To Bee or Not to Bee, Trees are the Answer
If you enjoy snacking on guacamole or luxuriating under a refreshing avocado facial mask, then you should take care of the trees in your yard. No, don’t rush to plant an avocado tree because it’s not likely to survive the freezing temperatures of our Connecticut winters. However, taking care of trees that are happy to grow here will pay off by keeping the bees happy.
Think of a world without bees and realize that there would also be no grapes to eat or wine to drink. Bees need trees to obtain nectar and pollen and trees need bees in order to produce fruit and seeds. Locally, our native plants, trees, and shrubs rely on the 400 species of wild native bees. When you offer a flowering tree such as a dogwood, you can support a hungry bee just coming out of hibernation. Red maples and bushes like azalea are also good food sources in the early spring, when bees need the most energy to restart colonies yet food is still in short supply as flowers have not yet bloomed.
A queen bumble bee is a lone survivor and starts a new hive each year. Without food, her entire colony can disappear and, without the female worker bees the queen would have produced, cranberries are unpollinated. Imagine a summer without the gentle hum of the bumble bee on a hot, lazy afternoon and then think about a Thanksgiving table without the cranberry sauce.
Of course, a blueberry bush would be an obvious choice to feed our buzzing friends but did you know that the ash, pine, birch, and willow trees are also going to support the butterfly population? Butterflies are also good pollinators and desperately needed as several factors act on these tiny creatures to threaten their lives and our food supply. If you’ve cleared trees on your property in favor of a uniformly green lawn, then you’ve created what is known as a monoculture. Creatures cannot find any nutrition there and will avoid the area. More and more lawns mean fewer and fewer places where pollinators exist and, when we want to do something as straightforward as grow a few flowers or pick tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and cucumbers from a vegetable garden, we will be unsatisfied and confused as to why we’re not successful despite hard work and cash outlays.
Trees also provide a home for native bees that are don’t live in a hive but build individual nurseries for each of their offspring. Cavities and stems in trees are just the right listing for these real estate hunters. And, before you judge carpenter bees as a menace, realize that they are just doing what comes instinctively and nesting in wood. They are vital pollinators and both you and the bees would prefer that your yard contained a nice poplar or willow tree for them to use.
If you’re wondering what you can do to help these tiny but incredibly important creatures to do what they do best and help us to enjoy the foods we love, visit www.propollinators.org to learn more about the effort to create continuous corridors of land where pollinators can feel welcome and be healthy. Also, call your favorite arborists, Gerry or Brian, to learn how you can keep your trees in tip top shape as more than just decorative ornaments in your yard and garden.