01/26/2021
The National Resource Conservation Service put together a fantastic article on how farmers can help pollinators.
A few highlights of the article are:
Know the habitat on your farm.
Using the illustration as a guide, look for areas on and around your land that can support native bees. Most native bees are solitary or live in small colonies. Bumble, digger, and sweat bees make up the bulk of pollen bees in most parts of the country.
Protect flowering plants and nest sites.
--Once you know where bees are living and foraging, do what you can to protect these resources from disturbance and pesticides.
Enhance habitat with flowering plants and additional nest sites.
-Most bees love sun and prefer to nest in dry places. Nests are created underground, in twigs and debris, and in dead trees or branches. You can add flowers, leave some ground untilled, and provide bee blocks (tunnels drilled into wood) to increase the number of native bees on your farm.
Native bees are valuable crop pollinators. The over 3,500 species of native bees (often called pollen bees) help increase crop yields and may serve as important insurance when cultivated European honey bees are hard to come by.
