March 29, 2024

BEE kind to your garden

Posted on November 30, 2016 by in Yard 'N Garden

Every gardener knows how important bees and other insect pollinators are to your garden, whether you grow vegetables, ornamentals, or fruit trees.  Unfortunately, in recent years, you may have noticed fewer honeybees than you used to, not to mention all the media reports citing a shortage of honeybees.  I’ve  enjoyed beekeeping off and on since I was a teenager in 4H.  While keeping bees is a great way to help with the pollination process, not everyone is able to keep honeybees. Fortunately, there is still plenty we can all do to help, not only honeybees, but native pollinators as well.

43837760 - bee and honey in bucket isolated on white

First, leave the dandelions alone. Yes, I am talking about those yellow flowers that pop up in everyone’s yard each spring. Some people spend loads of money on herbicides to eliminate dandelions. But these flowers are often the first food source available to bees and other pollinating insects. If you still insist on having that “perfect” green lawn then perhaps you might at least delay your efforts till later in the spring when other pollen and nectar producing plants become available.

Plant a wide variety of different types of plants that are also different colors. Different pollinators prefer different colors of flowers, so it stands to reason that planting a wide variety of colored flowers will attract a variety of different pollinators. Also, plant plants that bloom at different times of year. That way, there will always be readily available source of pollen and nectar available during all periods of the growing season.

You might consider putting out some mason bee boxes. When most people think of insect pollinators the honeybee immediately comes to mind.  And while honeybees are important pollinators, they are not the bees that are native to North America. They were introduced from Europe. Mason bees are native and much better adapted to pollinate our native plants more efficiently. While honeybees are social bees living in colonies of thousands of bees, mason bees are solitary bees.

Honeybees are easy to agitate and will readily sting, requiring the use of protective clothing. Male mason bees, on the other hand, have no stinger, and while the queens do have stingers, they rarely use them. Honeybees must also be kept in specially made hives with removable frames of wax foundation, where they store honey, pollen, and raise their young. In contrast, a mason bee house is very easy to construct using a scraped piece of untreated wood. Simply use a 5/16” drill bit and drill several holes between three to five inches deep without drilling through to the other side. Then place the wood on the south side of a building, fence or tree.

If you must use pesticides, use them as sparingly as possible. Organic pesticides are best. Apply them in the evening when most pollinators are not foraging, and avoid using neonicotinoids. Neonicotinoids, or neonic as they are sometimes called, are a group of chemical pesticides closely related to nicotine. These chemicals attack the nervous system of the insect. Recent research suggests they are at least partially responsible for what has come to be known as honeybee colony collapse disorder. This family of chemicals includes acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, nitenpyram, nithazine, thiacloprid, and thiamethoxam. While these chemicals are sold under several different trade names, you need only to look at the label for the active ingredients. These chemicals can be applied using several different methods including soaking seeds before planting. They are absorbed into the plant tissue making the nectar and pollen, as well as other parts of the plant, toxic to insects — including pollinators. Fortunately, many retailers are not waiting for the government to act and have agreed to quit selling products containing these chemicals or plants that have been treated with them. But it is still wise to check the labels or ask to be sure.

Finally, if you are interested in keeping honeybees, you can find more information by contacting a local beekeeper in your area, your county cooperative extension office, or even join a local beekeeping club. You can also go to www.aces.edu, the website for the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service, or any number of other websites to get the information you need to get started in beekeeping.

Tom Ringenberg, an intern in the 2016 Master Gardener Class, lives in Prattville.  For more information on becoming a master gardener, visit www.capcitymga.org or email capcitymga@gmail.com.

Capital City Master Gardener Association

FREE Lunch & Learn , 12:00-1:00 pm

Dec. 7 — Natural Holiday Decor (Anna Owen, Ginger Gammon)

Jan. 4 — What is a Master Gardener? (Mallory Kelley, Regional Ext. Agent)

Feb. 1 — Making My Garden Organic (Amanda & Lee Borden, Adanced Master Gardeners)

Armory Learning Arts Center, 1018 Madison Ave.

Bring sack lunch. Drinks provided. For information call (334) 270-4133.

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