Native bees provide a valuable service to gardeners, and there’s no downside to giving them a welcoming home in the garden. That’s the message Mike McGrath, the host of public radio program You Bet Your Garden, brought during a presentation on April 21 at the Myriad Botanical Gardens in Oklahoma City.
KGOU broadcast portions of McGrath’s presentation in coordination with International Pollinator Week, which runs June 20 to June 26.
“One of the nicest things to know about native bees, is that native bees don't have stingers,” McGrath said. “Sometimes the females have stingers, the males almost never do. Mother Nature had a lot of intelligence when she designed native bees. So she didn't give men weapons and the women of course are too intelligent to use them.”
Gardeners who want to attract native bees should have plants in flower at all time, especially native plants. He also suggested lots of blues, purples, white and yellows.
“Big patches of color of specific plants are much better than individual plants spread throughout your garden,” McGrath said. “Bees want a landing strip, they want to see a big swath of the same plant.”
McGrath said bees and other beneficial insects are attracted to easily accessible water, especially during hot, dry months like July and August when water is scarce.
“The most beneficial insects in your garden, the ones that really prey on your pests, they need you to take little dishes, fill them with stones and then fill the dishes with water so they can perch on these little stones and access the water,” McGrath said. “But even better is little mud puddles. Go back to age four and five. Make little mud puddles in your yard. You will attract more native bees and more butterflies than you can with any plant.”
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