News — Solitary Bees

Each month our Bee Informed Blog highlights current news, science, and research related to solitary bee conservation, food insecurity, and sustainability. 1. How to Attract and Maintain Pollinators in your Garden  Have you ever wondered how you can attract pollinators to your garden? Check out this fantastic resource from the University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources, and learn how to design a lawn and garden that will attract a variety of pollinators. 2. Bee Friendly Farming Bee Friendly Farming (BFF) is a certification program from Pollinator Partnership working with farmers to help protect, preserve and promote pollinator health. Created by Kathy Kellison, in...

Blog post featured on Twinkl in its article "Why Are Bees So Important?" Since you're reading this post, the chances are that you are already familiar with the concept of solitary bee houses and hotels. Solitary bees are important pollinators and a gardener's friend, and providing nesting habitat is a great way to help declining native bee populations - especially in the human environment. We understand getting started can be a bit daunting! Countless gardening and home goods stores sell bee houses (insert shameless plug for Crown Bees' bee houses here), and there is no shortage of blogs and websites with step-by-step instructions on...

1. Biodiversity protects bee communities from disease The University of Michigan - A new analysis of thousands of native and nonnative Michigan bees shows that the most diverse bee communities have the lowest levels of three common viral pathogens.  "This result is exciting because it suggests that promoting diverse bee communities may be a win-win strategy to simultaneously reduce viral infections in managed honeybee colonies while helping to maintain native bee biodiversity," said study lead author Michelle Fearon. Click here to read the full news release or read the abstract in the journal Ecology.   2. New OSU volunteer program tackles statewide native bee...

We often think of urban areas as concrete jungles devoid of nature. Still, appropriately managed urban regions can enhance the conservation of bees and act as  hotspots for the pollination services that bees provide to flowers and urban gardens. Incorporating native flowers and plants in urban areas is a super-easy way to make cities feel alive and vibrant and provide the critical habitat necessary to support a diversity of pollinators. Once there is a sufficient supply of pollen and nectar, add a solitary bee house or hotel and watch the plants benefit from the pollinator services of the bees. In return, the...