Bees and all other critters need the same things we do: food, housing for the family, and a safe place to live. Urban landscapes are often missing housing, a critical component. You may be surprised at where some of them raise their young! Please view this short video with beautiful images of a few native bees and the information on nesting resources.
You can help ensure diversity here in our own neighborhood by providing housing for native bees. Many of our bees are solitary and need hollow plant stems or dead wood; some need only a small patch of bare ground. Most of our urban landscapes do not provide housing for native bees, but they should and it is easy to do. Please note that ground nesting bees should not be feared since they are docile and solitary. Please do not think of them as you do a swarm of aggressive yellow jackets. Ground nesting bees usually build nests in the spring. Click the image for more information.
Did you know that it is possible to do harm by providing a bee house? If not properly designed and maintained, bee houses can spread disease or make the larvae more accessible to predators. If properly designed and cared for, bee houses can be beneficial and they provide an opportunity to observe bees. Please read this before deciding to provide a nest box.
Want to learn more about our native bees? We are offering a hardcopy of this booklet about our native bees to five people who live in or near the Reedy Creek Watershed and have read the Nesting Resources link and viewed the video. Names will be drawn on May 16 . Use our contact form to get your name in the hat. Comment BOOKLET. (The booklet is also availabe for download if you prefer.)
This post is dedicated to the memory of our friend and one of the founders of Reedy Creek Coalition, Robin Ruth. Her dying wish was “save the bees”, but we think she meant much more than that. Bees were just her project at the time. Robin cared deeply for the natural world from the soil teeming with life to the tops of the trees and every living thing between. We plan a series of posts with information about bees, birds, butterflies and perhaps other critters that need our help.
Reedy Creek Coalition 