Provide Shelter for Pollinators

Certification Requirements:

✓ In order to certify, your garden needs at least three of the following:

  • Spaces of bare ground
  • Rock pile or wall
  • Dead wood
  • Leave garden cleanup until late spring
  • Bee boxes, appropriately designed for native bees and properly maintained

 

Nesting Sites

Pollinators need nesting sites to survive. Many native bees nest in the ground or in the pith of stems and twigs. Bumble bees typically use old mouse holes at the base of bunch grasses or cavities in rock walls or trees. Dead wood provides nesting habitat for bees, wasps, beetles, and ants and leaf litter provides winter protection for caterpillars.

Protecting Nesting Sites

Protect overwintering pollinators by delaying garden cleanup until spring:

  • Leave bare ground in sunny, southern facing areas.
  • Keep dead wood like standing or fallen logs or add brush piles.
  • Delay cleanup of perennial grasses and plant stems till spring, ideally when overnight temperatures reach 50°.
  • Keep areas of undisturbed fallen leaves.

Creating Nesting Sites

You can buy or create artificial nesting sites for tunnel and stem nesting bees, but they must be designed for native species and properly maintained to prevent pests and diseases. Over time, wooden blocks or bundles of hollow stems can attract many bees, concentrating them in small areas where parasites and diseases may spread. Without regular care, these sites can harm bee health. Before purchasing or building a bee hotel, research how to properly construct and manage artificial habitats for native bees.

Learn More About Pollinator Nesting Sites: