Bee My Neighbor

If you’re a little nervous about getting up close and personal with bees, you can still help pollinators—and your garden or flowerbeds—by filling your yard with provisions they can’t resist. Here are a few simple steps for creating a perfect habitat for pollinators.

Search online for flowers native to your area. Planting a variety of native flowers as well as a mixture of annuals and perennials provides both honeybees and native pollinating species food for all season long.

Pollinators need water, too. Give them a place to stop and grab a drink by setting out a small tray of water with pebbles, or even set up a birdbath for birds, bees, and other insects to use.

During the winter, some species of insects like to nest in thick clumps of grass or leaves or in the hollow stems of dead plants. You can provide them a warm place to hide by waiting until spring to clean up last summer’s landscaping.

This article is from Answers magazine, July–September, 2023, p. 71.