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Most native bees are unlikely to sting. The yellow jackets and other wasps
you see eating rotting fruit and hanging around picnics are not bees, nor
are they significant pollinators.
The Xerces Society is a non-profit organization that protects biological
diversity through the conservation of invertebrates.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service is a U.S. Department of
Agriculture agency that helps people help the land.
From “Farming for Pollinators” published by the Xerces Society, copyright
2005, funding provided by Norcross Foundation, CS Fund, Goldman
Foundation, and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Illustrations by
Andrew Holder.
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Native Bees and Your Crops
Native bees are valuable crop pollinators. Wild bees help increase crop
yields and may serve as important insurance when honey bees are hard to come by.
There are simple, inexpensive ways you can increase the number of native bees
living on your land. Any work you do on behalf of pollinators will support other
beneficial insects and wildlife. Improvements to pollinator habitat also may be
eligible for financial support from government programs.
Principles of Farming for Crop Pollinators
1. Know the habitat on your farm. Using the illustration as a guide, look for
areas on and around your land that can support native bees.
2. Protect flowering plants and nest sites. Once you know where bees are living
and foraging, do what you can to protect these resources from disturbance and
pesticides.
3. Enhance habitat with flowering plants and additional nest sites. Adding
flowers, leaving some ground untilled, and providing bee blocks (tunnels drilled
into wood) are all ways to increase the number of native bees on your farm.
Critical Requirements of Native Bees
Food. Bees eat only pollen and nectar. In the process of gathering
these resources, they move pollen from one flower to another, and thus pollinate
your crops. Bees rely upon an abundance and variety of flowers, and need
blooming plants throughout the growing season. Native plant species are
particularly valuable.
Shelter. Native bees don’t build the wax or paper structures we associate
with honey bees or wasps, but they do need places to nest, which vary depending
on the species.
- Wood-nesting bees are solitary, often making individual nests in beetle
tunnels in standing dead trees.
- Ground-nesting bees include solitary species that construct nest tunnels
under the ground.
- Cavity-nesting social species—bumble bees—make use of small spaces, such
as abandoned rodent burrows, wherever they can find them.
Protection from pesticides. Most insecticides are deadly to bees, and
unnecessary herbicide use can remove many of the flowers that they need for
food.
Getting Started
Here are two things that you can do to begin improving habitat for native
bees on your land:
Minimize tillage. Many of our best crop pollinators live underground for
most of the year, sometimes at the base of the very plants they pollinate. To
protect them, turn over soil only where you need to.
Allow crops to bolt. If possible, allow leafy crops, like lettuce, to
flower if they don’t need to be tilled right away. This gives bees additional
food sources.
Going Further
If you want to do more to increase the number of native bees pollinating your
crops, you can plant hedgerows or windbreaks with a variety of flowering plants
and shrubs, reduce or eliminate your use of pesticides, or work with your
neighbors to protect natural areas around your farm.
Exercising Care with Insecticides
If you use insecticides, choose targeted ingredients (for example, Btk for
pests such as leaf rollers) and the least harmful formulations (granules or
solutions). Spray on calm, dry evenings—and do so soon after dark, when bees are
not active. Keep in mind that even when crops are not in bloom, some of your
best pollinators are visiting nearby flowers, where they may be killed by
drifting chemicals.
Further information about pollinators and what you can do to improve
pollinator habitat is available through the North American Pollinator Protection
Web site at: http://www.pollinator.org
and the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation at
www.xerces.org.
Related Links
“NRCS This Week” article about pollinators and pollinator habitat protection in
Montana:
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/NEWS/thisweek/2005/113005/techtip11.30.05.html
NRCS Wildlife Habitat Management Institute brochure on Native Pollinators
U.S. Postal Service article about the Pollination Stamps unveiling at the
USDA Invasive Species Symposium:
http://www.usps.com/communications/news/stamps/2006/sr06_048.htm
National Biological Information Infrastructure pollinator site:
http://pollinators.nbii.gov/portal/server.pt
Forest Service "Celebrating Wildflowers" site:
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/index.shtml
U.S. Senate resolution of June 24-30, 2007 as National Pollinator Week:
http://www.ucs.iastate.edu/mnet/_repository/2005/plantbee/pdf/Senate%20Resolution%20580.pdf
The National Agroforestry Center's Agroforestry Notes features several
articles on pollinators:
http://www.unl.edu/nac/agroforestrynotes.htm
Xerces Society Publications about Pollinators:
http://www.xerces.org/Pollinator_Insect_Conservation/xerces_publications.htm#Agriculture