Make friends with bumble bees
October 25, 2009 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under Gardening
A few years ago “Colony Collapse Disorder” was big news, and for a good reason. If honey bees do disappear, there goes our primary pollinators for commercial farms. On a nicer note, bumble bees can help fill in the pollinator gap in your own garden if you don’t scare them off.
Bumble bees have many benefits that their peers don’t, one of the most important being “buzz pollination.” Buzz pollination is when bumble bees grab a flower and shake it thus releasing pollen that normally remains flower bound. Even honey bees don’t perform buzz pollination, so it’s good to have bumble bees around. Bumble bees are also hardier in bad weather conditions than other bees – i.e. bad weather hits and honey bees will stick to the hive, but bumble bees will go off exploring.
How to keep bumble bees happy in your garden…
- Don’t move bumble bee nests when you find them. They hate this and may leave if you try.
- Encourage bumble bees to stick around by planting plants they adore. Park Seed has a great list of bumble bee pleasing plants you can grow.
- Like any pet, bumble bees require food. Nectar and pollen must be available for your bees. Especially since they need high-quality pollen to feed to their babies which can be gotten from clovers and vetches among others.
- Bumble bees need nesting spots. Some bumble bee species like to nest above ground in thick vegetation such as a hedge and others like underground nests.
For more precise information, you can talk to your local extension for ideas about where the local bees like to live and about what they like to eat.
[image via stock.xchng]
