These flowers bring all the bees to the yard | Sally Scalera
As winter ends and the weather begins to warm, the buzzing of bees will increase.
Instead of focusing on the well-known European honeybees, which live in large hives, this article is about our native solitary bees. The solitary bees are more efficient pollinators, so why not attract as many of them as possible to your yard?
Solitary bees have many advantages over honeybees as pollinators. They fly rapidly, pollinate more plants, typically don’t sting, work on cloudy days, start earlier in the morning and work later in the afternoon than honeybees do. Bumble bees, digger bees and sweat bees make up the bulk of native bees in most parts of the state. To support solitary bees, we must provide nesting habitats, stop using harmful pesticides and provide suitable plants that flower throughout the year.
Native bees can be divided between soil and wood dwellers.
Of those, approximately 70% nest in the ground by digging a tunnel in bare or semi-bare, well-draining soil. Soil-dwelling bees include bumble, digger, sweat and squash bees. Bumble bees are hard workers that work faster than honeybees and can be out in cooler temperatures. Bumble bees pollinate many of our most common vegetables like tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, melons, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries. Squash bees only visit flowers of squash, pumpkin and gourds. They are early risers too and will visit all the squash flowers by midday when the flowers close.
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The remaining 30% of our solitary bees will nest in cavities or plants with pithy stems like our native elderberry. Wood dwellers include leafcutters and carpenter bees.
The leafcutter bees are partial to legume blooms but will pollinate other crops like carrots and sunflowers. They are also very efficient pollinators, so it takes fewer leafcutter bees than honeybees to pollinate flowers. Carpenter bees pollinate several crops, like passion fruit, blackberry, corn, peppers and pole beans. For ideas on building homes for our cavity-nesting bees, gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu and search for "Pollinator Hotels."
Ways to increase native bees in your yard
To draw native bees to your yard, start by choosing a sunny area to plant a cluster of flowering plants. In the cluster’s center, leave the soil bare or only spread a thin layer of mulch so the ground-nesting bees can lay their eggs in the tunnels.
The second step is to reduce the use of harmful pesticides. The extensive use of pesticides, and there are more pesticides used in urban landscapes than on agricultural land, has contributed to the loss of many bees and other pollinators. To protect bees, all insecticides should be applied in the evening when bees are in their nests or hives.
Next, provide the pollinators with food by planting the best flowering plants for them. Plant groups of different plant species altogether, so the bees can easily spot them. Finish off the outside of the cluster or drift of flowers by mulching the outer edge of the plant bed. This will help to suppress the weeds and give the mass planting a neat appearance.
Top native flower to support bees in Brevard County
Our number one genus for supporting bees, Solidago (goldenrods), includes five species of tall-growing, yellow flowering, narrow plants that do great in dry/well-draining soil and full sun.
The next best species for our bees are the Helianthus (sunflowers) with three species to choose from. H. angustifolia, narrow-leaved sunflower, grows 3 to 5 feet with a 4- to 6-foot spread. It blooms in October. Helianthus debilis, East Coast dune sunflower, will produce a clump 2 to 4 feet tall with a similar spread. Plant this in a dry location that won’t receive any irrigation and watch it flourish.
Our eighth keystone species is our native geranium, which rarely grows taller than 18 inches tall and 1 to 2 feet wide. It is a short-lived annual and can be found in the summer or winter.
Another good choice is our single species of Heterotheca, H. subaxillaris, false goldenrod, which can grow to 5 feet, with a narrow spread and yellow blooms in July through November.
Other great members of the daisy family that support our bees include the Chryopsis (goldenaster), with six species from which to choose.
Then there is Coreopsis (tickseed) with two species to choose from.
For the Pityopsis (silkgrass) we just have one species, P. graminifolia which is a small-growing perennial that blooms late summer through early winter.
Another great choice is our native species of Rudbeckia (Coneflower), R. hirta, the black-eyed Susan, which grows 2 to 3 feet tall with a 1- to 2-foot spread.
For our last genus, Symphyotrichum (old field aster) there are three species to choose from. The largest one is S. carolinianum, the climbing aster, which can reach 8 feet if allowed to climb, or if trimmed, will produce a 5-foot tall and wide shrub that produces lavender flowers in late fall and winter.
When planting your new pollinator patch, be sure to inoculate the planting hole with granular mycorrhizae and later use a liquid inoculant that also contains beneficial bacteria. For more information on this topic email the UF/IFAS Extension Brevard County Master Gardeners at brevard-mg1@ifas.ufl.edu.
A word of caution: When shopping for pollinator plants at a garden center, make sure the plants haven’t been treated with an insecticide that could harm the bees you will be attracting. This weekend is a great time to take a walk around the yard to find the perfect sunny spot for a new bee bed.
And, if you are growing your own food, be sure to place it near your vegetable garden or fruit trees.
Sally Scalera is an urban horticulture agent and master gardener coordinator for the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences. Email her at sasc@ufl.edu.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Plant these flowers to attract native bees to your Brevard yard
