ANyone can make a difference!
Are you wondering what you can do to help? Do want to support the bees but aren't sure where to start? There are certain simple steps one can take to lend a hand to the bees. You don't need any complicated materials or extensive knowledge to play your part. It can be as simple as buying certain plants from garden centers or leaving a section of your garden pesticide free.
Bee Strong
Bee Gardens
Bee gardens are a great way to help the bees. Bee gardens utilize native flowers to make a habitat friendly for native bees. Native bees are very important to the environment and so it is important to help them get the right diet. To keep it simple you might plant only one or two native plants in your garden but make sure you have some sort of variety because bees need a broad diet. If you like planting hanging baskets, you might make them pollinator friendly by planting native plants. If you wanted to go bigger, why not try and organize a community bee garden, where volunteers come to plant, weed, and keep the garden healthy and beautiful.
Bee BoxesBee boxes are another great way to provide habitats for native bees. Many bees are solitary bees, meaning they nest and lay their eggs in small cracks and crevices they find in nature. You can build a bee box to help provide them with these spaces to live. You can also build a bumblebee box. Bee boxes require a little more effort to make and do require some upkeep during the year; but they provide wonderful habitats for all sorts of bees and help nurture bee populations. Want to make something more natural? Create brush or woodpiles in your backyard. Want something less messy and more sightly? Make a bench or split rail fence out of untreated wood. Vary the types of structures to attract different types of bees.
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Limit Pesticides
Pesticides can be extremely dangerous for bees. Thus, an easy way to help the bees is to limit the pesticides in your garden. If you do use pesticides, you can always keep a small section of your garden pesticide free and try not to mix pesticides because they can become more lethal. If you are interested in going entirely pesticide free, be sure to check that the plants you are buying from a nursery or garden center were grown without pesticides.
If you feel pesticides are essential to the success of your garden, follow these steps for more pollinator friendly use.
If you feel pesticides are essential to the success of your garden, follow these steps for more pollinator friendly use.
- READ the labels of the pesticides you buy to determine if it is pollinator friendly and what ingredients are active in that pesticide. See safest pesticide practices for more information on which active ingredients to avoid. A thorough read through is necessary, as it provides information on the best weather conditions in which to use the pesticide to be the most accurate and least harmful. This will also provide instructions to avoid irrigation of the pesticide into water sources that are used by bees.
- DON'T SPRAY plants that are flowering, spray them before they bloom, or if it is unavoidable, spray in the late evening or early morning when bees are less active.
- In general, but particularly if the flowers are blooming, USE a low residual spray and spray nozzles that reduce residue. Choose pesticides that are the least harmful to bees and have the least residual activity so that pollinators can come back safely to the plants after a short period of time.
- CHECK the weather forecast and unless the pesticide bottle says differently, do not apply pesticides before a period of high humidity and low temperatures. Such conditions form dew on the plants, which can cause pesticide residue to remain toxic for twice as long.
- RESEARCH the pest that you are trying to eliminate so that you are aware of the life cycle and use the pesticide when most effective. This reduces the amount of chemicals in the environment that will be useless for the intended purpose.
SPread the Word
"Hey everyone, bees are AWESOME!"
Are you building a bee garden? Tell your neighbors, inspire them to create their own or help with yours.
Building Bee boxes? Give them away as gifts for holidays or birthdays and tell the recipient all you know about bee declines.
Ridding your garden of pesticides? Throw a party, cook with the produce, or decorate with the flowers and proudly advertise it as pesticide free.
Don't forget that social media can be your greatest ally. Post pictures of bees, explain why we must work together to save them. Post pictures of your favorite meals and lament the fact that without bees, you would lose every third bite. Don't be shy, you are saving the world by supporting the pollinators and don't let anyone tell you differently.
Building Bee boxes? Give them away as gifts for holidays or birthdays and tell the recipient all you know about bee declines.
Ridding your garden of pesticides? Throw a party, cook with the produce, or decorate with the flowers and proudly advertise it as pesticide free.
Don't forget that social media can be your greatest ally. Post pictures of bees, explain why we must work together to save them. Post pictures of your favorite meals and lament the fact that without bees, you would lose every third bite. Don't be shy, you are saving the world by supporting the pollinators and don't let anyone tell you differently.
Want to join with others?
Attend one of our many upcoming events to hear how others are taking action and helping the bees!