FALL BEE FRIENDLY GARDENING
This is a recap of the information provided in our October Bee City USA committee meeting.
Back on October 2nd we had our first Vancouver Bee City USA committee meeting. It was so great to meet and talk with so many wonderful people interested in advocating for Vancouver to become a Bee City USA affiliate. If you're interested in joining us for our next meeting check it out here. Meetings are quarterly and our next one is scheduled for January 8, 2023. But we will try and have additional educational and social events in between like our upcoming Mason Bee Cocoon Cleaning Event. Feel free to sign up for updates on that as well.
During our educational spotlight, we talked about some Mason Bee background information and things folks can do to support native bees and other pollinators in the fall. Below is a summary from that meeting. If you have questions or want more information, contact me.
BACKGROUND
70% of bees are ground nesting and 90% of bees are solitary. That means that most bees live very differently than the typical honey bee or bumblebee we think of. If you think about what animals need, it's really basic. Food and a place to live. If most bees live in the ground, it's really critical to think about what those bees need. Bare soil is best although patchy turf grass can host plenty of native ground nesting bees. Having plenty of forage resources that are flowering throughout the year will help you keep more bees happier, longer and attract a higher abundance of species.
RESOURCES
This Nesting and Overwintering Habitat resource from Xerces Society is a great read and provides background information on much of what was discussed at our Bee City USA committee meeting.
SAVE THE STEMS
A lot of native and non-native plants have hallowed or pithy stems that bees and other insects can nest in. The best thing to do is to leave the whole stem in the fall and winter and trim plant stems to varying lengths (8" to 24") in the spring just before bees emerge. This will put potential pollinator nesting sites right where a forage source is located.
LEAVE THE LEAVES
Bees, butterflies, moths, beetles and other invertebrates need fall and winter leaf cover for food and shelter. Think about ways to keep leaves where they fall or possibly reverse mulching with leaves where you leave some leaves in your lawn and move most leaves that have fallen into your landscaping areas. Also think about ways to reduce your lawn and create places to accept leaves in the fall.
RECONSIDER MULCH
Use thin, natural mulches. Ground nesting bees need bar ground surfaces for nesting and putting too much mulch down means the bees can't access the soil to nest. Natural mulches like pebbles, rock or leaves work well.
WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?
Install a rock pile or wall to enhance habitat
Install a brush pile to enhance habitat
Install snags or logs to enhance habitat
Rethink what your lawn can be consider native groundcovers and removing the turf grass
Provide a water source for insects
Plant native plants
