Nurturing a garden habitat for native bees gives them a place in which to live, eat and raise their young. Creating a habitat for bees is creating a wildlife habitat for all, because it attracts other wildlife, such as butterflies, birds, hummingbirds and other insects. See how and why you should design your garden for native bees below.
Why should I care about pollinators? Pollinators provide important services to us and the ecosystem. Bees, birds and bats pollinate more than a third of our crops. From our morning coffee and evening wine to our lunchtime pear and sandwich mustard, the foods on our table owe their existence to pollinators. Most pollinators are insects. Butterflies, moths, beetles, European honeybees, native bees and even flies and wasps are all part of the parade of insects that pollinate our homegrown vegetables, our orchards of apples and other flowering plants around the globe.
What can I do for pollinators? Pesticides, habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and habitat degradation have had the largest negative impact on pollinators. We can help by simply providing a pesticide-free habitat. Any home gardener, with even the smallest garden, can make a difference. Besides, it’s great fun.
What can I do for pollinators? Pesticides, habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and habitat degradation have had the largest negative impact on pollinators. We can help by simply providing a pesticide-free habitat. Any home gardener, with even the smallest garden, can make a difference. Besides, it’s great fun.
Features of a Native Bee Habitat
1. Diversity with blocks of color. This large block of orange California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) with another large block of deep blue ceanothus will attract native bees better than a few of each plant placed here and there.
The Xerces Society promotes planting a diversity of flowering plants for pollinators in large blocks of color. Like a flashing neon light, diverse plants in blocks point all the pollinators to the party. The Xerces Society says to provide:
1. Diversity with blocks of color. This large block of orange California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) with another large block of deep blue ceanothus will attract native bees better than a few of each plant placed here and there.
The Xerces Society promotes planting a diversity of flowering plants for pollinators in large blocks of color. Like a flashing neon light, diverse plants in blocks point all the pollinators to the party. The Xerces Society says to provide:
- Several different plant species flowering at the same time
- A combination of flowering annuals and perennials
- Flowers of different sizes, shapes and colors
- Blocks of color: patches of about 3½ feet by 3½ feet of a single plant species and flower color
- Year-round food: flowering plants in all growing seasons
Many of our home gardens can’t have that much diversity, but you’d be surprised how many pollinators you can support in a small space. Do what you can with the space you have. This new garden has been designed so these Clarkia and poppy (Eschscholzia californica) annuals will be replaced by flowering perennials as the year progresses. As the garden matures, some of the annuals and perennials will be replaced by flowering trees and shrubs.
2. Native plants for native bees. The UC Berkeley Urban Bee Lab has been studying native bees and their food choices over the past decade. Through The Urban California Native Bee Survey, the researchers discovered that local native bees prefer local native plants over nonnative ones four to one. This isn’t surprising when you think about the millennia that insects and plants have been evolving together.
Native bees need both nectar (carbohydrates) and pollen (protein) to feed themselves and their young. Some plants provide one or the other, while plants in the aster family, such as Pacific aster (Symphyotrichum chilense), provide both pollen and nectar.
In my opinion, the aster family is the single most important family of plants for insects, not only for the one-two punch of pollen and nectar but also because the central “disk” of each flower is actually many flowers. Here you can see the many flowers on the central disk of a seaside daisy (Erigeron glaucus). This disk provides pollinators with a high concentration of food on a single landing pad.
Native bees need both nectar (carbohydrates) and pollen (protein) to feed themselves and their young. Some plants provide one or the other, while plants in the aster family, such as Pacific aster (Symphyotrichum chilense), provide both pollen and nectar.
In my opinion, the aster family is the single most important family of plants for insects, not only for the one-two punch of pollen and nectar but also because the central “disk” of each flower is actually many flowers. Here you can see the many flowers on the central disk of a seaside daisy (Erigeron glaucus). This disk provides pollinators with a high concentration of food on a single landing pad.
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