Build a House for Native Bees
- Overview
– Bees play an essential role in preserving our natural environment .we rely on bees to pollinate our fruits and vegetable, which are used to feed animals to produce food. Even though honey bees are often credited for pollinating the food crops, native bees are also essential pollinators. Thus there is a need to protect them from threats of diseases.
- Why we need to protect native bees
- Native bees face constant threats from human activities. More than 300 native bees. (Parsons, 2018). Solitary bees have been affected by the impact of pesticides losing their natural habitat due to housing project in Florida.
- Despite the need to address the human needs, we can also protect the native bee from saving our natural habitat
III. How to protect native bees
- To create houses that can accommodate the native bees, we can build for them homes by doing simple activities such as cutting bamboo trees into different widths with holes or filling a can with paper straws. (Parsons, 2018)..
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- Paper straw works best mainly because it gives the bees space to breathe compared to plastics. We only need to cut the paper straws to fit the length of a container and leave it a lip at the edge to ensure that the paper is not soaked by rain.
- When building a paper straw, it is essential to leave the bottom of the can closed and hang the can facing south to enable sunlight to enter during winter(Parsons, 2018).
- Not all native bees live in bee houses others live in bare soil. It is recommended to find a right spot at the backyard to create them some room for them
- urban settings are not conducive solitary bees to survive
- The fact that their role is yet to be appreciated, not much has bee done to encourage their growth.
- Recent efforts prove that something is being done to protect these endangered species.
- native bees are still active pollinators than European bees since honey bee interest is on nectar, they avoid pollen, but the wild native bees are pollen collectors .this process gives them a chance to survive
- Why native bees are different
- Native bees collect nectar and take it back to the nest There are many native bees still surviving. a survey in 25 orchards reveals that close to 100 native bees species are in existence
- In Florida alone, there are 300 native bees, and there could be more since these bees operate discreetly as compared to the European honey bees (Parsons, 2018).
- The fact that native bees are active more so in Florida, there are more visible in our backyards and commercial farms
- Most homeowner in Florida proves them with suitable habitat because they do not cover the native ground
- bees have specific feeding habits since they feed on native flowers, they can easily survive as compared to other types of bees
- They are friendlier to humans than European bees; bees only sting to protect their colony; native bees are solitary; they do not have a colony to guard. Native bees quickly move around. Bee stings should not be the reason not to protect the native bee from being extinct.
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Reference
Parsons, V.(18 December 2018).Build a House for Native Bees. Bay Soundings. http://baysoundings.com/build-a-house-for-native-bees/