Saving the Bees

Those little pollinators seem to be everywhere, constantly buzzing around looking for the best flowers to feast on. We've all seen them working hard or maybe even felt the pain of a sting. Bees are almost always a constant presence in a garden and are one of the key players in ensuring your plants blossom and thrive.

However, more recently entire colonies of bees have gone missing, leaving fields of crops un-pollinated and left to wither. While there has yet to be found a cause for why the bees are disappearing mysteriously, scientists are working to figure out how to save them.

You may wonder why this would concern you, someone with a backyard just for show, but it should. Without bees pollinating your flowers and plants how else will they grow and produce more seedlings? This article offers you tips about how you, personally, can help these little black and yellow striped friends thrive and survive in your backyard.

What flowers and plants attract bees the best?

While a bee will readily pollinate most plants with open flowers, there are a few plant types that just seem to naturally attract them. Here is The Yard Fairy's list of favorite bee attractors that we found to grow beautifully in the San Diego area.

Clematis: A climbing plant with a wide variety of colors and flower types. The photo to the left shows Polish Spirit Clematis, which hosts dark purple, 4-petaled flowers. If you decide to plant these beauties in your garden, remember that they grow fast and could easily cover a wide expanse in a matter of months. The best places to grow Clematis are along a fence or open area. A word of caution, however: the Clematis is a more toxic plant and should not be accessible to pets or smaller children.

Cosmos: A perennial flower that has around 20 different types. A native of warmer climates, this is one of the easier bee friendly plants to grow in the garden. Cosmos grow about 3 to 6 feet tall in dense bushes along the ground. They work well for informal arrangements, or in a pinch when you can't think of a good cover since they grow relatively quickly. The flowers bloom two times a year but die as soon as the weather turns chilly. If you decide to grow these flowers, invest in buying a large amount of seeds so that you can replant them periodically.

California Lilac: The California lilac is both bee-friendly and fragrant, and survives well under the hot sun. If watered and cared for properly, this plant will easily survive for more than 10 years in your garden. The California Lilac is a dense shrub that grows under 9 feet and boasts a long flowering season. The flowers only seem to stop blooming in winter time, ensuring the presence of bees throughout the year.

Garden Thyme: A common herb used in kitchens and grown in herb gardens, thyme is another bee friendly plant. This low growing shrub acts as a perennial once planted, meaning it doesn't survive longer than 2 years. Thyme is best grown in full sun and is fairly resistant to drought, which makes it perfect for Californian soil. At about 10 inches tall when full grown, thyme could be placed as a border around flowers or along a windowsill.

Poppy: A perennial which will return year after year, this California native is drought tolerant and ideal for your backyard. The poppy prefers full sun and grows under 2 feet in a shrub with long stalked flowers. The blooming period is roughly April to August, but can be found earlier growing along hillsides. With over 120 species, there is bound to be a color and type you'll like.

Sunflower: One of the larger bee friendly plants, the sunflower is both gorgeous and edible. An easy flower to maintain, varieties range in size from 10 feet to 6 feet, with variance in the size of the flower head as well. The blooming season for the sunflower is from summer to fall, lasting longer or shorter depending how warm it stays. Since these flowers are quite large they are better suited for a bigger garden. If space is limited, you might try pairing two together as a cheerful focal point for your landscape.

I'd like to do more than just plant flowers, what else can I do to help the bees?

Like any other animal, bees need a place to live. One of the problems with the bees disappearing is that their homes are disappearing as well so they are unable to survive the elements. Providing a shelter for misplaced bees is a good way to ensure that bees will visit your garden and pollinate your plants.

A bee shelter would attract solitary bees, which are those that leave an original hive to create a new colony by themselves. A single female will venture out and produce her own colony once or twice a year, creating several generations. Bees that live in colonies and are not considered solitary are bumble and honey bees.

Try creating a bee box as a shelter for solitary bees. You can choose from either a formal or informal style.

A formal bee box is a standard shape, such as a square or triangle and is simply made of wooden blanks with a singular hole in the middle to allow for entrance and exit. An old wooden chest will suffice, as you can easily cut a hole that is about an inch in diameter around on one of the sides of the chest.

You might try building a more informal bee box using logs and planks. The idea is that there would be a frame surrounding several wooden logs. The frame would serve to create a back for the shelter. Place logs in an empty wooden crate or wooden box top, then simply attach the cut logs and drill several deep holes in each one. The holes allow for bees to lay eggs and to be able to rest within the structure.

Regardless of the bee box type you choose, you should place yours in the shade, either attached to a tree or placed along the ground so as not to over heat.

Useful sites:

Building a Bee Box: A tutorial to create a formal looking bee box, it provides detailed instructions and exact measurements.

Help Save Bees: A blog about saving bees with a wide range of ideas and creative innovations to help save our yellow and black striped friends.

Solitary Bees: A well structured explanation of what solitary bees are, providing a background to what types of visitors you would have gracing your garden.

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