Critical Requirements of Native Bees

Food. Bees eat only pollen and nectar. In gathering 

these resources, they move pollen from one flower 

to another, and thus pollinate your crops. Bees rely 

on an abundance and variety of flowers, and need 

blooming plants throughout the growing season. 

Native plant species are particularly valuable.

Shelter. Native bees don’t build the wax or paper 

struc­tures we associate with honey bees or wasps, 

but they do need places to nest, which vary depending on the species. Wood-nesting bees are solitary, 

often nesting in soft-pithed twigs or beetle tun­nels 

in standing dead trees. Ground-nesting bees in­clude 

solitary species that construct nest tunnels under 

bare ground. Cavity-nesting social species—bumble 

bees—make use of small spaces, such as aban­doned 

rodent burrows, wherever they can find them.

Protection from pesticides. Most insecticides are 

deadly to bees, and herbicide use can remove many 

of the flowers that they need for food.

Principles of Farming for Crop Pollinators

Know the habitat on your farm. Using the illustration in this brochure as a guide, look for areas on 

and around your land that can support native bees.

Protect flowering plants and nest sites. Once you 

know where bees are living and foraging, do what 

you can to protect these resources from disturbance 

and pesticides. 

Enhance habitat with flowering plants and additional nest sites. Adding flowers, leaving areas of 

soil untilled where possible, and providing bee 

blocks (tunnels drilled into wood) are all ways to 

increase the number of native bees on your farm.

Getting Started

Here are two things that you can do to begin improving habitat for native bees on your land:

Minimize tillage. Many of our best crop pollinators 

live underground for most of the year, sometimes 

at the base of the very plants they pollinate. To protect them, turn over soil only where you need to. 

Allow crops to bolt. If possible, let leafy crops—such 

as lettuce—flower if they don’t need to be tilled 

right away. This gives bees additional food sources.

Going Further

If you want to do more to increase the number of 

native bees pollinating your crops, you can set aside 

marginal areas, plant hedgerows or windbreaks with 

a variety of flower­ing plants, reduce or eliminate the 

use of pesticides, or work with your neigh­bors to protect natural areas around your farm. 

Exercising Care with Insecticides

If you must use insecticides, choose targeted ingredients (for example, Btk for pests such as leaf rollers) and the least harmful formulations (granules or 

solutions). Spray on dry evenings—and do so soon 

after dark, when bees are not active. Keep in mind 

that even when crops are not in bloom, some of your 

best pollinators are visiting nearby flowers, where 

they may be killed by drifting chemicals. 

Native Bees and Your Crops

Native bees are valuable crop pollinators. These 

wild bees help increase crop yields, and may 

serve as important insurance when honey bees 

are hard to come by. 

There are simple and inexpensive things you 

can do to increase the number of native bees 

living on your land. Any work you do on behalf 

of pollinators will support other beneficial insects and wildlife. In addition, improvements to 

pollinator hab­itat may be eligible for financial 

support from government programs. 

Inside you’ll find more information, along with 

a visual guide to identifying and enhancing 

habitat for native bees on your farm.

Published by the Xerces Society in collaboration with the USDA-NRCS. 

Additional funding has been provided by the Turner Foundation, the CS

Fund, the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, the Ceres Trust, and 

the Columbia Foundation. Illustrations by Andrew Holder. Designed and 

produced by Press-22. Copyright © 2005 by the Xerces Society. The USDA

and the Xerces Society are equal-opportunity providers and employers. 

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

628 NE Broadway, Suite 200, Portland, OR 97232

855-232-6639 www.xerces.org

We have the good fortune of being home to many 

native pollinators, including blue orchard bees. 

We believe that our being chemical free helps our 

bees flourish, and they in turn help produce some 

of the sweetest berries in the whole country. 

—Mandy McCormick

Blue Tara Organic Blueberry Farm

Poplarville, Mississippi

Most native bees are unlikely to sting. The 

yellowjackets and other wasps you see eating 

rotting fruit and hanging around picnics are 

not bees, nor are they significant pollinators.

I was surprised to learn how native pollinators 

can make honey bees much more effective at 

pollinating our sunflowers. As we continue working to increase biodiversity on our farm, we’ll be 

adding features to help the wild bees.

— Charlie Rominger

 Rominger Brothers’ Farms

 Winters, California

Xerces Society Pollinator Resources

The Xerces Society is a nonprofit organization that 

protects biological diversity through conservation of 

invertebrates. We work with farmers and scientists 

across the country to protect habitat that supports 

pollinators and to increase native bee populations 

for crop production. More information on providing habitat for native bees is available on our website at www.xerces.org/pollinator-resource-center, 

where you can download pollinator-friendly plant 

lists, conservation fact sheets, or a copy of Farming 

for Bees, our detailed guidelines for protecting and 

providing native bee habitat on farms. You can also 

purchase Attracting Native Pollinators, a comprehensive handbook to pollinator conservation on farms 

and in gardens, urban areas, and other landscapes.

NRCS Programs

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) 

of the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides financial and technical assistance to support 

conservation efforts for pollinators and other wildlife on farms. NRCS conservation programs can help 

agricultural producers establish pollinator-friendly 

plantings of native and naturalized spe­cies, provide 

nesting sites for bees, and manage pollinator habitat. 

For more information on these programs, contact 

your local USDA service center. You can find the 

NRCS office nearest you at www.nrcs.usda.gov.

FAR M I NG

FOR 

POLLI NATOR S

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Riparian Buffers

Food and Shelter

Habitat along streams should contain a diversity of plants. Willows, 

in particular, will nourish bumble bee queens in the spring so that 

large numbers of workers are available when crops begin to bloom.

Snags

Shelter

Keeping dead trees standing provides shelter for native 

bees. Some solitary bees build nests in abandoned 

beetle tunnels in snags.

Natural or Undeveloped Areas

Food and Shelter

Nearby natural areas may harbor all the native bees 

needed to pollinate your farm’s crops. Consider inviting 

your neighbors to help with safeguarding these habitats.

Temporary Bee Pasture

Food

Planting fields with clover or other inexpensive seed—or allowing crops such as 

lettuce, kale, basil, and broccoli to bolt—

will supply bees with nectar and pollen.

Pesticides

Insecticides kill pollinators outright, and herbicides may destroy plants 

important for both food and shelter. It is preferable to minimize your use 

of pesticides and to carefully choose products and application methods.

Ponds and Ditches

Food and Shelter

When you create a pond or ditch, leave the pile of 

excavated soil. Ground-nesting bees may build nests 

in stable, bare areas of this mounded earth. Planting 

clumps of native flowers will attract more pollinators.

Hedgerows or Windbreaks

Food and Shelter

Creating hedgerows with a wide variety of plants that have 

overlapping flowering periods will provide bee habitat 

throughout the growing season and strengthen 

populations of natural enemies of crop pests.

Field and Road Borders

Food and Shelter

Leave areas next to fields untilled and 

unsprayed to support flowering plants and 

provide nest sites for ground-nesting bees. 

Cover Crops

Food

Flowering plants—certain legumes in 

particular—can be included in covercrop mixes to supply pollen and nectar. 

Artificial Nests

Shelter

Making bee blocks for wood-nesting 

bees is a good way to increase the 

number of native bees in your landscape.

Gardens

Food

A vegetable, flower, or herb garden, with a diverse assort­­ment 

of plants, is a good source of food for pollinators. Be wary of 

fancy hybrids that may produce little pollen or nectar.

Fallow Fields and Set-Asides

Food and Shelter

Even small areas of fallow or unproductive 

land, especially when sown with native flowers, 

can offer important resources for native bees.