Helping Bees Thrive This Spring

Spring is an important season for bees as they emerge from overwintering and begin their search for food and shelter. It’s also the perfect time to take simple steps to support these essential pollinators.

By early April, you might spot mining bees, mason bees, carpenter bees and bumblebees buzzing around, while others, like sweat bees, wait for the warmer days of May.

Helping emerging bees is crucial for supporting pollinators. Many of the tips below are attainable for everyone to do and will have a lasting impact for our pollinator friends. Here’s how you can make a difference this spring!

Give them something to eat

Bumblebees are some of our first pollinators to emerge from overwintering in the spring. Bees and other pollinators rely on native plants that they have coevolved with for adequate nutrition so, where possible, add more regionally native plants to your gardens and shrink your lawns as much as you can with these:

Early blooming flowers

  • Dandelions (they might not be native, but they still help bees in early spring so leave them in your yard!)
  • Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris)
  • Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum)
  • Pasque Flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris)
  • Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides)
  • Yellow Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum)
  • Spotted Geranium (Geranium maculatum)
  • Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
  • Woodland Phlox (Phlox divaricata)
  • Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)
  • Large-flowered Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora)

Early blooming trees

  • Sweet Crabapple (Malus coronaria)
  • Oregon Crabapple (Malus fusca)
  • Red Maple (Acer rubrum)
  • Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana)
  • Peach Leaf Willow (Salix amygdaloides)
  • Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp)

Give them a place to nest

Don’t rush into spring cleaning! Bare ground cover, pile of leaves and dead stems? Leave it be. Many bees like bumblebees and ground nesting bees actually nest in the soil while other bees like mason bees often nest in hollow plant stems. Please leave the soil, leaves and stems undisturbed until the weather warms up for our dear pollinator friends.

Give them a place to rest

Let bees be your guest! Bee hotels are a great addition to your yard to help increase the chances of local bees surviving and attracting pollinators to your yard like like mason bees, leafcutter bees and resin bees. Here is a quick guide to get you started.

Fun fact! Leafcutting bees are used to pollinate alfalfa seed fields in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba – a crop that is valued at $40 million!

Give them a drink of water

Bees, like all living creatures, need water. Leave out a bees-friendly water source such as a small dish with rocks and other items for bees to perch on. This will help bees cool the hive temperature, feed their young and more.

Give them a chance at survival

Stop spraying pesticides and herbicides, it harms bees and other pollinators by contaminating their food sources and kills them. Did you know? One out of every three bites of food (fruits, vegetables, coffee, buts and spices) is created with the help of pollinators. We need pollinators more than they need us.