Did you know that bees are responsible for roughly one in every three bites of food we eat? That is because they pollinate flowers which, in turn, form seeds, fruits, nuts, beans, and vegetables. Our food supply depends on bees and other pollinators—they are our literal lifeline. Yet we are destroying the bees with our use of harmful pesticides and the destruction of their habitat. Bees in the United States are dying at an unprecedented rate.
Pollination begins as bees forage for the sweet elixir called nectar that is held within a flower. Nectar gives bees energy. And the pollen they collect is like protein. As a bee goes inside a flower to drink the nectar, it picks up pollen grains that stick to the hairs of their bodies. It then carries those pollen grains from flower to flower, which initiates fruiting.
You can help the bees by planting a Bee Garden filled with nectar-rich flowers. By doing so, you will be making our world a healthier place for honeybees, mason bees, bumblebees, solitary bees, and others. A Bee Garden is pesticide-free and can be any size and be anywhere. A planter full of flowers is perfectly fine. Just be sure not to use any insecticides on your plants and, when purchasing flowering plants, look for a label that says they are neonic-free. That is short for neonicotinoids, a class of pesticide that concentrates in the pollen (and more). It contributes strongly to the killing of bees. Also, during the growing season, remove dead blooms to prolong the blooming period of certain flowers.
Bees are drawn to flat, open blooms with big petals for easy landings, or tubular flowers with lots of pollen and nectar. Plant a variety of flower shapes to accommodate bees with different tongue sizes. Single flowers such as daisies, pansies, black-eyed Susans, asters, helenium, and marigolds make nectar and pollen more accessible to bees than showy, double flowers. The frilly, hybridized ones produce less nectar so opt for the original flowers.
Bees prefer white, yellow, blue, and purple blooms. They do not perceive red. Honeybees remember which colored flowers are a good source of pollen. If they find a blue flower that is rich in pollen on a trip, they will visit more blue flowers on subsequent trips rather than hopping among different colors. This is unlike bumblebees and other native bees, which forage on diverse, native wildflowers. For more info on creating a pollinator-friendly garden in your region, go to the website of the Pollinator Partnership (www.pollinator.org/guides).