Native Beekeeping: Honey Bees and Bumble Bees

I am often asked if bees are endangered. Usually folks are referring to honeybees although there are over 200 bee species in New York City alone and 20,000 species worldwide. European Honeybees, Apis mellifera, are not an endangered species because most honeybee hives are managed worldwide by beekeepers although every year there is a significant die off that has multiple causes. Some people have turned to beekeeping as their contribution to protecting the environment.

However there are wild or feral honeybee hives most often found in tree cavities or unfortunately in some cases in the walls of a house. These naturalized honeybees can and will survive without the help of a beekeeper. As local Staten Island Beekeeper Nick Rozak told me when we discussed how many people want to keep honeybees, “If you want to have honeybees to pollinate your flowers, don’t bother. There are many native bee species who will do that for you.”

Both honeybees and other bee species depend on plants and their flowers for habitat and food. There are certain species of bees that rely on specific plants that provide materials for their nests and pollen and nectar to feed their young. If there is any danger to this fragile relationship it is the lack of sufficient native plants flowering throughout the growing season to ensure the bees health and survival. This is where intervention by humans is more important than having honeybees.

Members of the Native Plant Society of Staten Island and other gardeners who create pollinator gardens are aware of the importance of native plants. We are all doing our best to counteract the loss of habitat and the harming effects of climate chaos.

There are several things to remember as we create our native plant gardens. Planting a variety of species that flower from spring to fall will ensure that there is always forage for the bees.

Researchers at the Connecticut Agricultural Research Station found that having 8 or more species of native plants in your garden greatly increases the number and diversity of native bee species. Make the bees work easier by planting masses (3 or more) of the same species of plants in a cluster rather than a single plant of a species.

Let some area of your garden grow wild and leave a section where you don’t rake the leaves. Ground nesting bees and other insects often build their nests in undisturbed ground or leaf litter. One recognizable native bee species are the Bumble bees, Bombus spp. who build their nests in the ground or under leaf litter. Bumble bees are generalists that will pollinate over 50 species of native plants. They will pollinate Solomon’s Seal, Polygonatum spp. and Spiderwort, Tradescantia spp. by sonication where they vibrate their bodies while visiting the flowers and shake loose pollen that is more difficult to collect. Honeybees do not sonicate.

Dead or decaying branches or tree trunks are perfect nesting areas for bees that nest in holes or cavities of branches and trees like metallic sweat bees Augochlora spp. These bees are very noticeable by the shiny green armor covering their bodies. Metallic sweat bees forage on Beardtongue, Penstemon spp., Milkweed, Asclepius spp., Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia spp., and Asters, Symphotrichum spp.

I have made bee nesting boxes using cut stems from pithy or hollow stem plants. Leafcutter bees, Megachile spp. use these stems for their nests. As their name implies, leaf cutter bees feed on plant leaves which they use to line and cap their nests. Some gardeners are not happy about this particular habit of the leaf cutter bees but if some of your plants are not being eaten by insects you are probably doing something wrong. Native plants that Leafcutter bees forage on include Golden Alexanders, Zizia aurea, Anise Hyssop, Agastasche foeniculum and Goldenrod, Solidago spp.

An excellent resource for learning about this symbiosis between native plants and bees is Bees: An Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide by Heather Holm. The book includes many charts and lists of both bees and native plants as well as a guide for identifying bees. A worthy addition to your gardening library.

As we deal with the impacts of climate chaos there are a number of steps we can take to help native plants, native bees and honeybees survive. Keep adding species to your native plant garden. In addition to the perennials listed above include small trees like Serviceberry, Amelanchier spp., and Redbud, Cercis canadensis, or shrubs like Chokecherry, Prunus virginiana and Pussy Willow, Salix discolor.

Leave leaf litter, tree stumps and decaying branches as habitat for native bees. Make or purchase bee hotels to give the bees additional nesting locations. Make sure there is a source of water nearby as bees also require water especially on hot days.

This piece is written as a to do list for the most part but there is a very important don’t do that I have to mention. Don’t use herbicides or pesticides. Most of these are forever chemicals and often have additional effects beyond killing a particular weed or insect. As I mentioned before there will be some damage to plants from leaf chewing or sap sucking insects. If you have a well functioning ecosystem in your garden, the predators of those bad bugs will show up to eat the insects that are eating your plants. Sometimes that will be birds so you are also providing nourishment to attract birds.

Planting a garden densely will not leave any room for weeds to grow so you won’t have to use herbicides. You may have to do some weeding when the native plants are young but eventually they will not leave space for weeds to grow. When you are weeding make sure you are not pulling out a native seedling that will flower later in the season. Aster plants look like weeds for most of the summer but in the fall they are one of the only sources of nectar and pollen for the bees.

If you should ever have the urge to be a beekeeper of honeybees, maybe first try providing habitat for native bees by planting native plants. Besides being a native plant gardener you will also be attracting possibly dozens of native bee species and you can still call yourself a native beekeeper.