by Grey County Master Gardeners

Spring is here and we are beginning to see bees buzzing about pollinating the plants in our gardens. My favourite native bee is the bumblebee because she wears her winter coat all year long! Here are some tips to understanding what it’s like to be a bumblebee and how to design a bumblebee friendly garden.

The Bumblebee – Our Champion Native Pollinator!
Although honeybees are our best known bee, many people are surprised to learn they are not native to Canada. In fact, the champion of native bee pollinators is the humble bumblebee. There are 400 species of native bees in eastern Canada including squash, miner, leafcutter and sweat bees all of which are pollinators. In order to design your garden to help bumblebees (and all bees) to flourish, you have to see like a bumblebee !

The Bee Facts About Pollination
To understand how to garden for bumblebees, a little background on pollination is helpful.
Pollinators include insects, bats and birds, but pollination can also happen through wind and water. Insect pollinators collect nectar and pollen. They allow seeds to grow by transporting pollen from one flower to another and are rewarded with the food they need to grow and reproduce.Many pollinators are generalists visiting numerous flowers. Others are specially adapted, visiting one or a limited species of flowers. Pollinators are uniquely adapted for the plants they pollinate through special sensory, locomotion, memory and physical characteristics to help them find, pollinate and remember the plants they need to survive.

Gardening from a bumblebee’s view is more than planting flowers for food. We need to understand what the bees see in the garden and be familiar with where and how they live in the habitats we create for them each season. 

Bumblebees Are Specially Designed Pollination Machines!

Bumblebees have:

• Longer tongues than honeybees which makes them especially adapted to pollinating bean, pea and clover plants.
• Large size and fluffy coats which are adapted to a long season and unfavourable conditions – they are earlier to emerge and forage later in the day and year as well as in cooler weather and higher altitudes than other bee species.
• “Buzz Pollination” - the bumblebee’s wings beat 130 or more times per second and this along with their large size enables the bees to perform “buzz pollination” (vibrating flowers until they release pollen), that helps plants produce more fruit. Their “buzz” also helps to keep them warm.
• Flexibility - bumblebees will collect pollen from many types of flowers in each forage trip.

Bumblebees are Super-Fast pollinators! Per bee, they are even faster than honeybees under some conditions.

Home Sweet Home

Bumblebees are social insects who nest in colonies of typically 40 to 500 workers (6). The colonies can be found in abandoned animal holes, under sheds, in compost heaps, in thick grass, bird boxes and lofts in trees.

All but the new queens die each fall and the new queens hibernate in small holes just beneath the ground’s surface to begin new colonies in the coming spring. A favourite habitat for bumblebee queen hibernation is thought to be on north-facing banks, in vegetation and loose soil or even in compost heaps or soil beds.

What Does a Bumblebee See?
Most flowers that are attractive to bees are colourful (so the flowers stand out from the green foliage) and have a “bulls-eye” pattern that radiates out from the nectar source and helps the bee locate the nectar and pollen. Examples include Sunflowers and Cosmos. Also, bees don’t see the same as you and me. They see the ultraviolet spectrum, but do not see red. Most bees are attracted to bright white, blue and yellow, as well as the ultraviolet coloration. Ultraviolet markers guide the bee to the nectar reserves. They would see a painted daisy or blanket flower (Gaillardia) something like this:

Painted daisy first as we humans see it and then as a bee sees it with filter to remove red (which a bee can’t see) and to add ultraviolet light (which it can see and we can’t). Note the bull’s eye colouring.

Landing Platforms and Flower Shapes
Bees are attracted to a variety of flower sizes and shapes. Symmetrical, shallow, bowl shaped flowers make a good landing platform and are often covered with many attractive small flowers in the disc head. Dutchman’s Breeches (Dicentra) are suited to the queen bumblebee whose long tongue can reach the deep nectar in the long spurs. For flowers with closed petals like the Bottle Gentian (Gentiana), the bumblebee must pry open the petals to gain access to the pollen and nectar. Bumblebees “buzz pollinate” the bell-like flowers of blueberries or the flowers of tomatoes where the pollen is best shaken out. Flower Power For Bumblebees!
Remember, native plants are best because they co-evolved with our native bumblebees. Like us, bees need a variety of foods and nutrients so consider a number of bumblebee friendly plant species.

Avoid flowers that cannot be used by bumblebees - if the petals form tunnels that are longer or more narrow than the bees can reach or if the bees cannot access the food in tightly packed flower heads. Also avoid flowers that are bred to have a pleasing appearance but little pollen or nectar for insects.