{"id":11817,"date":"2019-11-19T10:03:45","date_gmt":"2019-11-19T15:03:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?page_id=11817"},"modified":"2025-05-01T22:16:59","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T02:16:59","slug":"shelter","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/pollinator\/shelter\/","title":{"rendered":"Provide Shelter for Pollinators"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote>\n<h3><strong>Certification Requirements:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>\u2713 In order to certify, your garden needs at least three of the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Spaces of bare ground<\/li>\n<li>Rock pile or wall<\/li>\n<li>Dead wood<\/li>\n<li>Leave garden cleanup until late spring<\/li>\n<li>Bee boxes, appropriately designed for native bees and properly maintained<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Nesting Sites<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Protecting Nesting Sites<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Protect overwintering pollinators by delaying garden cleanup until spring:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Leave bare ground in sunny, southern facing areas.<\/li>\n<li>Keep dead wood like standing or fallen logs or add brush piles.<\/li>\n<li>Delay cleanup of perennial grasses and plant stems till spring, ideally when overnight temperatures reach 50\u00b0.<\/li>\n<li>Keep areas of undisturbed fallen leaves.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Creating Nesting Sites<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Learn More About Pollinator Nesting Sites:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/publications\/7153e\/\">Understanding Native Bees, the Great Pollinators: Enhancing Their Habitat in Maine<\/a>, Bulletin #7153, includes designs to build a conservation bee nesting house.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2024\/09\/27\/maine-home-garden-news-october-2024\/#article-1\">To Rake or Not to Rake<\/a>, Maine Home Garden News October 2024<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/xerces.org\/publications\/fact-sheets\/nesting-overwintering-habitat\">Nesting &amp; Overwintering Habitat<\/a>, Xerces Society<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.xerces.org\/publications\/fact-sheets\/tunnel-nests-for-native-bees\">Tunnel Nests for Native Bees: Nest Construction and Management<\/a>, Xerces Society<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Certification Requirements: \u2713 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 &nbsp; Nesting Sites Pollinators need nesting sites to survive. Many native bees nest [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":0,"parent":11809,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/page-withsidebar.php","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11817","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Provide Shelter for Pollinators - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/pollinator\/shelter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Provide Shelter for Pollinators - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Certification Requirements: \u2713 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 &nbsp; Nesting Sites Pollinators need nesting sites to survive. 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