Don’t fret if you don’t see honey bees in your yard.
According to this piece by Eric Atkins, there are dozens of other kinds.
All are important. All are pollinators.
And they want to live in the messy bits of your garden.
So make sure you have a few messy bits.
Piles of rocks and sticks.
Also a fairie beach does not go amiss…
General rule of thumb appears to be this: don’t over-rake, over-prune or anally tidy every last bit of the outdoors.
If you must be anal, you can always go inside and clean your house.
As for those honeybees…seems we ought not to become amateur bee keepers as we risk doing more harm than good in spreading disease and parasites.
In other words: leave beekeeping to the pros.
And create friendly environments instead for all those OTHER bees, i.e. leafcutters, bumblebees, sweaters and miners.
Bonus: because the natural world is naturally diverse, to allow a bit of the ‘natural’ will result in fewer bad bug infestations.
Also,
—when buying plants and seeds, check with the grower or nursery about use of neonicotinoids. More and more growers are choosing not to use them, but only because more and more people are asking questions and raising a fuss.
Ask questions.
Raise a fuss.
The bees will thank you.
And we’ll continue thanking the bees.
As we should.
Without them we’re pretty much landscaped toast.
Matilda Magtree 
I really enjoyed this .
Oh, I’m so glad… (:
Lovely shots, Carin. Springs are more beautiful as I approach the fall of my existence. :) And you’ll love to hear that I bought my annuals at a local garden centre supplied by local growers! Just because I took your advice to help the bees. I haven’t seen any this year yet…
Yay! The bees will be pleased, though it might take a while for them to find you. We’ve seen more in our yard already this month than in whole summers for the past few years. It’s a little clunky to go that extra mile and check where the plants were grown, and how, but so worth it. Imagine (inadvertently) planting ‘bee friendly’ gardens using plants treated with poisons that kill them. I got caught up in the excitement of finding some poppies a couple of weeks ago and just bought them without checking. Planted them even. But when I remembered… well, there was no amount of faking myself out that ‘they were fine’ unless I checked to make sure. And, whew!!, turns out they’re from a grower who stopped using neonics a few years ago.
Happy to hear I should keep those messy spots. :)
Lovely photos!
Agreed! I liked that news too. (: