Landscaping and Native Bees

I hear many folks around Loudoun County discuss ideas to start a honey bee colony to either use the honey or help local pollinators.  This causes me to bring up the differences and benefits to helping native bees.  Honeybees are not native to North America, rather they were brought to this continent from Europe in the early 1600s.  Interestingly, there is some indication that there was an extinct honey bee genius in N. America due to a recent fossil find in Central Nevada, however, most likely the many varieties of honey bees currently in use are from Europe.  For the purpose of this essay 'native bee' is not meant to discuss honey bees.  

The more populous native bees in Loudoun are leafcutter bees and mason bees.  These bees are more docile than honey bees as they are not territorial.  Their main mission is to pollinate and breed, not produce honey in a hive.  

I emplaced a bee house last March and had mason and leafcutter bees populating the house within four weeks.  The key to supporting the native bee population is to keep an organic garden and landscape free of pesticides and herbicides.  To attract and help the native bees, it is best to plant pollinator friendly plants, flowers, and trees, particularly ones that bloom from early spring right through the fall.  

The bee house I emplaced is a small wooden structure.  I emplaced it facing east since bees appreciate a little early morning sun to start rustling and get their work started.  For mason and leafcutter bees, the house consists of small, pencil-sized holes that allow the queen bee to lay eggs, cover the eggs with pollen, and then secure the front of the egg tunnel with mud.  If you do not have mud available to bees, which is usually plentiful with all the clay soil in Loudoun, be sure to have a water source available.  

Some bee-friendly homeowners go so far as to place the bee houses or cocoons in a warm structure over winter.  I do not do this as it is contrary to my philosophy.  I prefer to build and foster a green infrastructure, the rest is up to wildlife to do their thing.  

Some ideas for bee-friendly plants

This is definitely not an all-inclusive or even a semi-inclusive list, just some ideas for native plants based on observations of native bees pollinating in Loudoun.

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea).  They bloom until October, and are treasured by bees and butterflies.

Black-eyed susans (Rudbeckia hirta).  Durable, deer resistant, often with a long bloom time given the right amount of sunlight.

Tickseed (coreopsis).  Durable plant that I use as complimentary to black-eyed susans.

Asters.  Placed in containers, these were a big hit with bumblebees on our back deck. 

Bee balm (monarda).  Planted in containers, these tend to have a short bloom time if you do not prune.