Many of us have noticed a decline in the bee populations in our gardens. Perhaps you were hoping for a bigger vegetable or fruit harvest? Invite pollinators into your yard by putting down pesticides and herbicides! Once you can live with some clover in your grass, bumblebees will be drawn to your yard and sip on the nectar from their flowers.
Firstly, respect the bumblebee. Secondly do not swat at it. If you don’t aggravate the bees, they won’t sting you.
Next, plant single petaled flowers, keeping in mind that bumblebees prefer some colored flowers over others. Bees in general like yellow, blue and purple flowers. Some good flowers that attract bumblebees and pollinators are:
- Ammi
Larkspur - Asters
- Bee balm
- Black Eyed Susan
- Celosia
- Echinacea
- Forget-Me-Nots
- Foxgloves
- Larkspur
- Milkweed
- Poppies
- Salvia
- Zinnia
- and other native flowers
For a continuous supply of nectar for your bumblebees, pick flowers or deadhead (cut off spent flowers) to encourage your plants to produce more flowers. And who doesn’t like a bouquet of flowers in their house?
Bumblebees require shelter, so think about putting in a bumblebee house. You can purchase one, or if you are handy and have the proper tools you can make one yourself. Queen bumblebees like to raise their brood in nests abandoned by small animals. You can add some natural materials like clean pet hair, dried up moss collected from your yard, even dried leaves. You can place your new bumblebee nest box under the eaves or under some plants, where it will ‘bee’ sheltered from the rain, harsh weather and sun.
Bumblebees also like to tuck in for the night on flowers such as celosia and zinnias.
For bumblebee that nest in the ground avoid disturbing your soil until at least April. It’s also a good idea to leave your dried up plants until April as bumblebees also like to nest in hollow reeds.
Provide your bumblebee’s with a source of water. Just as you would never leave your pets in your yard without a bowl of water, leave a drink for the bees as well. For more information on how to set up a drinking station for your bumblebees, my article on Mason bees.
The Bumble Bee Watch app is a fun and on the go tool for you to help identify which bumblebees are present in you garden. All information is used for research purposes by The Xerces Society, so why not help out?