Leave it BEE! Helping Native Bees Also Helps Other Native Wildlife! 

By Karen Verderame, Assistant Director of Outreach Education, Penn Vet Shelter Medicine and Community Engagement

There are over 4,000 species of native bees in North America. Our native bees are essential pollinators in many cases of agriculture, even more important than the imported European honeybee. Many species of our native bees are drastically declining due to the use of pesticides, lack of native plants and lack of overwinter and nesting sites. We see many animals preparing for winter during the fall, like squirrels collecting nuts, birds migrating to warmer weather. Many people prepare for winter by spending their days cleaning up their gardens and raking leaves from their lawns. However, it can be easy to overlook the smaller creatures that inhabit our leaf litter and gardens. Leaving the leaves for the bees can help ensure they can survive winter and have nesting sites in spring. Not only will you help save native bees, but also help other species of wildlife! 

The leaves provide crucial insulation throughout winter for many pollinators including native bee species, butterflies, and moths, but also for amphibians and reptiles. The leaves also provide nesting material and food for many of these animals. Additionally, planting native flowers will not only provide a valuable nectar source during the spring, but the stems and plant material will also be used by many native bee species like bumble bees, sweat bees and mason bees, as nesting and overwintering sites, as well as a food source. 

You can help the bees and other wildlife by moving your leaves into garden beds, or create areas on your lawn or in your yard where you make low piles of leaves, compile sticks and branches. Even keeping out flower boxes with the plant remnants can help provide habitat to overwinter for native species. By helping our native bees, we help other wildlife, increase biodiversity, and promote a healthy ecosystem for all. 

Common Native Species of Bees

Graphic Credit: Brooke Ezzo

Resources for more information on how to help native bee species: 

https://www.fws.gov/story/top-plants-your-pollinator-garden#northeast

https://xerces.org/publications/plant-lists

https://xerces.org/publications/fact-sheets/nesting-overwintering-habitat