Support Bees with a Bee Pollinator Home

Pollinator homes support solitary bees, providing a cozy nesting site. The U.S. has around 4,000 species of native bees. Ninety percent of them are solitary nesters using reeds, hollow logs or underground burrows as homes. Bees are everywhere and every yard has bees, whether you know it or not. Bees find their favorite flowers by color and scent; a colorful and aromatic native bee garden is a pollinators paradise.

These solitary bees do not make honey, are non-aggressive, and they do not swarm. Wild bees go dormant and hibernate in Southwest Florida during the winter. Most solitary bee species will overwinter in a birth cell, either as new, fully developed adults not yet emerged from their cells, or as pupae, waiting to complete their development and seek sheltered spaces, such as our newly constructed pollinator houses. Bee populations continue to decline, so these houses will help our very important pollinators to survive. Over 85% of U.S. households have an outdoor living space. If every one of those households created much needed habitat in their yard or garden, together we could have a big impact.

Kathryn Gallagher with her donated home.

Birds, bats, butterflies, beetles, and other small animals also pollinate plants and are responsible for bringing us one out of every three bites of food. Pollinators also sustain our ecosystems and produce our natural resources by helping plants to reproduce. You can help pollinators by placing bee houses, providing clean water and limiting the use of pesticides in your yards and neighborhoods. No lawn, garden, balcony or window box is too small. Bees visit flowers to collect nectar (carbohydrates to power their flight) and pollen (providing protein, oils and minerals needed by bee larvae.) 

What can bees do for me? 

There are several reasons for finding bees desirable in your yard. 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. Worldwide evidence suggests pollinator populations are declining due many factors, including habitat destruction. Honeybee numbers in North America have been declining over the past 10 years due to parasitic tracheal and Varroa mites; so making space for native bees guards against dependence on a single species. Fortunately, most native bees are immune from mite attack.

Bees are fun to observe.

Wait, watch and you will see a bee forage, collect pollen or sip nectar from flowers. Bees, like birds and butterflies and many other animals in our yards, give us a sense of pleasure. You may be wondering, “Aren’t bees dangerous? Don’t they sting?” Most bees don’t sting, and few species defend their nest (bumblebees are an exception). Bees generally only use their stingers in defense. No need to fear being stung if you move slowly and non-aggressively. Did you know that only females are capable of stinging? (Males of all bee species lack this capacity).

Lemon Bay Conservancy recently installed pollinator houses to their butterfly habitat in hopes to provide shelter for some of the bees they may invite:
• Bumble bees – social, large, fuzzy, noisy flight, boisterous behavior
• Honeybees – social, busy, smaller and less fuzzy than bumble bees
• Other Apidae species – social, large stingless bees
• Halictid bees – solitary, small, black or metallic colored bees, includes sweat bees and nomia bees
• Megachilid bees – solitary, often metallic blue or black, includes leaf- cutter bees and orchard mason bees.

What can you do to attract these pollinators?

 Native bees and other pollinators are more attracted to native plants than exotics. “Natives” occur naturally in a specific region; meaning simply that they were not introduced either intentionally or unintentionally to the area by humans or animals. Bees especially love these species of Plant Families:  
• Asteraceae – Daisy, Aster, Sunflower family (Gaillardia grandiflora, Bidens ferufolia, Coreopsis grandiflora, Cosmos binnatus, Helianthus annuus)
• Fabaceae – Legume family
• Lamiaceae – Mint, Lavender, Salvia family (Agastache and Lavandula species, Salvia uliginosa)
• Polygonaceae – Buckwheat family Rosaceae – Rose, Apple, Cherry,Strawberry, Raspberry family Scrophulariaceae – Snapdragon, Penstemon family (Hebe species, Linaria purpurea)
• Other species – Eryngium species (carrot family), Geranium incanum (Geranium family), Phacelia tanacetifolia (waterfall family), Caryopteris species (verbena family), Sedum species.

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. Creating homes for bees is a surprisingly simple and easy thing you can do. Some bees create hives in snags (a dead or dying standing tree, often with its branches broken off), or in holes in trees. You can also encourage bee-residents by providing man-made nesting blocks or “Bee Condos.”

Here is how to build a “Bee Condo” 
for your native bees.

Materials You Will Need:
• A 4”x6” or 6”x6” dried pine or fir post (or you can try a weathered fence post or other scrap wood)
• Drill and drill bits, a variety of diameters, ranging from 1/4 in. to 3/8 in.
• Paper straws – not plastic (available at some hardware stores, or through a scientific supply store), or small hollow bamboo sticks, with one end sealed.

How to Construct:
1. Cut the wooden posts into blocks 8-12 in. long.

2. Drill holes into the wood blocks using a variety of hole diameters from 1/4 in. to 3/8 in. Drill holes 3-5 in. deep, and at least 3/4 in. apart. Smooth out ragged edges of holes.

3. Alternatively, a bundle of paper straws or hollow sticks, with one end sealed, will make an attractive bee home.

4. Bees prefer dark colored homes, so consider charring the front of your “Bee Condo” lightly with a torch.

5. Mount your “Bee Condo” on a post or attach to the side of a building. Place nesting blocks so that tunnels are horizontal. Make sure they are in a warm location with southern exposure and protected from rain. A good place could be under the eaves of a garage or shed.

6. If you don’t want to build your own “Bee Condo,” consider these commercial sources for bee nests: knoxcellars.com, raintreenursery.com, entomologic.com, pollinatorparadise.com, or superseeds.com/birds_&_more.htm