These foods all rely on pollinators to exist. Without bees? We wouldn’t have some of the most nutritious foods on planet earth.
When you devour your dinner each night, one out of every three bites of that food you put in your mouth comes from plants that have been pollinated by bees.
So take out the bees and one third of our food supply would be wiped out.
Just think about the economical and nutritional impact of that?
Most of us just don’t need another bagel with cream cheese. But kale? Broccoli? Bok choy? Oh the pride we gardeners have when we grow these foods to eat!
So let’s talk about bees and why they need more than just your sympathetic ear. What you can do to help the bees now!
And timing couldn’t be more spot-on as we celebrate National Pollinator Week!
What is pollination?
If the process occurs on the same flower it’s called self-pollination. If it occurs between two different flowers of the same species it’s called cross-pollination.
Cross-pollination allows for more variety within the next generation, better adaptations to the changing environments, and better protection against diseases.
So cross-pollination is the movement of sex cells between flowering plants of the same species to enable fertilization.
These sex cells take the form of pollen. Bees aid in transferring this pollen when it gets trapped in the hairs on their bodies as they access each flower. Then they dislodge the pollen when they land on another.
This is a buzzing service for plants who being rooted in one spot are not able to spread their genes far and wide.
And not all plants are pollinated by bees and other insects. A part of the plant kingdom, including many trees and the entire family of grasses, instead rely on wind to transfer pollen.
What are pollinators?
So pollinators are animals that help with cross-pollination. They fly from flower to flower in search of nectar or pollen, and in doing so move pollen between flowers.
Pollen in an excellent source of protein that many animals eat or use to feed their young, white nectar is a sweet high-energy reward that gives many pollinators fuel for flying.
Cross-pollination is an extremely important process both in nature and in agriculture for the healthy proliferation of plants and crops all over the world.
What is nectar?
Bees require a very energy-rich food source so they can fly and still have sufficient reserves left over for other activities.
Flowers have the ultimate high-energy reward for bees in the form of nectar, which they offer in exchange for pollination.
Nectar is a mix of sugars, produced by plants by photosynthesis, carried around in the sap, and concentrated in glands called nectaries. A cocktail of 55% sucrose, 24% glucose, and 21% fructose.
Without pollinators there would be no more….
|
|
Why are pollinators at risk?
- Nutrient and habitat loss due to development
- Pests and diseases
- Pesticide exposure
- Climate change
These combined environmental threats and challenges have caused many pollinator groups to suffer severe losses in the last few decades, and in turn, has initiated concern about the future balance of our ecosystems and pollinator-dependent agriculture.
Facts to buzz about…
1 pound of honey takes up to 40,000 miles of flying to produce!
Fact or Fiction ~ Common Bee Myths!
- All bees live in hives – MYTH
There are 4,000 bee species in North America, however, the vast majority of them do not live in hives. Most bees are actually solitary, and live alone, only socializing to find a mate. Instead of living in a hive with thousands of other bees, solitary bees make their nests in the ground or in trees. Solitary bees make up the majority of our pollinators, so be sure to provide them with food and nesting areas!!
- Bumblebees shouldn’t be able to fly due to their tiny wings and voluptuous physique – MYTH
The massive force needed to keep bumblebees airborne comes from the way the wings twist with each beat to maximize the force generated as the wing pushes down, while minimizing the air resistance when brought back up. But it’s the rate at which the wings move that is most startling. 200 beats per minute!
- The visual range of bees doesn’t compare with the human visual range – MYTH
Bees’ ability to detect colors at the ultraviolet end of the spectrum opens up a whole new world of color and pattern inaccessible to human eyes. True, bees can’t see shades of red, but they can view a range of colors at the ultraviolet end of the spectrum that are invisible to us.
- All bees make honey – MYTH
Honey bees are the only types of bees that make the honey we eat and consume. Other bees like bumble bees can create honey, but it is a lot harder to harvest. Honey is made by mixing flower nectar with enzymes in the honey bee’s mouth. The bees fan their wings to help reduce water, then cap the honeycomb with a layer of wax.
- Colony Collapse Disorder is killing all the bees – MYTH
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) occurs when the worker bees of a honey bee colony disappear. Although this affects the agricultural supply of honey, it is not the reason for the disappearance of bumble bees. Most bees are actually in decline because of:
- Lack of food (wildflowers)
- High pesticide use
- Pathogens
- Phone signals
Small steps we can take to help bees!
Nonetheless, I appreciate the bees and want to attract as many as I can to my yard and gardens.
Not everyone has acres of land to cultivate bees. But even growing in a small space such as a patio or balcony can reap big rewards.
How about a few hanging baskets, a window box and a few tubs on your porch? Yes, even if you live in a city where between 20-25% of the average urban area is made up of private yards or public green-spaces.
These tiny spaces can be compact with flowers, at a higher species density per unit area than any wild habitat.
And make sure your garden creates color year-round if possible. From the first crocuses of spring to the very last sunflower in fall, aim to always have something in bloom for the bees.
Planting for succession provides bees with the essential continuity of food they need in order to build up stores of honey.
We also have the power to vary our gardens with trees, shrubs, climbers, creepers, herbs and perennial plants that bees love.
So here’s a few simple steps any of us can do.
1.) Plant bee friendly plants & avoid the flowers they don’t like.
By making informed choices about what we grow, we attract these beneficial buzzers.
So knowing that bees love blue, violet and yellow is helpful when you are selecting plants at the local garden center.
Equally important is remembering that bees can’t see red. So planting red petunias is a bad idea if you are trying to attract bees.
Petunias are also bad for bees as the blooms and petals are just not wide enough to provide a good landing area. Petunias also contain little nectar or pollen. So no value to bees.
But planting purple petunias as shown above in unison with bee loving plants like snapdragons is smart. The bees are attracted to the purple but will land on and glean from the snapdragon.
When planting for pollinators, try to choose flowers with a simple, open structure. Consider the class daisy flower, with its outer ring of petals and stamens in the center.
Still confused? Ask a worker at the local garden nursery. And don’t undervalue the power of observation. Choose a sunny day to watch which flowers the bees are drawn to at the garden center. Bingo!
Getting to know how bees and flowers interact with each other is paramount. How flowers signal their attractiveness to bees; and how bees pick up on those signals.
2.) Encourage nesting through bees houses & other habitats
But in the meantime, I purchased a small beneficial insect house to tie me over. I’m so glad I did! I can’t believe the use it gets. I placed mine outside the door that leads to the patio so I always get a glimpse of the insects flying in and out.
Pictured below is a piece of a bamboo cane that fell off an old wind chime. It wasn’t long before I noticed the bees gravitating toward it. So what was totally an accident on my part created an amazing nesting spot for bees.
Hole size is vital. Different hole sizes will attract different species of solitary bees, but they will not nest in holes over 1/2 inch (10 mm).
If you are using multiple bamboo canes make sure they are all similar in size. Mixing sizes in the same bee house encourages pests and diseases to jump between different species that cohabit. Not good!
Thick mulch around trees and shrubs suppresses weeds, but also prevents bees that nest in the ground from reaching the soil.
Leaving a few bare patches of earth around the yard and garden allows for mining bees to nest.
3.) Add water features to your yard
The shallow depth is ideal for bees as it won’t drown them. We put in a piece of granite from our countertops for the bees and birds to perch on while they sip.
It’s also nice because the water stays fresh, spilling over with a good rain shower and being replenished by wonderful rain water.
Because like all animals, bees need a dependable source of water year-round. It’s best if livestock or house pets don’t have access to this water.
I find it fascinating that although bees drink water like other animals, they also require it for other reasons. In winter, honey bees use water to dissolve crystallized honey and also to thin honey that has become too thick and viscous.
In summer, bees spread droplets of water along the edges of brood comb, and then fan the comb with their wings. The rapid fanning sets up air currents that evaporate the water and cools the rest to the correct temperature for raising baby bees.
How cute is that!
4.) Avoid bad breeding
Selective breeding has created flowers with disease resistance, more uniformity, a longer flowering season, and a greater range of colors. We end up with ornamental plants for the flower lover but also ones that offer little or nothing to foraging bees.
Think old-fashioned farmstead roses compared to the modern overly bred double roses. Only wild cultivars with their single, open flowers will interest pollinators.
When multiple concentric whorls of petals are produced in any flower, the maze of petals create a huge disadvantage for bees. They can no longer access the stamens and nectaries.
So the old cultivars of the Dianthus boasts an open structure that bees love. But bees can’t penetrate through the whorls of the petals on the almost “pompom” structure of the new cultivars.
And some breeding has gone to the extent of eliminating scent, nectar production and even pollen altogether!
5.) Join a conservation campaign
Amateurs can monitor invasive pests and create logs to keep track of the range of species.
Would it be the end of the world if every inch of our public parks weren’t mowed to the ground weekly? Sometimes mowed twice a week mimicking a manicured golf course.
What if a few corners of these parks were left alone to grow wild? What if we also added some bee-friendly flowers and plants for bee forage. Would this not add interest and color to our public parks?
So letting politicians know how strongly you feel about protecting the bees and their habitats makes a difference. Let them know you’d like more bee friendly parks in your city.
Just the other day, Tom, I and the girls went to Beaver Island State Park and noticed corners of milkweed in a few unmowed places. Wonderful for those pollinating butterflies! I hate seeing milkweed plowed down. Talk about essential!
Go ahead and sign that petition. Write a letter. Join a campaigning group. Get involved!
Those drug dependent bees!
Flower go out of their way to attract bees. They pattern their petals to get noticed, lavish themselves in scent like perfume so they are easy to find.
Flowers then buy bee loyalty with the sugar rush of nectar. But this takes energy to produce. So flowers conserve their energy by drugging their nectar to trick bees into finding them more attractive. Nicotine, caffeine and many other chemicals are found in small quantities in the nectar of certain plants.
The response is similar to the human response to these substances. Bees are stimulated and think they are getting a bigger reward than they actually getting~ so they come back for hit after hit!
One last idea to chomp on!
Herbs are generally good for bees that are drawn to them like magnets. And they’re good for you, too! The bees flock to the herbs and you get to use the herbs in all your creative dinners. A win-win.
Start with oregano. In the wild, oregano (majoram) can provide significant quantities of nectar for beekeepers lucky enough to live close by.
By we can grow the cultivated form, oregano, in the garden and use it in all our pasta and pizza dishes. Not to mention soups and stews!
Then throw in some garden mint. Spearmint. Peppermint. Apple mint. Your choice! All great with the tiny spikes of flowers they produce that are popular with the bees. Mint in your tea. Mint to garnish. Can’t go wrong.
I grow creeping thyme, too. A culinary herb that I can’t live without. Creeping thyme grows in low-growing mats of aromatic foliage dotted with small lilac flowers. Thyme brings the goods when it comes to producing nectar.
And how about sage with its densely packed purple flowers that bees love. You’ll love it too when Thanksgiving rolls around and you dried some for the turkey.
Last, but certainly not least is rosemary. A classic culinary herb from the dry slopes of the Mediterranean where it can flower almost year-round. Rosemary is more like a shrub with its woody stems.
The needlelike leaves make it very drought-tolerant and it’s fairly easy to overwinter. The bees think it’s the best! Agreed! I can’t imagine roasting potatoes without it.
We have plenty of bumble bees here in Arkansas, but the honey bees have not made a great comeback, which saddens me. Years ago, I used to see them all over clover, but not that much anymore. I never use pesticides or any other poisons for that reason.
This was a fun educational article for me! It could be rated R. It has a few sexual references that I did not know. For instance, flowers 🌸 🌺 pimp themselves out like they are getting ready to be noticed for a date with one sharp dressed bee-u-tiful bee 🐝 I never heard of sex cells between flowering plants of the same species to enable fertilization.
It makes sense though. I couldn’t imagine my life or my family’s life without apples, oregano, etc.
oregano is what I use in many dishes I make! Thank you for sharing! This is important information!
It is sad how quickly the bees are disappearing. We depend on them for so many things, and making better habitats for them is essential!
We definitely need more bees around
I used to have bees. I miss having them.
Indeed! Where I live they have many bee farmers and they allow them in our parks! I don’t think people understand the importance so thank you for your article! Beautiful pictures!
My brother has hives and makes amazing local honey. People definitely tend to underestimate just how important they are, not just for honey and other products, but for the basic survival of plants! We need to ‘bee’ aware of the problem of habitat loss and help in any way we can!
Ok now I need a new house! My daughter will love making this project.
We have bees living inside a dead tree on our property. Love them!
I’ve been letting the dandelions grow in my yard so that the bees can feed and hopefully populate.
I didn’t realize how much we would be without 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
Good to know
thank-you on highlighting how we need to protect bees! And how everyone of us can do so.
I know bees are important but I cringe when I see a bee and usually run since I’m allergic 🙂
we need our bees
What an interesting and exciting article! Thanks for the invaluable information.
I have so many bees in my yard. They work alongside me! 🙂
I’m just creating a space for birds and insects, we moved to a place with no flowers. So I enjoy all the information and I enjoy seeing the birds and bee’s and butterflies coming to my new garden.
These facts are so amazing! Thank you for the information!
I love bees! They are so amazing!
Bees are so special
bees are essential in nature
I agree that bees are essential in so many ways, but I am allergic and their stings can send me straight to the hospital. I am really careful around them and do not encourage them visiting my garden.
My Grandfather was a beekeeper he taught me how amazing and important they are to nature .
We need to help bees
I adore bees and don’t mind gardening with them near me, although I used to. Your insights are appreciated, as well as the humor. Plus, I’m glad you touched on environmental concerns, as deep pockets have influenced politicians to “look the other way” for decades. May our bees live long and prosper!
Great info! We need to save the bees!
I always thought that bees go for all flowers. I will definitely do my homework before purchasing flowering plants in the future.
I won the 5th grade Science Fair with my project on bees!
My friend has honey bees and I;m afraid to get near them.
I’m going to plant more bee friendly flowers.
I have known that bees are important for our ecosystem but I’m afraid that I’ll also invite some other critters like mosquitoes who do carry some deadly viruses.
We plant a sunflower meadow every year and it does bring the bees… I put up a bee house last year in a tree on our property, but it’s still bee-less… so I just ordered some “bee magnets” to hopefully attract them!
My favorite pollinators!
bee population really down this year
Thanks for this article. I learned a lot of things I didn’t know. My Dad and sister had beehives and the honey was the best. We have Salvias in our yard and the bees love them.
Thank you for all the wonderful information. I see bees by my flowers all the time. It is amazing how complex the whole process is. We take for granted all the fruits on the list you provided. The Lord has provided us abundantly.
We have started to leave 1/3 to 1/2 of our field unmowed for the first half of summer. This lets the wildflowers grow and blossom. Not only bee happy, but also butterfly happy. We’ve also got a lot of apple trees around which the bees love! And some spring flowering and summer flowering plants and shrubs.
Our state Audubon just posted about an endangered bumblebee.. the rusty patch .. so I will be on the lookout for that particular one. I wish I had known earlier when most of the blossoms were out and the plants were bee loaded!
I love this information. thank you
I love bees…
Never knew this!
are bees and honey bees the same
I pride myself on being the first yard in my block to be filled with bees. I see them even before spring sometimes on my rosemary flowers! LOVE our little furry friends.
I love the set up!
Interesting info. Thanks for sharing!
Bees are essential.
I have a huge flower garden and the bees love it.
This year we added a lot of flowers to the veggie garden to attract the bees .
Gotta keep our little buzzers happy 🙂
.
I love bees, and of course, honey. I appreciate the great information on bees and how to help them!
We benefit from the honey they make which is good for our health
Love the bee house! So cute!
Yes, these are truly amazing creatures! I try to always remember to look on the plant tag when buying plants and flowers at the nursery to make sure they have been grown without the use of neonicotinoids which will kill the bees.
Bees are just so darn amazing and helpful.
prize is nice
this is interesting
Love seeing the bees in my flower garden!
Great advise, both interesting and useful. Thanks for sharing it.
We always leave the dandelions for the bees! Bees are so needed!
I agree that bees are so very vital to our ecosystem! It is so sad what is happening to them!
I love planting bee and butterfly friendly flowers. I love seeing them in my garden!
Bees are so important to sustaining life. It always amazes me that we don’t take it more seriously that we have done so much to damage their population.
I would love to be able to grow my own flowers.
Love the bees in my yard, and need more bee houses! Love this whole article or blog post.
Thank you for the information; Our son is looking into raising bees.
I love all your gardens n giveaways
I’m glad to know my antique roses are good for bees. We need to do everything we can!
Very interesting thank u
Our pollinating bees are so important. I participated in “no mow May”, I plan to plant an herb garden and I will sign the petition.
We used to keep honeybees and some escaped into nearby trees so we have a lot of pollinators here for our orchard and the rest of the gardens.
Added lots of wildflowers to my garden this year for the bees and the butterflies.
We do as little as possible to disturb them. My neighbor and another friend raise bees.
Yes I do love bees!! And so sad that they are getting rare in some areas
I found some bee hotels at a discount store they were such a good deal I bought some for my other family members as well to put in there gardens. I plant for the Bee’s and Butterflies which the birds love the plants too.
My father is almost 80 years old and can still tell you all about the bee. He wrote a paper in elementary school about it and it is really amazing that he still remembers all that information. He only went to the 8th grade but he taught me more about nature and animals than anyone else ever has. He loves talking about the bees and that was the first time I truly thought about how important he was in teaching me about my 2 loves animals & nature.
thank you; I can see less bees in the last 10 years 🙁
Thanks for the info
This is a very .article. Beesare beautiful and I have planted some flowers for them
I pretty much let my 2.5 acres be naturally wild plus I plant lots of flowers. I do get ground bees and honey bees mixed up, they look so much alike
We have lots of bees on our farm and try not to disturb there habitat as much as possible.
Bees are essential to life, at least that is what Einstein said or didn’t say. “Once the bees are gone, humanity has only 4 years.” Not sure how true that is as many insects do pollinate, but none like a bee. I try to encourage them in my landscape, even a hornets nest was left to mature and live around here as long as they weren’t swarming us. The only bee that is the bane of my existence is the carpenter bee. I don’t think they could care less about flowers and pollen, there laser like purpose in life is to eat and bore into any nice soft wood like our rough cut pine siding. Thus bringing in the woodpeckers that chip away. After many years, we are done and seriously considering vinyl siding.
I’ve learned so much about bees!
we need our bees for sure
I learned a lot, thanks for the information.
I used to see bees all the time now I see wasp and bumble bees but hardly ever honey bees ..I love fresh honey.. and my flowers need bees to pollinate them..I’m glad we have several bee farms around and they sell fresh honey! I planted alot of wild flowers this year and I’ve seen a few bees i hope to see more!
I love this, i love adding water features to my yard.
Thanks !! I learned a lot about Bees !!
Thanks for the wonderful article.
I love the bumblebees around our yard! I think they are cute and just let them go along and do what they do. That’s why we have so many pretty flowers around the house.
This is a really interesting article. I didn’t know that most bees were solitary. I just assumed most or all lived in hives. I also didn’t realize that phone signals were part of the reason bees are dying out. I would like to hear more about that.
Sadly, I think overall there is just not enough natural spaces left for wild creatures with humans pushing more and more into rural and wild areas and destroying natural habitat. I live in a rural area and where there were once fields and woods, it’s now trailers, houses, apartments, schools, etc. There used to fields and wooded land between properties, now it’s all parceled up with people moving onto the land and the woods and fields gone.
I am definitely working on planting more flowers for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Thanks for the helpful information.
so cute it does lot of work to do
Bees are SO important for the ecosystem!
I remember learning how important bees were for plants when I was younger. I was amazed. I thought all they did was sting young boys who tried to eat their honey? LOL!
I never knew that so many thing’s depend on our pollinator’s, I knew a couple of them but not a list like that. Let’s do everything we can to keep them around and multiplying.
“So take out the bees and one third of our food supply would be wiped out.”😳😳😳
I have one set up and a water bowl.
More people should be reading this so that they learn the importance of bees and how to save them.
really need that tiller
Thanks for all this great info..
Thanks for all of the great info. We need more bees!
My nephew makes honey from his honey bees. I never knew that all bees didn’t live in hives. Some great information in this article. Thank you.
My Mother-in-law planted mint that still grows at our house every year. We also have plenty of clover that the bees love!