*Operation Honey Bee, Harvard, and The Bee Conservancy were used as resources for this article
Grow Flowers That Bees Like
Bees are drawn to purple, blue, white, and yellow. Pollinators generally prefer native plants over non-natives, since they have co-evolved together. Natives are usually low-maintenance plants, adapted to your region and easy to find for sale.
Avoid Pesticides & Herbicides (Miracle-Gro, and Scott’s)
Avoid applying any pesticides to plants that are flowering, particularly insecticides and miticides. Also avoid pesticide drift to nearby blooming plants, including weeds.
Use integrated pest management (IPM) to maintain healthy crops and minimize pesticide use.
Consult the University of California (UC) IPM Bee Precaution Pesticide Ratings to learn how to protect bees when using specific pesticides.
Make a Bee Water Station
- Fill a flat plate or tray with water. A hummingbird feeder costs less than $15 and is the perfect bee watering station;
- Add glass pebbles or marbles to a shallow container;
- Put rocks;
- Fill with a shallow amount of water. Keep hydrated.
Buy Local Small Batch Honey
Buy from bee apiaries that sell Raw Honey in small batches— they maintain bee hives for survival, though from time to time, they’re able to enough honey to share with you. Check out some local Honey in your area on Farm2Me:
Pantry
Support Organizations That Save The Bees
Bees lie at the heart of our survival. They pollinate 1 in 3 bites of food we eat and are essential to the health and prosperity of countless ecosystems.
However, bees are in peril. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, more than half of North America’s 4,000 native bee species are in decline, with 1 in 4 species at risk of extinction.
The Bee Conservancy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting bees, safeguarding the environment, and securing food justice through education, research, habitat creation, and advocacy. Check them out or search for local organizations in your community!