Native Bee Conservation & Habitat — FarmPal

Key Points

• 🐝70% of native bees nest in the ground leave bare soil patches
• 🐝Native bees are often more effective pollinators than honeybees for native plants
• 🐝Mason bees pollinate 100x more efficiently than honeybees per individual
• 🐝Diversity of bloom times from early spring to late fall is essential
• 🐝Pesticide-free zones are critical even "bee-safe" products may harm native species

Steps

1. 1Identify sunny, well-drained areas for ground-nesting bee habitat
2. 2Leave 30% of garden beds unmulched to allow ground nesting
3. 3Install mason bee houses: 6-8mm diameter tubes, south-facing, 3-6 ft high
4. 4Plant native flowering species that bloom sequentially through all seasons
5. 5Provide mud source (shallow puddle) for mason bee nest building
6. 6Leave dead stems and pithy stalks standing through winter (cavity nesters)
7. 7Eliminate or drastically reduce pesticide use especially neonicotinoids

Tips

• 💡A single mason bee house can replace an entire honeybee hive for orchard pollination
• 💡Bumble bees are the only pollinators that can "buzz pollinate" tomatoes and blueberries
• 💡2025 research: farms with native bee habitat have 20-30% higher yields from better pollination
• 💡Don't clean mason bee houses until you've researched proper management parasites are an issue
• 💡Many "bee hotels" sold commercially are poorly designed simple drilled blocks of untreated wood work best