sugar water feeders, providing a 1:1 solution of pure white sugar and water, serve as a temporary energy supplement. They help a newly established colony build comb or sustain a hive during a temporary nectar dearth. To prevent robbing behavior, feeders should be placed far from the hive or used only as internal feeders.
These concentrated attractants are a targeted strategy to capture a swarm or assist a managed hive, distinct from creating a general pollinator habitat. They require careful monitoring and are not a substitute for the natural nutritional diversity of flowering plants. Use only pure cane sugar for syrup, as brown sugar or honey can contain impurities or pathogens harmful to the bees.
Eliminating Environmental Hazards
Keeping bees safe requires eliminating common environmental hazards, particularly chemical exposure. Systemic insecticides, such as neonicotinoids, are detrimental because they are absorbed by the plant and persist in the pollen and nectar, exposing bees over extended periods. Even sublethal doses of these chemicals can impair a bee’s navigation, learning ability, and reproductive success.
To protect foraging bees, broad-spectrum pesticides and herbicides should be avoided on flowering plants. If application is necessary, it should be timed for the late evening, after 3:00 PM or between sunset and midnight, when most bees have stopped actively foraging. This timing allows the product to dry or break down before the next morning’s foraging activity begins.
Minimizing mowing during peak bloom times for low-growing forage plants like clover and dandelions significantly increases the available food supply. A two-week mowing interval, or raising the mower blade to its highest setting, allows these short flowers to bloom and provides a consistent food source. Maintaining access to these ground-level flowers and removing the threat of chemical exposure encourages long-term bee residency.