Protect Your Pollinators
(Page 2 of 7)
Pollination in some crops is a collective effort among
different species, however. Researchers at Ohio State
University found that 18 species of native bees were doing
most of the pollinating work in nearby strawberry fields.
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These native bees don’t produce honey, and they
can’t be reared in managed hives. But when they are
given even small patches of suitable habitat, such as a
fence row or diverse garden, some of the 4,000-plus species
of native bees will show up.
“In a 20-acre woodland park that includes trees and
flowers and that hasn’t been sprayed with pesticides,
there may be 100 species of native bees present on a summer
day,” says Jim Cane, research entomologist at the
U.S.epartment of Agriculture’s Bee Biology Lab in
Logan, Utah.
According to the National Sustainable Agriculture
Information Service, the following native bees are
particularly good pollinators of certain crops, although
they pollinate other flowering plants, as well:
• Alkali bees: onions, clover, mint and
celery
• Bumblebees: blueberries, tomatoes, eggplants,
peppers, melons, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries
and cranberries
• Carpenter bees: passionfruit, blackberries, canola,
corn, peppers and beans
• Leafcutter bees: legumes, especially alfalfa, and
carrots
• Mason bees: almonds, apples, cherries, pears, plums
and blueberries
• Shaggy fuzzyfoot bees: blueberries and apples
• Squash bees: squash, gourds and pumpkins
It’s also important to understand that male bees
can’t sting (a bee stinger is a modified egg-laying
organ), and females won’t sting unless they are
provoked. “They have no honey to protect, so they are
not built to defend themselves from mammalian
predators,” Cane says. If you find that you like
sharing the company of native bees, or you want to enlist
their help to pollinate your plants, some species will
accept human invitations in the form of nesting boxes.
Wild Bee Lifestyles
Big, fuzzy, black-and-yellow bumblebees and a few types of
small sweat bees are the only native bees that live in
colonies. Most other species live alone and associate with
others only long enough to mate. Mason bees, carpenter bees
and leafcutter bees are called cavity nesters because they
make their nests in the holes of trees, fence posts,
firewood, hollow plant stems or handmade bee nesting
blocks. More numerous ground-dwelling bees dig tubular
burrows no larger than a drinking straw. Bumblebees often
make their home in underground burrows vacated by rodents.
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