* Bees don’t pollinate everything. There are hummingbirds, of course, but also butterflies. moths, wasps, beetles, and flies. My yard is closer to the tropics than most, and two species of nectar-drinking bats visit my yard. In other parts of the world, parrots and various other birds as well as some small mammals are pollination partners for certain plants. Grasses such as our cereal crops are pollinated by wind, not by animals.

* Nonnative European honey bees are efficient pollinators of many fruit and vegetable crops, including stone fruits (cherries, plums, almonds, etc.) apples, citrus, melons, cucumbers, sunflowers, and alfalfa. This makes the escalating challenges they face (diseases, parasites, Colony Collapse Disorder, the spread of Africanized bees) a potentially devastating economic issue.

* Solitary and semi-social native bees are primary pollinators of some crops, including pumpkins and squash, and have a variety of advantages over honey bees. Though they don’t produce collectible honey or wax, it is believed that the value of their pollination services more than makes up for it. Ironically, their existence is threatened by agricultural sprawl that destroys their habitat and poisons them with pesticides.

* I looked up what bees use straw-filled boxes like you’ve made, and they’re native mason bees. To make sure they have an adequate supply of nectar, look around wild areas near your home (even unmowed roadside ditches and railroad right-of-ways) for what they’re feeding on naturally, then either purchase those species at a native plant nursery or gather seeds to plant in your own garden for next fall.

* Keeping your bee garden and boxes separate from your hummingbird garden and feeders is a good start to avoiding problems, but in my experience it’s only when bees are really hungry that they become a nuisance around hummingbird feeders. If you keep your local bees well supplied with a variety of nectar plants that bloom throughout the season, you shouldn’t have problems.

Without bees, our gardens and fields will not prosper well. The wind is their worst enemy.
I found that out after we built a closed fence for privacy. Now I have bees and I want to keep them.

Does anyone know what flowers I can still give them this close to fall?

The plants they were so crazy about are nearly finished blooming. I wasn’t prepared for them, and now I”m not sure what to do.

I gave them a bee box made from a 2 litre milk carton into which I properly placed some Milkshake Straws.

I’ll have to keep my birds in the front yard and my bees in the back yard. That should work.

It’s nice to know why AND to see someone spreading the word…people have looked at me like I was nuts!

But, just watch one of the tiny little birds leave a feeder when a bee comes by, and you’ll see they are not natural friends. Besides, I think the blasted bees are more territorial than the birds are…if anything can be more pugnacious than a hummer! LOL

Nice post…thanks a bunch!!!