It`s World Bee Day today! 🐝 We all know bees and other pollinators are incredibly important, and there are some simple ways in which we can help them out.
1. 💧 Bees need a drink! They like “water with a bouquet,”. In other words, bees will visit standing water sources with rocks, moss, and even old leaves, as these provide minerals, enzymes, and amino acids they need to stay healthy. They find some of those elements in standing water, so don’t change out the water daily because bees like so called ‘dirty water’. To do this, set up a bird bath and make sure it included rocks and moss sticking out of the water for safe landings and to provide the minerals they crave.
2. 🪻 Plant more pollinator friendly plants. Whether you have a large garden or just a window sill, even the smallest flowers help. Great plants are Lavender, Primroses, Echinacea, and Honeysuckle. Check out the pollinator-friendly logos on our plant labels to see which other plants are a good choice.
3. 🏠 Provide nest sites for wild bees. Solitary bees, such as mining bees, flower bees, leafcutter bees and mason bees enjoy using bug hotels as a nesting site. Many wild bees nest in underground burrows which they usually excavate themselves. You can create mounds of substrate made of different soil types. Pile your substrate into a mound and patt it down firmly to compress and compact the soil mixture.
Mounds and bee hotels should always be facing south to catch as much sun and warmth as possible.
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