Bees: Final Thoughts on Bees as Pollinators

Biology

Bees are the prime pollinators, designed to pollinate.  Consequently, they are of prime importance to effective pollination on the landscape.  Most of the bees seen in your garden will be solitary native bees, but they are just as important, maybe more so, than the familiar honey bee. Fortunately, everything you do in your garden to attract pollinators, aimed at providing foraging habitat and nesting sites, will be good for all pollinators.  Creating a garden habitat that is floristically and physically diverse throughout the season will encourage bees to visit and ultimately to stay.  Large swaths of manicured grass lawns are biological deserts as far as bees and other pollinators are concerned.  The use of pesticides is also a major constraint to enhancement of home garden bee populations.  Virtually all pesticides available for home garden use will have potentially deleterious impacts on bee and other pollinator populations.  Maximum success in creating a bee and pollinator garden can only be achieved in the absence of pesticide applications.

Attracting and Keeping Natural Enemies and Pollinators in Your Yard and Garden

• Avoid regular use of synthetic, broad-spectrum pesticides. Infrequent use of certain narrow-spectrum pesticides is more compatible with some beneficials but generally the less chemical inputs there are, the greater and more diverse the beneficial insect community will be. Extensive lawns are also not conducive to attracting and retaining a diversity of beneficial insects, mites and spiders. Minimize lawn areas and maximize shrub and bush plantings. Many beneficials reside naturally in riparian and other ‘natural’ areas near to many back yards. Natural dispersion from these refuges ensures that some beneficials will visit back yards but they will not stay unless food, host and shelter resources are available. Native plants have closer affinities with native insects and therefore provide most of these resources. A garden with a good diversity of local native flora in and around back yards, will improve the abundance and diversity of local, beneficial arthropods. Native flora also provides natural overwintering sites for many beneficial insects and it is useful to leave at least a small area of native vegetation undisturbed during fall and winter.
• Some kinds of beneficial insects (e.g. lady beetles, lacewings, predatory mites) are available for purchase from commercial suppliers. However, benefits from introducing these beneficials are usually limited and short-lived. Upon release, commercially obtained lady beetles and lacewings often disperse and may rapidly leave your backyard despite the presence of prey and suitable nectar resources. Generally, it is more effective and sustainable to create a garden habitat that will be colonized by beneficials naturally.