7 Ways You Can Help Bees Overwinter in Your Garden

Busy little bees spend all summer doing important work in our gardens. Carrying pollen from one plant to another, they increase our harvest and contribute significantly to a bountiful blooming season. But where do all of those hard workers go when the temperature drops and the flowers stop blooming?

Honeybees hunker down in their hives, which they typically build out of reach and out of the way. Honeys, however, are not native to North America, and have different habits from our native bees. Native bees fall into two groups: social and solitary. Big, fuzzy bumblebees and tiny, adorable sweat bees are social, while other species tend to be solitary.

Stop Digging

Fall is a good time for planting many perennials and spring bulbs. It’s also time when pollinators begin to wind down and find a spot to hibernate for the colder months. As a rule of thumb, as long as I see bees out and about, I feel good about planting to help them overwinter. 

When the numbers start to dwindle, I know that they are retreating to their nests, many of which are underground. Many species, especially bumblebees, create nests underground where they hibernate. Their favorite spots are those with bare soil, in full sun, where the soil won’t flood. 

Mason and carpenter bees make their nests in the soil as well. These are solitary, though, and don’t live with a colony of others. The majority of the over 4,000 species of native North American bees are solitary. They may only live for one season, but most females still build nests where they lay their eggs along with pollen and nectar they collected. 

Once those pollinators disappear in late fall, it’s important to stop digging in areas where they may be hibernating. In spring, do this the opposite way. Don’t start digging in these spots until you see their inhabitants reappear and start back to their vital work. 

Leave the Leaves

I realize this next one is not easy for some folks. But if you can avoid raking the leaves in your yard, it will go a long way in protecting overwintering bees. Many solitary bees spend the cold months tucked under a pile of fallen leaves. 

There are plenty of reasons to postpone raking until spring and ways that you can use those leaves in the garden permanently. I know that leaving too thick a blanket of leaves on the grass can damage a lawn, and it’s understandable that you wouldn’t want that to happen. There are ways around it, though. 

Leaves make excellent mulch for your acid loving plants. Rather than leaving them all over the yard, or bagging them and leaving by the curb, you can move them to a more convenient spot. We use a blower and pile our leaves around the base of shrubs like camellias and azaleas. Here, the pollinators can still make their homes in your yard, and it serves a second purpose, too.

Leaves make good compost as well. A pile of leaves left in a corner of the yard not only provides a home for bees, it breaks down over time, creating soil that you can use in your beds. This residual soil is full of nutrients and organic material. Rather than disposing of fallen leaves, let them hang around and give back to the garden in a variety of ways. 

Don’t Cut Back Perennials or Pull Annuals

I know that this is asking a lot of some gardeners, but it’s a great way to help the pollinators stick around all winter. If you can resist the urge to cut back your perennials and pull up your spent annuals, you’ll provide homes for many native bees. 

Many species create cavity nests—they nest in the cavities left behind by spent flowers and seed pods. You’ll recognize the ones that have already gone in for the winter, as they typically seal off the entrances with leaves, fiber, mud, and resin. This keeps out moisture and helps them to stay warm. 

Leaving your spent annuals and perennials in the garden until spring provides safe places for bees to overwinter. While it might look unsightly in the front yard, if you have spaces out of the way spaces to leave things untrimmed, you’ll be doing them a big favor. 

If you need to clean up more obvious parts of your yard to keep things neat and tidy, do so earlier in the year when the bees are still out and about. This will ensure that there are none already hiding out in those places.

Leave Logs Where They Lie

Just like leaf piles, logs and rocks lying about the garden provide shelter for many types of insects during the cold months. Hollow logs, in particular are good hibernating spots. If you move these items around, make sure to inspect them first for signs of nesting spots. 

If you find a nest inside or under a log or a rock, and you can’t let it stay where it is, be careful. Pay attention to that nest and try to leave it undisturbed. This is another case where cleaning up the yard before they begin to hibernate is a good idea, if you need to do it at all. 

Look Out For Hidden Nests

In addition to logs, leaves, and spent garden plants, there are a multitude of spots in many yards where these creatures hibernate. Pollinators aren’t usually bothered by humans and our stuff. How many times have you seen a butterfly chrysalis strung from your patio furniture? 

Bees and other pollinators are opportunistic about where they nest. If you provide a spot for them to feel safe and warm, they will gladly oblige by setting up camp. They’ll do it even if you didn’t intend for them to!

Be extra aware once the weather cools off, of any spots that could hold stinging insects. Not all bees sting, but it’s better to not take a chance. If you notice a hole sealed up with leaves or mud, handle with care. There’s probably someone living in there.

Take a Break From Mowing

This next one applies from late fall through early spring. If you can avoid mowing the lawn during this time, you will do a great service to pollinators. First, any flowers that bloom late or early in the year will be valuable food sources when little else is in bloom. Often, the so-called weeds in our lawn are the last food sources in the fall, and the first ones in the spring. 

Also, as with leaves, logs, and other debris, areas with a thicker layer of ground cover also provide shelter. Pollinators and other insects take shelter in these spaces. Mowing will not only kill the insects presently hibernating there, it will destroy those habitats altogether. 

Provide Nesting Boxes

Finally, you can provide artificial spaces for the bees to overwinter. I mentioned that they will often choose many made structures to take shelter over the winter. There are ways you can construct and provide them with additional spaces where they can be safe and warm. 

They love bamboo for it’s hollow canes that make a great nesting spot. Cut a bamboo stalk into short pieces and tie them together in a bundle. You can also pile logs and sticks in a sheltered spot where garden inhabitants will find a warm and dry place to sleep.

There are many commercially made bee houses that you can find at most nurseries and other stores. These look like boxes turned on their side, filled with tubes, sticks, and wood constructed to make holes of different shapes and sizes. Hang these where they will stay dry, and pollinators will find them and make a cozy home.