How to help the #bees.
Most of the advice about bees centers on flowers. But you don't have to have a garden to help bees and #pollinators. Anyone can learn about bees.
There are roughly 20,000 species of bees worldwide, About 4,000 are native to North America, and about 400 are native to New England, which is where i live. If you live on land, there are hundreds of species of bees native to where you live.
The honeybee (Apis mellifera) is just one.
About two-thirds of all bee species make their nests in the ground. The females dig a hole, create a chamber, carry pollen and nectar in, make a little loaf, and lay an egg on it. Then they seal up the chamber. Over and over again.
Usually all we see, if anything, is a hole in the ground. Most of the ones I know about like bare, sunny spots. All ground-nesting bees need a place where the earth will not be disturbed.
#bees #pollinators
About a third of bee species nest in cavities. This could mean hollow or pithy stems, tree hollows, fallen or standing dead trees, or other crevices. You can help them by offering places to nest. It could be as time-consuming as keeping honeybee hives, as chancy as setting up bee hotels, or as simple as leaving a foot or two intact when you cut standing stems.
Here's advice from Tufts Pollinator Initiative on how to leave stems for #bees and #pollinators:
https://sites.tufts.edu/pollinators/2021/04/the-right-way-to-leave-stems-for-native-bees/
@Blue_Jay Yes. Since bee hotels usually concentrate lots of nests near each other, they tend to attract parasites and disease organisms. A design that allows you to remove the cocoons
allows you to clean and inspect them.