Farming and Gardening for Pollinators

Farming and Gardening For Pollinators

Create or Enhance Pollinator Habitat in Backyards, Farms, and Open Spaces

  Provide habitat for pollinators by including a variety of plants in your garden, as well as a water source. Photo by Lynn Betts, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Provide habitat for pollinators by including a variety of plants in your garden, as well as a water source. Photo by Lynn Betts, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Many pollinators appear to be declining due to factors such as habitat loss and fragmentation, disease, modern agricultural practices, and pesticide use. Home gardeners, farmers, and managers of parks and open spaces can help pollinators by creating or improving habitat. In particular, one can benefit pollinators by providing food resources, nest sites and nest-building materials, and water, and by avoiding the use of pesticides. 

To provide food for pollinators, try to use native plants because these are the plants with which native pollinators have evolved.  Some highly specialized pollinators may depend on only one or a few plant types for food, shelter, or reproduction. In addition, native plants will be better suited to the growing conditions of your region and therefore generally require less care.

Recommended Reading

  Cover of Bee Pollinators In Your Garden. Cover art by Amy B. Wright (American Association of Professional Apiculturists).
Cover of Bee Pollinators In Your Garden. Cover art by Amy B. Wright (American Association of Professional Apiculturists).

Bee Pollinators In Your Garden. American Association of Professional Apiculturists Technical Bulletin Number 2. Edited by E.C. Mussen, M. Spivak, D.F. Mayer, and M.T. Sanford. Publisher: American Association of Professional Apiculturists (1999)

A Roof Over Their Heads

Pollinators will benefit from additional food resources where their habitat has been degraded.  But quite often nest sites, overwintering sites, and other resources are in even more limited supply than are food resources.  For example, birds, bats, and butterflies require a water source; butterflies require hiding places for pupae; butterflies and bees will benefit from a damp salt lick (a damp or muddy area of soil in which sea salt or wood ashes are mixed); some bees and wasps require mud as nest-building material; other bees use dead trees or tree limbs or open patches of unvegetated earth as nest sites.

Overwintering sites are also in short supply for many pollinators, especially in areas with extensive urban and suburban development.  Many homeowners attempt to keep a neat yard and garden area by cleaning up dead leaves and twigs and other structures that could serve as winter shelter for pollinators.  To aid pollinators in finding suitable overwintering habitat, consider leaving cut plant stems exposed and leaving twigs and brush in small piles. You may also wish to create artificial nest sites for some pollinators.

Additional Resources on Creating or Enhancing Pollinator Nesting Habitat:

Gardening for Pollinator Insects (Xerces Society)

Nests for Solitary Bees (M. Shepherd, Pollinator Conservation Program, Xerces Society, April 2004)

Creating Nesting Blocks for Native Bees (USDA Forest Service)

Nest Block Preparation for Solitary Bees (J. Cane, D. Veirs, and G. Trostle, USDA Agricultural Research Service)

Pollinator Habitat, Down on the Farm

Strawberry (Fragaria spp.) crop. Photo by Bob Nichols, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Providing habitat for pollinators can benefit farmers. Crops such as strawberries (Fragaria spp.) are pollinated by native bees and bumble bees. Photo Bob Nichols, USDA NRCS.

If you would like to be convinced of the importance of native pollinators in North America, simply ask a farmer who produces blueberries, strawberries, alfalfa, apples, melons, tomatoes, peppers, cranberries, agave, or squash. These are among the many crop and orchard plants whose pollination is primarily dependent upon native North American pollinators. How and why are native pollinators important to farmers? Some reasons include the following:

1. Native pollinators, such as bumble bees and sweat bees, pollinate some crop and orchard plants more efficiently than the European honey bee, such that fewer bees are required to sufficiently pollinate an acre of crop or orchard plants.

2. Even where honey bees are more efficient, they are not always present and abundant when and where they are needed: native bees and other native pollinators are more likely to be active in colder and wetter conditions, such as early and late in the growing season or at higher latitudes.

3. Honey bee numbers are currently declining, which will likely make native bees and other native pollinators more important.

4. Even when honey bees are present, native bees can cause them to alter their behavior in such a way that the honey bees pollinate crop plants more efficiently than they would in the absence of native bees.

5. Some commercially produced plants, such as tomatoes, peppers, and blueberries are best pollinated by "buzz pollination," in which the bee holds the flower's anthers while vibrating her flight muscles, releasing pollen. This type of pollination is performed by bumble bees and other native North American bees, but not by honey bees.

In consideration of the importance of native pollinators, both for agricultural production and for the conservation of natural communities, many farmers are interested in improving natural habitat or providing artificial habitat for native pollinators. In doing so, they can also help conserve other wildlife and native plants. Some farmers are going so far to provide pollinator habitat and reduce or eliminate pesticide use that they are marketing their products under eco-labels such as "pollinator-friendly."

For more information on how to implement pollinator-friendly farming practices, see [PDF] Farming for Bees: Guidelines for Providing Native Bee Habitat on Farms (M. Vaughan, M. Shepherd, C. Kremen, and S. Hoffman Black, Xerces Society, 2004).

Pesticides and Pollinators Don't Mix

Pesticides and herbicides should be avoided if you intend to provide or improve habitat for pollinators.  Herbicide use may inadvertently destroy plants that are important to pollinators, which include not only those plants that provide food for adult pollinators, but also those plants that support the larval stages of insect pollinators (e.g. caterpillars).  Insecticides harm pollinating insects directly and are also a risk to birds and other animals (including other pollinators) that consume insects.

If you must use pesticides the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has developed recommendations for minimizing the negative impact to pollinators.

Other resources regarding pesticides and pollinators include:

USDA-CSREES Regional Integrated Pest Management Centers Information System, Center for Integrated Pest Management

NSF Center for Integrated Pest Management, North Carolina State University

Reducing Risks to Pollinators from Pesticides (North American Pollinator Protection Campaign - NAPPC)

Pollinator Friendly Practices (North American Pollinator Protection Campaign - NAPPC and Wildlife Habitat Council) Portable Document Format (PDF)

Protecting Honey Bees from Pesticides (G. Hunt, C. R. Edwards, and R. E. Foster, Purdue University Cooperative Extension, Department of Entomology) Portable Document Format (PDF)

How to Reduce Bee Poisoning from Pesticides (D. F. Mayer, C. A. Johansen, and C. R. Baird, Washington State Extension) Portable Document Format (PDF)

Managing Insect Pests Without Pesticides (C. Stewart and N. Coverstone, University of Maine Cooperative Extension)

Koppert Biological Systems

Pesticide Fact Sheets (USDA Forest Service)

Pollinator Resources for Farmers and Gardeners
Search 61 Results Within Pollinator Resources for Farmers and Gardeners
Showing 61 of 61
1.
A Pollination Moment: Squash Blossoms
This is a general overview of squash (Cucurbita spp.) gardening and the bees necessary to pollinate these plants. Specifically, sweat bees (Agapostemon spp.) and squash bees (Xenoglossa spp., Peponapis spp.) are discussed.
2.
Attracting Butterflies to the Garden
This fact sheet provides quick facts, garden plans, a list of nectar-bearing plants commonly visted by butterflies, information on common conflicts, references, a table of food used by common eastern Colorado butterflies and skippers, and photographs...
3.
Bat Conservation International's Bat House Project: Bat Houses? Here’s How! Fact Sheet
This fact sheet answers frequently asked questions about how to build a bat house and why it is important to provide bat habitat.
4.
Bee Pollinators in Your Garden
Quote:"an 18 page color booklet that covers the following topics: Why Bees are the Best Pollinators, What is a Bee?, What Bees are Common? Habitat for Bees, Insecticides and Bees, and lists of sources for honey bees, non-Apis bees, bee equipment and...
5.
Beginner's Guide to Butterfly Identification
A basic photographic and descriptive identification guide to common butterflies that can be found on Blandy Farm and in Virginia.
6.
Beneficial Insects and Spiders in Your Maine Backyard Fact Sheet
This site discusses "beneficial" insects, spiders, predatory mites, and other arthropods, and how to use these insects to minimize pest problems. A list of the top beneficial insects is given, along with information on how to attract and sustain...
7.
Bluebottle flies as Pollinators in Greenhouses of High Tunnels
This news article discusses the use of blue bottle flies as an alternative to honeybees, cutter bees, and house flies in pollinating carrot flowers. The article also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using blue bottle flies as managed...
8.
Butterflies and Butterfly Gardening in West Virginia
From the article: "Planting gardens with flowers that attract butterflies is a natural way to attract these lovely creatures to your yard, garden, patio, or even window sill. Brightly colored butterflies provide interest to your surroundings and are...
9.
Butterfly Gardening: Creating Summer Magic in Your Garden
Quote:"The first edition, in print since 1990, has sold more than 40,000 copies. Butterfly Gardening includes close-up color photographs of butterflies and the plants that attract them, and writing by eminent authors on the subjects of butterflies,...
10.
Case Study No. 10: Cash Crop Farming in the Himalayas: the Importance of Pollinator Management and Managed Pollination
From site "Based on the researchers studies in apple pollination issues and farmers’ concerns in Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan, this paper presents a general picture of pollination issues faced by the farmers in the Himalayan region...

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Additional Resources

Additional Resources on Providing Flowers for Pollinators:

Butterfly Garden (Mace Vaughan, Xerces Society, April 2004)

Pacific Northwest Plants for Bees (Matthew Shepherd, Pollinator Conservation Program, Xerces Society, April 2004)

California Plants for Bees  Portable Document Format (PDF) (M. Shepherd and M. Vaughan, Xerces Society)

Plants for Native Bees in the United States (Matthew Shepherd, Pollinator Conservation Program, Xerces Society, April 2004)

Planting a Bee Garden (Steve Buchmann, USDA Agricultural Research Service)

Creating a Great Bee Garden (University of California Berkeley, College of Natural Resources)

How to Make a Hummingbird Feeder  Portable Document Format (PDF) (USDA Forest Service)

What You Can Do to Protect Pollination Services (Ecological Society of America)

Bumblebees - The Essential, Indefatigable Pollinators (Janet Marinelli, Brooklyn Botanic Garden)

Moths - Luring Exquisite Giant Silk Moths to Your Garden (Janet Marinelli In Plants and Gardens News, Vol. 13, No. 2, Summer 1998)

Butterflies in Your Backyard  Portable Document Format (PDF) (L. Thomas Bowen and C. Moorman, North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, North Carolina State University, 2002)

Butterfly Gardening Books (North American Butterfly Association)

Bats and Their Flowers (Arthur C. Gibson, Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Gardens)