![\"honeybee\"](\"http:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/images\/Honeybeemilkthistle02.jpg\")
Help nurture pollinators by creating a wildlife corridor\u2014even<\/span><\/p>\nsmall urban gardens can become nature preserves!<\/p>\n
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Many gardeners are intrigued by the idea of creating a<\/p>\n
garden that will attract and nourish birds and bees and<\/p>\n
butterflies, but few realize that such a garden can make a<\/p>\n
genuine contribution to the well-being of wild creatures. Bees in<\/p>\n
particular are suffering and there’s quite a lot we can do about<\/p>\n
it. Honeybees have been hammered by a triple blow in recent<\/p>\n
years. Millions have died because of tracheal mites that don\u2019t<\/p>\n
bother solitary bees at all. Further millions have been killed by<\/p>\n
pesticides and certain herbicides intended for other targets.<\/p>\n
Honeybees don\u2019t really belong in the New World, let alone the<\/p>\n
Pacific Northwest. Originally, a few hives were brought to New<\/p>\n
England by settlers from Europe. Soon, they had adapted to the<\/p>\n
new land and were so naturalized that many people forgot their<\/p>\n
non-native status. In time, honeybees made their way west with<\/p>\n
the wagon trains.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Once here, the social honeybees lost no time in taking<\/p>\n
over the territory. Nobody knows how many native bees (all of<\/p>\n
which are solitary, rather than collective hive-building bees)<\/p>\n
lost out to the more efficient honeybees. Over the past decade,<\/p>\n
disease has evened the score, but at a terrible price for both<\/p>\n
team players and loner bees. If you have noticed poor fruit set or<\/p>\n
low vegetable yields in recent summers, lack of pollination may<\/p>\n
well be the underlying cause. The best way to avoid such<\/p>\n
problems is to encourage native bees and other pollinators to<\/p>\n
make their homes in our gardens. To learn a lot more about the<\/p>\n
habits and needs of our gentle, nonaggressive native bees, seek<\/p>\n
out a pair of handbooks by Bellingham, Washington author,<\/p>\n
Brian Griffin. The Humble Bumble Bee ($9.95) comes only as a<\/p>\n
handbook, but The Orchard Mason Bee book ($9.95) also<\/p>\n
comes in audio tape ($10) and video ($15) versions. All are<\/p>\n
published by Knox Cellars Press in Bellingham.<\/p>\n
Brian began learning about native bees through<\/p>\n
observation. For instance, he discovered that our tiny native<\/p>\n
solitary wasps eat aphids. Brian first found these tiny,<\/p>\n
nonaggressive wasps when experimenting with making nesting<\/p>\n
boxes with holes of varying sizes. One day, he noticed that a<\/p>\n
small-holed box was filling up fast. He opened one of the the<\/p>\n
plugs and discovered a single egg and about 75 aphids, alive but<\/p>\n
stunned by a paralytic enzyme, stuffed into place with pine<\/p>\n
pitch. Over time, he realized that when the wasp larvae hatch,<\/p>\n
they eat their way out and emerge as mature wasps that will feed<\/p>\n
on pesky garden aphids.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Many nurseries now carry both native bee and aphid-eating<\/p>\n
wasp houses and kits. Every gardener can do a little bit toward making<\/p>\n
bees more welcome and protected. Not using poisons is a huge<\/p>\n
contribution. Providing housing is another. Nurseries sell Mason bee<\/p>\n
kits, which include little apartment houses for solitary bees. These are<\/p>\n
chunks or blocks of wood with a zillion holes drilled into them. Some<\/p>\n
models come with paper straw sleeves, so you can change the sheets<\/p>\n
after each season\u2019s guests leave. Most are simple rectangles with utterly<\/p>\n
regular grids of holes. More artistic models are irregularly shapes and<\/p>\n
drilled, making them look more at home in naturalistic gardens. The<\/p>\n
bees don\u2019t really have a preference, and will use either kind of hotel<\/p>\n
indiscriminately. ln return for your hospitality, they will pollinate your<\/p>\n
garden. Most bees, honey or solitary, have a fairly limited range. That<\/p>\n
means if your yard is small and your neighbor keeps bees, you will<\/p>\n
probably reap the benefits as well. If you have a large garden that isn\u2019t<\/p>\n
very close to others, you may want to invest in a beekeeping kit.<\/p>\n
Most beekeepers suggest beginning with Mason or solitary<\/p>\n
bees because their care is very simple. Honeybee care is a lot more<\/p>\n
complex, and uninformed beekeepers can add to disease problems<\/p>\n
rather than resolving them. If you love the idea of keeping bees, want<\/p>\n
to make your own honey mix, or find your fruit and vegetable<\/p>\n
production is not what it should be, contact your local branch of the<\/p>\n
Beekeepers Association. These kindly and informative folks will give<\/p>\n
you all the buzz on how to get started with honey and other kinds of<\/p>\n
bees.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
If you buy them during the fall, Brian Griffin suggests storing<\/p>\n
native bees in the refrigerator for the winter. Many refrigerators are<\/p>\n
too dry for slumbering bees, so he advises putting the pollinator packs<\/p>\n
into a paper bag, adding a barely moist paper towel. Check the towel<\/p>\n
every month or so and rewet as needed through the winter. If you<\/p>\n
already have bee houses in place, be sure they are in a cool, dry place<\/p>\n
where rain won\u2019t swell the wooden blocks. Brian recommends bringing;<\/p>\n
bee houses into an unheated garage or hanging them undeneath the<\/p>\n
eaves. Although they prefer a steady winter temperature of 38 degrees<\/p>\n
Fahrenheit, mason bees can take quite a bit of frost. That\u2019s because<\/p>\n
their blood contains natural glycol, the same antifreeze we put in our<\/p>\n
cars.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
By February, when the first flowers bloom, your bee houses<\/p>\n
can go back outside. Set mason bee houses on a warm, south-facing<\/p>\n
wall, where they’ll get all the heat going. Bumble bee nests (which<\/p>\n
look very different) need to be put on the cooler North side of the<\/p>\n
house, because the sun\u2019s heat can kill infant bumbles. In order to be<\/p>\n
sure your early risers have plenty to eat, consider planting their spring<\/p>\n
wake-up snacks now. ln my garden, the first bees are always found on<\/p>\n
snow crocus, the early blooming species like golden bunch (Crocus<\/p>\n
ancyrensis) that appear in February and March.<\/p>\n
All the Oregon grapes are excellent bee plants, especially<\/p>\n
forms of early flowering Mahonia aquifolium. In Brian Griffin\u2019s garden,<\/p>\n
the first mason bees gorge themselves on a big old lily of the valley<\/p>\n
shrub, Pieris japonica. There are many forms of this attractive<\/p>\n
evergreen, all decked with clustered white, fragrant flowers from late<\/p>\n
winter through spring. Blueberries, huckleberries, loganberries, and<\/p>\n
salal are equally popular with early bees, whose gentle hum enlivens<\/p>\n
the garden as much as any early birds\u2019 chirps. Plant your first flowers<\/p>\n
on the sunny south side of the house, where the bees will find them<\/p>\n
close at hand when they awaken. To ensure yourself (or your favorite<\/p>\n
gardener) of a bountiful garden next year, start planning and planting<\/p>\n
now. Next spring, when the garden is abuzz with busy pollinators,<\/p>\n
you\u2019ll be glad you made room for our mild mannered, productive<\/p>\n
native bees.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pollination Nation<\/p>\n
It’s curious to think that we humans may owe our<\/p>\n
culture, if not our very existence, to bees. Nearly two thirds of<\/p>\n
the world’s flowers are pollinated by bees and other insects (like<\/p>\n
moths, mosquitoes, and wasps). lf Dependent species include<\/p>\n
the majority of fruits, flowers, vegetables, grains, and herbs that<\/p>\n
have sustained us for millennia. Some plants can be pollinated<\/p>\n
by wind or gravity or a passing animal. Others are serviced by<\/p>\n
birds or bats. Most, however, are propagated by bees. If ripe<\/p>\n
flowers don\u2019t get pollinated, no fruit or food crop can form.<\/p>\n
Without plentiful food crops, formal agriculture is difficult.<\/p>\n
Without the abundance created by agricultural advances,<\/p>\n
humans might still be living in hunter-gatherer clans.<\/p>\n
Over thousand of years, humans developed a respectful,<\/p>\n
even affectionate working relationship with bees. Bee keeping<\/p>\n
has been commemorated by poets and garden writers as long as<\/p>\n
humans have kept written records. Unfortunately, that<\/p>\n
relationship has become increasingly strained: Even as<\/p>\n
exploding world populations demand ever greater yields from<\/p>\n
our crops, encroaching development, chemical farming, and<\/p>\n
pollution are destroying the natural habitat of bees and other<\/p>\n
pollinators.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What can ordinary gardeners do about it? It’s easy to<\/p>\n
feel that such huge problems can only be solved by huge repairs,<\/p>\n
and in many respects, that is sadly so. Even if we devote our<\/p>\n
whole backyard to creating habitat for bees, birds, and other<\/p>\n
native pollinators, one small patch can’t support enough wild<\/p>\n
life to really matter. But there is great strength in numbers. If<\/p>\n
many of us devote even part of the land in our trust to their<\/p>\n
support, we can weave a living green web that stretches from<\/p>\n
coast to coast.<\/p>\n
Nearly a third of all North Americans have some kind<\/p>\n
of garden. If we each set aside a portion of our yards for plants<\/p>\n
that provide habitat and food for our native pollinators, that<\/p>\n
adds up to hundreds of thousands of acres. lf each of us makes<\/p>\n
the choice not to use pesticides and herbicides, we can<\/p>\n
enormously reduce the toxic runoff that pollutes our waterways<\/p>\n
and soils. Then, if each of us makes a point of taking the idea a<\/p>\n
bit beyond our own backyards, we can stretch our influence<\/p>\n
further still.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For instance, in my town, a family began planting<\/p>\n
daffodils in public places, offering them free to any<\/p>\n
neighborhood that would help plant. Now, about 8,000 new<\/p>\n
bulbs go in each year and the roads are bright with blossom in<\/p>\n
spring. Another family decided to plant lilacs in public areas,<\/p>\n
adding a hundred each year. A local conservationist joined in,<\/p>\n
offering native red currant bushes (Ribes sanguineum) to<\/p>\n
anybody who would plant them in appropriate sites. In just a<\/p>\n
few years, the idea of creating public plantings has taken firm<\/p>\n
hold. Volunteer groups make bee, bird, and butterfly gardens at<\/p>\n
local schools and teach kids to observe the creatures who come<\/p>\n
to feed. A larger pollinator garden has been installed at the<\/p>\n
local library, and others will be made at the city hall, the<\/p>\n
performing arts center, and even along the town’s roads.<\/p>\n
Gardeners anywhere can make a program like this for<\/p>\n
their own town. The best way to begin is with small projects<\/p>\n
that are inexpensive and simple to maintain. Schools are a good<\/p>\n
place to start, because teachers are always excited about projects<\/p>\n
that will actively involve kids and help them to connect with<\/p>\n
the natural world. A pollinator garden can be used as an<\/p>\n
outdoor classroom for science and ecology classes. Usually, it’s<\/p>\n
easy to get help and seed money from parent-teacher groups as<\/p>\n
well to involve them in the planning and planting of a bee,<\/p>\n
bird, and butterfly garden. Such outreach has a long arm, since<\/p>\n
once people begin paying attention to the small creatures<\/p>\n
around us, they are often willing to stop using pesticides.<\/p>\n
If these public pollinator gardens teach people only one<\/p>\n
thing, this should be it: Think before you spray. For so many<\/p>\n
years, advertisers (and experts who ought to have known better)<\/p>\n
urged us to rush out and buy poison spray the moment some<\/p>\n
poor bug annoyed us. If we were inconvenienced by wasps, well,<\/p>\n
zap them all dead. If ants got in your peonies, wipe them out<\/p>\n
before they get somewhere worse.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Few people actually tried to get rid of honeybees, yet<\/p>\n
bees and many other small pollinators are just as susceptible to<\/p>\n
all-purpose bug sprays as their less desirable relatives. What\u2019s<\/p>\n
more, many commonly used pesticides will kill bees a long way<\/p>\n
from your yard. Spray drift can carry toxins clear around the<\/p>\n
block. Sprays that run into an active sprinkler can be carried<\/p>\n
into the sewer. Downstream, those powerful toxins can kill fish<\/p>\n
that certainly never did anything to anybody\u2019s lawn.<\/p>\n
lt\u2019s comforting to assume that wind and water will<\/p>\n
dilute whatever form of poison we use before it harms anything<\/p>\n
unintentionally. However, we are not alone. Millions of home<\/p>\n
gardeners are out there with us. When we find cause to spray,<\/p>\n
they do too. The result is deadly. ln Washington State, there is<\/p>\n
no longer a single stream that does not show traces of diazinone,<\/p>\n
a common toxin found in lawn weed-and-feed products.<\/p>\n
Diazinone is not only toxic to trout and salmon, but once in the<\/p>\n
water supply, it also kills honeybees, which are vanishing faster<\/p>\n
than beekeepers can replace them. Weakened by frequent<\/p>\n
exposure to pesticides, they succumb to diseases that healthy<\/p>\n
bees can usually resist.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We have no native honeybees here. Our native bees<\/p>\n
are mainly solitary bees, like Mason bees, that nest alone rather<\/p>\n
than in hives. Solitary bees do a fine job of pollinating but need<\/p>\n
our active encouragement and a clean environment in order to<\/p>\n
thrive in great numbers. Like the imported European honey<\/p>\n
bees, our natives are decimated by even light contact with<\/p>\n
pesticides. Even certain herbicides (weed killers) can kill both<\/p>\n
native bees and European honeybees. Some ecological watch<\/p>\n
groups estimate that the native bee population is only about 5%<\/p>\n
of what it was two decades ago.<\/p>\n
That means that in the past twenty years, we have<\/p>\n
killed about 95% of our native pollinator bees. We didn\u2019t mean<\/p>\n
to, but that doesn\u2019t alter the fact that they are gone. I t won\u2019t be<\/p>\n
as easy to undo the harm as it was to cause it. Luckily, if we<\/p>\n
want to make amends, we can. First, we can stop using toxic<\/p>\n
pesticides and herbicides. Next, we can seek organic or<\/p>\n
ecologically benign solutions to disease and troubling insect<\/p>\n
relationships. lf you aren\u2019t sure what these might be or where to<\/p>\n
find them, ask your local nursery. If they don\u2019t know, find<\/p>\n
another nursery that does. ln the meantime, call your local<\/p>\n
Master Gardener Hotline (this is a terrific program supported by<\/p>\n
Agricultural Extension Service offices in every county.) In<\/p>\n
other words, let\u2019s try a little counseling before we kill anything.<\/p>\n
@1999 Ann Lovejoy for Log House Plants<\/p>\n
Helpful resources:<\/p>\n
Oregon State Beekeepers Association<\/a><\/p>\n