Pollination

If your vegetable or flower garden doesn’t meet your expectations for production, you may have a pollination problem. The quality and efficiency of a crop largely depends on pollination. Inadequate pollination can result in reduced yields as well as delayed yields and a high percentage of inferior fruits.

Honeybees, wasps, butterflies, hornets, bumblebees, bats, hummingbirds, flies, beetles and moths are all pollinators.

   All about the bees

Bees travel from flower to flower, collecting nectar (converted to honey later), and in the process pick up pollen grains. The bee collects the pollen rubbing against the anthers.  The pollen collects in the dense fairs on hind legs. As the bee flies from flower to flower, the pollen grains are transferred onto the stigma of the female flower. Nectar provides the energy for bee nutrition; pollen provides the protein.

Not every gardener lives where they can have beehives and some are afraid of bees.  You shouldn’t wear perfume while gardening. The bees may think you are a pretty flower and the chance of being stung may increase. Otherwise, there’s really no reason to be afraid of bees in the garden. Honeybees, bumblebees, and other bees are not interested in attacking people. They are only interested in providing for themselves. Never swat at bees – that will get you stung. Remember that without the wind, bees and other pollinating insects, there would be no wildflowers, no fruit, no vegetables and no blooming trees.

You can attract bees to your garden by doing the following:

• Put a birdbath in your garden. Bees need a place to drink water. So do  butterflies and birds.

• Never use pesticides.

• Plant herbs and flowers amongst vegetables and intentionally let some of the herbs bolt (flower).

• Plant flowering trees around the landscape.

Mason bee is a common name for solitary bees that build part or all of their  nests with mud or plant fiber chewed into paste. Some species construct mud nests on exposed surfaces such as rocks. Others construct mud partitions between a linear series of brood cells (compartments for the larvae) that are produced in soil, hollow plant stems, or preexisting cavities, including empty snail shells and insect tunnels bored in wood.

Most mason bees are smaller than honeybees, but some are about the same size or slightly larger. They have stout bodies, and many species are metallic green or bluish in color. These bees have a stinger but do not attack defensively unless handled. Mason bees are good pollinators for the garden and should be encouraged.