New England Bees Have New Ally

Two bees share a flower of Ratibida pinnata, yellow coneflower. Source: C. Neal, UNH Cooperative Extension

A group of professionals are protecting existing bee habitat on farms, open land, and in natural areas. Extension specialist Cathy Neal and field specialist Amy Papineau are coordinating the Northern New England Pollinator Habitat Working Group, funded by the Northeastern IPM Center.

Neal and her colleagues recently constructed a “bee hotel” at the Woodman Farm on the University of New Hampshire campus in Durham. The hotel, constructed from bricks, cinder blocks, reclaimed wood, sticks, stems, and rocks, will serve as a home for native solitary bees.

Neal said, “I have seen a huge increase in bumble bees and other pollinators, as well as birds, since planting the wildflowers.”

Neal recommends that home gardeners leave some debris of plants like willow and raspberry for the bees, which will allow them to nest in hollow stems at the end of the season.