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.