Did you know that bees pollinate almost around 1/3rd of food crops in the world? Now that you know a surprising fact about the bees, be ready for a shocking one too. Bees are dying. They are perishing due to various man-made mistakes such as global warming, climate change, use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and so on. If the extinction of bees means extinction of humankind, we must preserve the buzzy insect. One way to do so is to create a buzz-worthy garden to attract the bees. Here are 6 tips to make your yard a bees haven.
Add flowering plants to your garden:
Bees draw nectar and pollens from beautiful blooms from various trees, plants, bushes, herbs, and vegetables. The flowering weeds in your lawns can become an unprofitable source for the bees. The bees returning from their winter hibernation will first want to fill their tiny stomachs with food. Dandelions are the first choice for these bees. You can turn your yard into a bees haven by seeding a part of it with clovers and dandelions every spring.
Use native flowers to attract more bees to your buzz-worthy garden:
Native plants adapt the best to your region’s climate and soil. Hybridized plants, as opposed to the native plants, provide minimum pollen and nectar to the bees. One of the tips to make your yard a bees haven is to plant native flowers in your garden to attract more and more bees. If you are unsure about which plants, shrubs, or bushes work best for your region’s climate and soil, ask your local nursery for suggestions or check accurate online sources for answers.
Plan your plants according to the bees’ dietary conveniences:
If you want to turn your yard into a bees haven, you must ensure that your buzz-worthy garden is filled with plants and flowers that the bees can suck and munch on. Bees require food from the earliest days of spring to the last days of the fall. Plan your blooms accordingly throughout the year. Bees love flowers and plants such as honeysuckle, asters, oregano, lavender, mint, coneflowers, goldenrod, calendula, hostas and many more. Planting these flowers and plants in your yard will truly turn it into a buzz-worthy garden for the bees.
One of the tips to make your yard a bees haven is to create nests and hibernation spots:
Go ahead and create hibernation spots for bees in your garden. Turn your yard into a bees haven by leaving dead trees as they are where the bees are more likely to reside. Build woodpiles for the bees so that they can hide inside them and hibernate smoothly. A compost pile works best as they attract a huge amount of bees. Weedy spaces and sandy patches at the edge of your garden can also function as an inviting host for the bees. Leave aside a certain untidy hibernation spot for bees in your yard and see how quickly it turns into a buzz-worthy garden.
A clean water source is necessary to turn your yard into a bees haven:
Bees only like untidy spots. They are not a huge fan of untidy, unclean water. Ensure that you have a space in your garden to store shallow water on a landing platform. Bees drown in deep ponds. So avoid those in your lawn, yard, or garden. Also, you will not like your bee-breeding garden to turn into a mosquito breeding site. So apart from making space for just the right amount of water for bees, ensure that you change that water regularly. Bees thrive and survive when they drink clean water.
Don’t resist from going wild:
Most of us love a clinically clean garden in front of our homes. While such gardens may appeal to the eyes of humans, bees don’t particularly like to be frequent visitors of such spaces. To create a buzz-worthy garden, create a wild space in your garden. Let some stinging nettles and some wildflowers grow at the back of your garden without any human interference. By doing this, you can turn your yard into a bees haven along with a ladybird haven, butterfly haven, and a moth haven!
Last words:
We need bees more than the bees need us. Hence, it is our responsibility and duty to bring back the disappearing buzz of the green world. By turning your garden bee-friendly, you can contribute a little more to this initiative. Bees are small insects with a big impact. It is time that we realize that and give them their natural habitat back – in any way possible.