Help Honey Bees and Native Bees
Hives and Homes
Honey bees are social insects that colonize and live together inside hives. Keeping your hive supports healthy honey bee populations and ensures that the plants and crops in your surrounding area are being pollinated. Plus, it’s an excellent outdoor hobby! Backyard and rooftop beekeepers enjoy a more productive garden and the added benefit of harvesting honey in the fall.
Native bees don’t produce honey; most species are solitary, meaning they nest and forage for food. Like honey bees, though, these pollinators need a place to call home! Native bee houses are wooden structures that mimic habitat for cavity-nesters— bees that lay their eggs in the holes of dead wood or other tunnel-like spaces found in nature. You can build these houses with just cardboard and a few hardware tools! Other native species like to nest in plant material, so you can provide a home simply by arranging piles of dead leaves and twigs in your yard.
Plant for Pollinators
Pollinator-friendly gardens are essential for sustaining healthy honey bee and native bee populations. Bees rely on the nectar and pollen from nearby flowers for survival; when flowers are scarce, bees can starve. Planting a pollinator garden ensures bees have a food source year-round— just be sure your plants are pesticide-free! As a bonus, put out a shallow water dish with a few rocks for the bees to drink; they’re thirsty, too!
Unless you have particular bee allergies, you should not fear the pollinators attracted to your property. The "bees" that give most people trouble— yellow jackets, wasps, and hornets— aren't actual bees, just relatives belonging to the same taxonomic group called Hymenoptera. Unlike honey bees and native bees, these species are carnivores and won't be attracted to your plants.
Want to learn which plants are pollinator-friendly in your area or how to get organic seeds for your garden? Check out our Pollinator Garden resource page! Don’t have space at home for a garden but still want to help bees? Read about how to grow natural, compact, dispersible pollinator plants with just a few materials on our seed ball kit page.
Go Pesticide Free and Buy Organic
Pesticides are harmful to humans and even more harmful to bees. Lawns, gardens, and other green spaces requiring pest control are often treated with harsh chemicals that poison bees when pollinating the area. Research shows that neonicotinoid pesticides linger in the nectar and pollen of flowers, where bees are most likely to come into contact with them. Exposure to these chemicals weakens honey bee and native bee immunity, making them more susceptible to disease and pest infestation. Pesticides can also be very damaging to flowers in full bloom.
Read our Natural Pest Control guide for resources on bee-friendly means of pest control.
Pesticides have become an integral part of our food systems, but many small-scale farmers are now working to integrate organic and permaculture practices into their operations. This means they cultivate various crops (instead of just one mono-crop) without harmful pesticides, which is great news for bees. Buying local and organic produce is a great way to support the bees and your community. Next time you’re at the grocery store, look for labels indicating organically grown products or visit your local farmer's market, where you’ll find many bee-friendly options.
Support Beekeepers
Buying local raw honey helps support beekeepers and their honey bees, promoting your health and the health of your local environment. Unlike pasteurized honey, raw honey comes straight from the hive and is unheated, unpasteurized, and undiluted. As a result, it retains the antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals often lost in conventional honey products without losing any of its delicious flavor. As a bonus, raw honey is a well-known healing remedy for minor burns and abrasions, and it can provide soothing relief for colds and flu. Investing in local raw honey helps keep the bees and your body healthy!
Swarm? No Problem
Swarming is a natural process that occurs when honey bee and native bee colonies outgrow their hive. If you see a swarm, the best thing to do is contact a beekeeper association. Many bee-conscious groups will collect swarms to keep or relocate to a new home. Honey bee swarms present very little danger but may become aggressive if sprayed with water or otherwise disturbed. Just keep your distance and wait for help to arrive.
BEE Part of the Solution and Get Your Science On!
Ecologists and researchers interested in bees seek help with extensive community science projects. You can provide vital information to further their research and add to our knowledge of how to support struggling honey bee and native bee populations. Check them out and get involved!
Planet Bee's Community Science Programs - Learn how to create the perfect habitat for native bees right in your own backyard. Building a DIY native bee nest home is simple and has a huge impact on our fuzzy friends. These industrious pollinators typically inhabit tunnels in the ground or hollow stems of plants. Here, we guide you through constructing three types of native bee nests and offer valuable tips for monitoring and maintaining these nests year-round.
The Great Sunflower Project -This community science project aims to better understand pollinators and their conservation by counting bees as they pollinate flowers and inputting data.
NASA Honeybee Net Study- This study investigates the relationship between plant and animal life cycles by measuring the weight of honeybee hives throughout the year.
Finally, one of the most important ways you can help bees is to talk about them! Passion is contagious, and education leads to activism, so become an advocate by learning more and teaching your friends about bees. Don’t forget to spice up the conversation with some nifty bee puns— we guarantee you’ll be hivin’ a good time!
