Washington Native Bee Society

Solitary bees don’t make honey or combs of wax, but they are incredibly creative when it comes to building nests. Remarkably, over two-thirds of solitary bees nest underground. Mining bees and digger bees are good examples. These small insects that we typically see in flowers also dig burrows that can range from a few inches to several feet deep.

Digger bees (genus Anthophora) are often the first native bees to be found in a Seattle spring.

So how to celebrate? Hands down (preferably in some dirt) the very best thing you can do for Pollinator Week and pollinators in general is to plant flowers. You can start as small as a plant and a single square foot in your yard, or similarly sized round planter pot. Every flower adds a little more forage for bees and other pollinators such as butterflies, moths, flies, beetles and birds. If everyone would just add one flower, think of the habitat connectivity we could bui

Human environments offer too little for our bees. The loss of habitat caused by development and monoculture-dependent agriculture is contributing to the decline of native pollinators. Floral resources are reduced, nesting grounds are limited, and wild spaces are increasingly segregated from one another. To help increase habitat and floral resources for our bees, we need more ‘pollinator pathways.’ By planting more native and pollinator-friendly plants in our gardens, pots, pa