Take Action to Help Pollinators #4

This post was originally published on November 23, 2011, on my blog “Pollinators Info” (no longer online).

Don’t mulch

More bees nest in the ground than anywhere else. These bees need bare patches so they can dig their nest tunnels. Unfortunately, adding mulch on top of these areas prevents bees from being able to nest there.

Mulch also kills bees that were developing underground in a bare patch before the mulch was added. Bees that mature to adulthood underground are unable to dig up through mulch to get free, so they basically die trying to get to the surface.

What can you do instead of mulch? Here are a few ideas:

Use native plants – these will be adapted to winter temperatures and not need mulch to protect their roots in cold months.
If you have to mulch your plants, leave some bare ground unmulched for bees to use.
Devote an area in your yard to ground-nesting bees. The best place would be where you’ve seen bees nesting before. If you don’t have an area like this, you can create one by pulling up grass in an area that gets sun for most of the day. Another option is to make a soil pile in a similarly sunny area and allow bees to nest in it.

Bare patches for ground-nesting bees are becoming more difficult for them to find, so anything you can do is going to be beneficial!

Do you have ground-nesting bees on your property? Tell us about them here!

Athena Rayne Anderson