9 Reasons to Give up Beekeeping and Start a Pollinator Garden
Keeping a beehive may seem beneficial for the environment, but is it? Local, native bee populations are in decline, while non-native honeybees are thriving. Starting a pollinator garden may be a better way to help local bees.
Contents
Beekeeping is a great way to help honeybees that pollinate crops, but starting a pollinator garden can be equally or more beneficial. Studies estimate that over $29 billion of crops would be lost without bees! They’re extremely important for our worldwide food supply. Farmers often keep them or employ beekeepers to boost pollination rates.
In cities, suburban areas, and rural outskirts, beekeeping provides a natural honey source for hobbyists and homeowners. Non-native European honeybees are voracious and efficient pollinators—they’ll turn fruitless yards into productive orchards.
Because of their voracious appetite, they’ll consume all of the pollen on flowers and leave barely any for other bugs! Honeybees’ supreme efficiency is why they’re so valuable in agriculture, but it’s also why they may do more harm than good if there are too many of them.
If you’re looking to increase pollination rates, help local insects, and create habitat space for vulnerable wildlife, planting a pollinator garden is an excellent way to start.
Honeybees Are Thriving
Don’t get me wrong—beekeeping is an excellent way to grow more in tune with the natural seasons, your garden, and the surrounding environment. It’s a complicated process that requires training, education, and resources, and many keepers pass their knowledge on to their family members.
Generally, folks who tend to beehives are also considerate of local bees, birds, and bugs. They avoid spraying pesticides and herbicides to protect their hive, and these practices also protect local bees, birds, and mammals.
A major reason for keeping bees is to boost their numbers, as non-native European honeybee populations in the U.S. were in decline. Colony collapse disorder was affecting millions of honeybees. Nowadays, their populations are relatively stable. They don’t need extra hives to boost their numbers.
The Risk of Swarming
Swarming is a term for the process these insects use to form new colonies. A queen sets out with half of the swarm to find a new location, while the other half stays behind. As beehive populations grow, they may exceed the size of the hive and venture out in search of a new home.
Though professional beekeepers can tell when swarming will occur, hobbyists and gardeners may not have the expertise to recognize the signs. They’ll lose half their colony, and the fleeing bees may establish themselves in wild areas.
As swarms establish throughout forests, mountains, and meadows, they push native bees out of the area. The non-native honeybee is valuable in controlled agricultural systems; when it escapes, it becomes a threat to the local environment and established native bees.
Spread of Diseases
Beekeeping can spread diseases to hives on farms and nearby yards. Many pests and diseases prey on large colonies. The ample bees provide endless hosts for mites, fungi, bacteria, and viruses. As the pests thrive, they can spread to other bees when the infected ones travel outside the garden.
If you are raising bees to boost pollination rates, consider growing the pollinator garden instead. It’ll attract native bees, like bumblebees, to the site. A lack of ample honeybees will starve pests and diseases, giving the native species a chance to thrive.
If you suspect your hive has diseases or pests, consult a local beekeeping company or professional. There are ways to mitigate the spread to both save your bees and protect those of your neighbors and local farmers.
Native Bees Need Help
Though honeybees are thriving, native bees need help! Their numbers are declining rapidly, and their habitats are disappearing. In areas with lots of honeybees, native species may not have much pollen or nectar to feed on.
Local bees vary depending on where you live. In Oregon, where I live, we have bumblebees, long-horned bees, and leafcutter bees, among many others. They live in hollow stalks, underground, and in cavities inside trees.
These species rely on nectar-rich plants as food sources. When you plant a pollinator garden, you grow hundreds of blooms with pollen and nectar for them to access. As more arrive at your yard, they’ll inadvertently visit your other crops and help pollinate them, too.
Honeybees Eat All the Pollen
European and other foreign bees have immense appetites! They also form colonies with extremely high numbers. When they’re abundant, pollen is often absent from flowers they visit. They bring all of it back to the hive to make their sweet honey.
Pollen-less flowers are of no help to other bees that may need food. They’ll arrive at the garden to discover a food desert!
Instead of adding more foreign bees with a beehive, plant more flowering trees, shrubs, and annuals. You’ll lure local, pollen-hungry bees that can help pollinate your crops.
Native Bees Pollinate Native Plants
A major way to help native bee populations is by starting a pollinator garden with native plants. Local populations prefer native plants, as they evolved alongside each other. Many crops, like blueberries, cranberries, and others in the Vaccinium genus, rely on native bumblebees as pollinators.
When you plant native species, you create a nectar and pollen-rich yard that’s a boon for local pollinators. Flowering herbaceous perennials and annuals are ideal, as they provide habitat, food, and a source of nutrients. Consider the following North American plants for your yard:
- American Asters
- Wild Ginger
- Goldenrods
- Phacelia
- Madia
These are a few of the hundreds of native plant species ideal for local pollinators. Fill a raised bed with them, or use them to convert portions of your lawn into pollinator gardens.
Honeybees Help Invasive Plants
Honeybees prefer non-native plants for the same reasons native pollinators prefer native plants: bugs prefer the plants they evolved with. European species love English ivy, for example, as they originated from the same areas.
When honeybees spread into natural landscapes, they help invasive plants by pollinating and fertilizing their flowers. After proper fertilization, the blooms fade and seeds form. These seeds sprout seedlings in new areas, creating dense stands of invasive plants.
In the case of English ivy, birds eat their berries and drop the seeds into forests, gardens, and hillsides. The ivy covers the ground and climbs up trees, choking and strangling them. The more ivy flowers that bloom, the more honeybees will visit them. This is why starting a pollinator garden may be ecologically better than beekeeping.
Start a Pollinator Garden to Help More Than Bees
Not only will you help local insects by starting a pollinator garden, but you’ll also provide food, habitat, and protection for dozens of other animals. Birds, garden snakes, squirrels, butterflies, spiders, and moths also benefit from the ample resources.
Think of the food chain—plants provide pollen, nectar, and leaves, which feed pollinators and insects. Birds, mammals, and snakes feed on the insects, and larger predators feed on the small critters. When you feed one animal, you feed them all!
Flowers lure more than just pollinators! They attract beneficial spiders, predatory wasps, and other insects. The crab spider is an example; it sits on a flower and waits for insects to land. When one does land, the spider lashes out and traps the insect.
Gardens Provide Habitats
Habitats for wildlife are crucial for their survival. Imagine trying to live without a home! If you provide homes for bees, they’ll eventually find them and move in. Though beehives work well for honeybees, native populations prefer a wide range of habitats.
Fortunately, starting a pollinator garden doesn’t mean completely overhauling existing landscape spaces! Hollow plant stalks, dead plant debris, and leaf litter are some ideal homes for these insect critters. Sunflower stalks, when left to die in winter, turn hollow and provide valuable space for leafcutter bees to live in. Cultivate a messy garden and avoid cleaning the yard in early spring to help them thrive.
Finally, provide water! Like all animals, these insects need a steady supply of water to survive. Add a birdbath to the yard, or place little dishes full of water in containers and raised beds. Replace the water once a week to prevent mosquitoes and diseases from appearing.
