The Secret Pollinators Powering Your Garden

Honeybees get the attention, but native pollinators power our gardens, crops and coastal ecosystems.

Story by Michele Roldán-Shaw

You may have heard the rallying cry “Save the bees.” Perhaps you’re aware that the crisis bees face has serious implications for the planet, since without pollination our crops would fail, and entire food chains would collapse. Honeybees remain vital agricultural pollinators, but scientists increasingly emphasize that protecting native bees is just as important for ecosystem health. And the cute, fuzzy honeybees we love to champion — in part because their sweet golden nectar is an ancestral food we’re wired to crave — are only part of the pollinator story.

The fate of many American plants — including food crops like squash, pumpkins, blueberries, eggplants, tomatoes, peppers and sunflowers — rests with our native bees. Species like squash bees, blueberry bees, miner bees and carpenter bees have coevolved with local plants over millennia to become remarkably effective pollinators. Some grow long tongues to reach deep into tubular flowers. Others vibrate their bodies to shake pollen loose, a trick honeybees cannot do. (The sound made by “buzz pollination” is actually how bumblebees got their name.) Some forage early to catch freshly opened blossoms, while others go out late to gather from night blooming plants. Many native bees are “messy,” meaning they get dusted all over with dry pollen grains that easily fall off into other flowers. For some plants, this makes native bees more efficient pollinators than honeybees, which mix pollen with nectar to make a paste they carry in tidy packages on their legs.

Not your typical bee

Most native bees live solitary lives, nesting in plant matter or in the ground rather than in hives or colonies. They don’t make honey, but that doesn’t mean they’re not interesting. Metallic green sweat bees lick salt off humans. A certain type of mason bee commandeers empty snail shells for its home. Leafcutter bees snip perfect circles out of leaves and use them to make a sort of sleeping bag for their brood. The cellophane, or polyester, bee secretes a special waterproof substance used to line its nest, which scientists are studying as a biodegradable alternative to plastic. The 4,000 bee species native to North America have only begun to be studied. What other fantastic secrets lie waiting to be discovered?

Cellophane bees are solitary, ground-nesting native pollinators that dig burrows in sunny, sandy soil, often leaving small chimney-like mounds at the entrance. Gentle and active in late winter and early spring, they are among the season’s first bees, helping pollinate blueberries, fruit trees and other early blooms.

Leafcutter bees are solitary native pollinators known for cutting neat, circular pieces from leaves. Despite the cosmetic leaf damage, they are valuable pollinators of flowers, vegetables and native plants.

A growing concern

Long before European honeybees were brought to America and managed as livestock, native bees ensured that humans could forage or grow food here in abundance. (And that’s to say nothing of all the other wildlife species that depend on bees too.) Managed honeybee colonies remain widespread globally, yet many native bee species are declining. Scientists point to habitat loss, pesticide exposure and reduced floral diversity as major causes. Some researchers also caution that in certain environments, very high densities of managed honeybees may compete with native pollinators for limited floral resources, and large-scale migratory beekeeping operations can contribute to the spread of disease among bee populations.

All this has an upside, though. Concern for honeybees has helped raise awareness about pollinators in general. Many of the threats affecting honeybees — such as habitat destruction and toxic pesticides — also harm native species. So the same measures used to support honeybees will help native bees too. By taking an interest in native species — both plants and pollinators — you can help ensure a healthy, diverse ecosystem for generations to come.

What you can do to help native bee species

• Plant native wildflowers such as butterfly milkweed, blazing star, purple coneflower, goldenrod, aster and bee balm.
• Rewild your yard. Instead of keeping it pristinely manicured, leave a few leaves and sticks where they fall, let the grass grow a little taller, and allow weeds to go to seed now and then. Keep downed wood and stumps in place to provide habitat for cavity-nesting bees, and leave patches of bare, dry ground to offer sites for ground nesters.
• Paint or stain wooden structures to prevent carpenter bees from nesting there. If you already have a nest, before exterminating, try relocating the bees first by disrupting their home with strong scent repellents, noise from wind chimes or vibrations from a box fan.
• Reduce or eliminate pesticide use. Garden organically, trim or remove pest-infested plants by hand, and introduce beneficial insects like ladybugs. If you absolutely must use a pesticide, learn best practices to minimize harm to pollinators (such as using liquid applications rather than dust, which is especially lethal to bees because it mimics pollen).
• Get kids involved by teaching them about native bees and helping them plant pollinator gardens. That way, the next generation grows up already invested in protecting pollinators and the planet.