This guide is designed to help you make your yard bee-friendly. It includes information about how to maintain your yard for the bees, which flowers are best for bees and some simple tips that you can use to help a bee in need.

Download, print and display this sign in your yard to let neighbours know why you’re not cutting the lawn and that your yard is bee-friendly.

1. Lawn Maintenance 

Over 70 per cent of bees nest underground, including native bees. To help the bees you can:

• Retire the mower until June or until other flowers have bloomed. Leave the natural grasses, flowers and "weeds" that occupy your outdoor space: an entirely grass lawn is unnatural and provides little shelter for insects. 
• Never mow during the hot afternoon. If you must mow your lawn, avoid doing it during the hot afternoon, when bees often head underground to rest and escape the hot sun.
• If you need to mow, raise the blade! If you raise the blade on your mower, you can cut the grass while leaving some dandelions for the pollinators.
• Provide nesting sites and natural habitat for bees through the use of hedgerows, plants to block wind and other helpful practices. For example, a gardener can leave dead raspberry canes on the ground, allowing leafcutter bees to get inside and make nests.

Photo: Gwen Barlee

2. Water

Create a drinking hole for your neighbourhood bees (see below)! Place rocks in a shallow bowl and leave it at ground level. Fill with water but make sure the rocks are still sticking out for the bees to land on – bees are rarely capable of landing in a water body without crashing. Add fresh water regularly.

Photo: StayThatsWhatIMeantToSay via Tumblr

3. Food

Bees consume both nectar (for sugar) and pollen (for protein and fats). Do the following to give bees a smorgasbord of healthy energy sources: 

• Embrace the dandelions. Many plant species do not flower until June-August. Dandelions are an early source of energy that is a life-saver for bees emerging from hibernation. Not to mention, dandelion greens are a healthy addition to your own meals! Leave your dandelions until mid-June when other flowers have bloomed.
• Keep a pesticide-free yard! Neonicotinoids (neonics) are a type of toxic pesticides that are largely responsible for worldwide pollinator decline and colony collapse disorder. Many stores have committed to having neonic-free plant options. A quick google search can help you find more garden centres in your area with neonic-free plants. The following stores have neonic-free options and remember – if a retailer can’t guarantee their plants are neonic free – don’t buy them!
  • RONA
  • Home hardware
  • Home depot
  • Lowe’s

• Plant native plants, which will be more attractive to native bees. Native plants are adapted to your local climate, soil and native pollinators. Non-native flowers that are bred to be aesthetically pleasing are sometimes sterile and of little use to native pollinators – some hybrid plants don’t produce pollen or nectar at all! Click here for a guide of bee-friendly plants native to BC.

• Select single flower tops such as daisies (below). Single flower tops produce more nectar that’s also easier for bees to access as compared to multiple flower tops.

Photo: WC files

• Buy bright flowers! Bees have good vision and love bright colors, especially blue, purple, yellow and white.

Photo: Gwen Barlee

• Plan for blooms year-round. Plant a wide variety of species that flower at different times of the year: spring, summer and fall.
• Help pollinators find their favourites by planting in clusters, rather than single plants.

• And of course, don’t treat plants with commercial pesticides!

4. Natural pest control

Commercial methods of lawn maintenance involve spraying entire yards with toxic pesticides containing neonicotinoids. These pesticides are sprayed to prevent a pest outbreak but often kill many other important species as well, including bees and butterflies. 

Instead of using pesticides there are natural ways to prevent pests. For example: nematodes (roundworms) naturally exist and control pest insects in soil. Consider using nematodes rather than pesticides. For more natural alternatives to chemical pesticides, check out the links below:

• Everything you need to know about organic pest control
• 10 Homemade Organic Pesticides
• Organic Alternatives for Pesticides
• These natural pesticides won't harm good bugs
• 8 Homemade Aphid Spray Recipes and Tips

Read this article to learn how to detect an infestation and get rid of pests like the European Chafer Beetle — an invasive species of beetle. 

Native plants pollinators love

Branching phacelia Joe Decruyenaere via Flickr	Green comet milkweed Matt Lavin via Flickr	Blueberry willow Jamie Fenneman

Wild bergamot Joshua Mayer via Flickr	Nettleleaf Giant Hyssop Katja Schulz via Flickr	Bog rosemary Don Henise via Wikimedia Commons

Sneezeweed Aaron Carlson via Wikimedia Commons	Blackeyed susan a.k.a. hairy coneflower via Flora Finder	Cutleaf coneflower Σ64 via Wikimedia Commons

Missouri goldenrod Matt Lavin via Flickr	Canada goldenrod George Slickers via Wikimedia Commons	Northern golden rod Matt Lavin via Wikimedia Commons

Philadelphia fleabane via Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Centre	Canadian fleabane Juoko Lehmuskallio via Wikimedia Commons	Daisy fleabane Jason Holinger via Flickr

Nodding onion Fritzflohrreynolds via Flickr	Tapertip onion Wallace Keck via US National Park Service	Geyer's onion Scott Zona via Flickr

Dwarf red raspberry Notjake13 via Wikimedia Commons	Allegheny blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis) NRCS	Trailing blackberry (Rubus ursinus) brewbooks via Flickr

Blueberry Manuel via Flickr	Oregon Grape Lauren Tersk via Wikimedia Commons	Thimbleberry Chloe Willes-Speakman

Salal Chloe Willes-Speakman	Wood rose Max Licher via Wikimedia Commons	Shrubby cinquefoil Paul Asman and Jill Lenoble via Flickr

Dwarf rose Walter Siegmund via Wikimedia Commons	Nootka rose Leslie Seaton via Wikimedia Commons	Clustered wild rose Paul Slichter
Northern starflower via Flora of Quebec	Blue vervain via Wild Seed Project	Prairie lupine brewbooks via Flickr
Strawberry blossom Bill Tyne via Flickr	Sea thrift Ghislain 118 via Wikimedia Commons	Small-flowered tonella Walter Siegmund via Wikimedia Commons
Anise hyssop via Butterfly Gardens To Go	Fireweed Zeynel Cebeci via Wikimedia Commons	Salmonberry Chloe Willes-Speakman

More bee-friendly trees: Maple, Mountain Ash, Poplar, Plum

For more information on bee-friendly gardening, check out these great resources:

• Flower Fragrances That Attract Bees and Butterflies to Your Garden | Fragrance X Library
• Bee-friendly Plants for your Garden or Farm | Earthwise Society
• The Best Garden Flowers for Bees | University of Sussex
• Plant a Bee-Attracting Garden | BC Farms and Food

Take action in your community

1. Follow our campaign to ban neonics in Canada. Many places around the world have already banned these chemicals; it’s time Canada does the same! 
2. Looking to help bees outside of your garden? Here's some info on how to plant "pollinator patches" along roadsides:

• Roadsides: A Guide to Creating a Pollinator Patch​