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Index : Miscellaneous Gardening Topics
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- 25. Bees Are Beneficial Garden Pollinators - Top
Every spring, many homeowners become alarmed when they find bees around their home feeding on the pollen and nectar of blooming plants. They trek off the garden center to buy a spray to kill them, thinking that the bees present a danger. In fact, the vast majority of bees we come across in our gardens and landscapes are harmless.
Most of the bees we encounter outside are solitary bees. In fact of all the bee species, over 90% make a living on their own and are called solitary bees. Female solitary bees prepare their own nest in the ground, in cracks or crevices in walls, or in wood. They gather nectar and pollen as food for their own offspring, and provide little or no further care after their eggs are laid.
Solitary bees come in many different sizes, colors and shapes. Common solitary bees are mason bees, plasterer bees, digger bees, sweat bees and carpenter bees. They vary in color from basic black to bright metallic green, blue or red. Some solitary bees superficially resemble wasps.
Although most live alone, some solitary bees build nests in groups or "aggregations." Solitary bees may nest close together because the site is particularly choice. Other species regularly nest near bees of the same kind, but each female builds its own nest. In a few species, several female bees use a single entrance hole in the ground, but each female builds her own chamber off a common tunnel.
One of the largest and most intimidating of the solitary bees out in the spring garden is the carpenter bee. It’s about the size of a large thumb and dark bluish to nearly black in color. It makes a loud buzzing sound as it visits flowers collecting pollen. Although the female carpenter bee is capable of stinging, she’s normally very docile. It would take a lot of swatting to get her mad enough to take up the attack.
Another solitary bee now commonly ‘out and about’ is the leafcutter. It’s aptly named for it’s propensity to cut neat half-moon circles from the leaves of bougainvillea, roses, redbud and other soft, leafy plants. The leafcutter bee uses the leaf pieces to line her nest in a hollow twig, or any other opening about the diameter of a pencil. As with the carpenter bees and other solitary species, the leafcutter is not aggressive.
Bees are very beneficial. They pollinate our garden and landscape plants, native plant species, and agricultural crops. We need the bees and the job they preform for us. In fact, many gardens don’t have enough bees, resulting in a lack of productivity on fruits and vegetables. And because the majority of plants we choose to grow have showy flowers and are attractive to bees, we can’t avoid having them.
The biggest fear that most people have in regards to bees are the social species that build nest and travel in large swarms. Africanized bees are a common concern, but are not the usual bees found around the home.
Africanized honey bees have received a great deal of notoriety because they defend their hives (or colonies) so diligently. But, according to University of Arizona Entomoligists, while in swarms looking to establish a nest in the spring, Africanized honey bees are no more aggressive than other bees or wasps. It’s when a hive is established that they become aggressive and will attack, even when unprovoked, in protection of the colony. So if honey bee nests or swarms are noticed, don’t try to spray them or otherwise provoke them. Contact a licensed pest control company with the expertise to handle swarms.
All this being said, some people do have quite serious allergic reactions to bee stings. For those individuals it important to lessen their risk of stings. That means avoiding locations in close proximity to garden and landscape plants in full bloom.
On balance, bees offer much more in terms of benefits to us and our environment than they do threats to our safety. So give some thought about the nature and activity of bees before going to the garden center seeking out sprays to kill them.
Written by John Begeman, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the University of Arizona, 520-626-5161. - Updated: April 4, 2004
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