Plant native plants.

When the colonizers came to North America, they brought over many species of plants that were not native to these lands. Non-native species are popular everywhere and are widely available in greenhouses.

To help native pollinators, plant the plants that are native to your local geographic area. Links to region-specific planting guides are available on our Resources page.

Unfortunately, it seems to be more difficult to find native plants. However, you can order seeds or starter plants online. You can also seek out native plant sales in your local area.

Grow organic.

Growing organic fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers, and other plants are beneficial to all forms of life, including you and the pollinators.

Provide a water source.

Pollinators need water, but not too much! (When it rains, pollinators seek shelter.)

Bees drink, too! They need a shallow source of water so they don’t fall in, get stuck, and drown.

It’s a good idea to create small, shallow water sources in your yard.

You don’t want a huge source of standing water. It would be a mosquito breeding ground, and no one wants that!

One example of what you can do to create small water sources is to use bee cups or something similar. When you water your garden, you can fill these small water sources to be available for pollinators.

Provide an insect hotel.

Insect hotels are used by solitary native bees to safely lay their eggs.

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Do not use pesticides, herbicides, or insecticides.

All of these chemicals directly harm pollinators. If pollinators are exposed to these chemicals, they will be killed, or they will suffer nervous system damage, seizures, or loss of bodily control. (For examples of this, you could see sad videos online of incapacitated bees flailing around helplessly, but I won’t link to those.)

If you know someone who uses these chemicals on their yard or farm, I encourage you to encourage them to stop.

Do not intentionally kill pollinators.

Carpenter bees and wasps are considered a nuisance to some people, but they are still important pollinators.

Please do not hire exterminators or pest management professionals to kill them.

If they are living somewhere where you’d rather have them not be, you can wait until the end of the season to close up their access point.

Or, you could let them bee. It is possible to peacefully coexist with them. Respect their space and they will respect yours, too.