Bees are four-winged, flower-feeding insects with enlarged hind feet, branched or feathered body hairs, and generally a stinger. Honey bees and bumble bees are the most common with the bumble bee being larger and stronger.

The rapid wingbeats of bees create wind vibrations that humans hear as buzzing. The larger the bee, the slower the wingbeat resulting in a lower pitch of the buzz.

Other vibrations that cause the buzzing sounds are a result of the bees pulsating their wing muscles while shaking pollen off the flowers onto the bee’s body to be deposited on the next flower that is visited.

The bee brushes any remaining pollen into pollencarrying structures located on the mid-segments of its legs called a pollen basket and often referred to as “bee’s knees.” They then carry that pollen back to the hive to nurture the family and to aid in the manufacture of honey. Bees are sociable and relatively extroverted; they will invite lone bees to join their commune. Honeybees live in hives or colonies that may contain 20,000 to 100,000 bees.

Hives include one queen that creates all the broods for the hive (up to 1,500 eggs a day), hundreds of male drones, and thousands of female worker bees. The worker bees must visit several thousands of flowers a day to make a tablespoon of honey.

Research shows that about one-third of the human diet comes from insect pollinated plants. Those pollinators - bees, butterflies and moths - are responsible for one out of every three bites of food that we ingest. They also help to repopulate other plants, adding to the diversity of the environment that benefits the ecosystem making it more resilient.

Unfortunately, these pollinators have been in a decline for many years. The uncomplicated action of sowing seeds can be a powerful and crucial deterrent to that disastrous trend. We can easily create habitats that protect and feed those pollinators thus strengthening their populations.

The phenomenon called “hive collapse” in which large numbers of bees suddenly disappear has been a widely 46 discussed issue since 2006 as beekeepers noticed the loss of bee colonies. Some researchers attribute the problem to mites and insect diseases while others attribute it to environmental change, malnutrition and pesticides.

Another theory indicates that the numbers of bees have steadily declined because their genes do not equip them to fight poisons and disease when they are exposed to ailments that other insects may carry.

Bees have been known to travel more than four miles to collect pollen and nectar. They communicate by a process called the “waggle dance” where a bee indicates the location of food sources to other bees. Most bees gather pollen from a variety of plants while some “specialists” prefer collecting from plants with floral oils or those with a particular aromatic compound.

Bee keeping has become a profitmaking industry and a popular hobby throughout the world with many beekeepers maintaining substantial numbers of hives, harvesting the honey for commercial sale or, in the case of “yard bees” where a hobbyist will look after one or two hives, selling his honey locally in a kind of cottage-industry approach.

It has been noted that some ten thousand years ago, humans attempted to maintain colonies of bees using hollow logs, wooden boxes, and woven baskets until better understanding of bee biology and habits allowed the construction of moveable comb hives so honey could be harvested with no damage to the colony itself.

Thirty intact hives were found in an archeological site in the ruins of a city from 900 BCE. As many as one hundred hives made of straw and unbaked clay were placed in orderly rows that may have accommodated more than a million bees with a certain potential annual yield of 1,100 pounds of honey. This discovery was evidence that an advanced honey industry existed in ancient Israel more than 3,000 years ago.

Of the thousands of bee species known to exist, honey bees are for many reasons the pollinator of choice for most North American crops. The honey bee is responsible for eighty percent of the fertilization of food crops and they pollinate other types of plants too. They are known to visit the same plant repeatedly and will recruit other bees to visit those plants, all to our benefit.

Among the plants that honey bees favor are apples, nuts, avocados, soybeans, and asparagus as well as broccoli, celery, squash, and cucumbers. They also pollinate citrus trees and many fruits like peaches, kiwi, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, and other melons.

Creating a Bee-Friendly Garden  by employing a few simple tips in our home gardens, we can assist the bees in their quest to continue to feed the world.

Choose native species when determining what to plant in your home garden. Native bees and other pollinators are adapted to native plants in both their behaviors and in their physical traits, and the plants need them as well.

Make sure your garden is in bloom all year round. Grow a variety of plants that will bloom across the seasons from early spring thru fall so that pollen and nectar are always available. Varied bloom shapes and color will attract a wider variety of pollinators.

Only use non-toxic pest control and avoid using pesticides in your garden. Pesticides may be absorbed by the plant tissue and become present in all parts of the plant, including the nectar and pollen. Bees, butterflies, and other flowerhopping insects are harmed by the residues.

Avoid modern cultivars or hybrids, especially the “doubleblooms” which can be changed in scent, shape or even color just enough that pollinators can’t recognize them or access the nectar.

Include host plants to attract more bees to your garden that are rich in nectar and pollen. Bees are especially attracted to alyssum, zinnias, asters, sunflowers, and even culinary herbs like sage, thyme, lavender, dill and mint. Select more colorful plants and a wide variety of flowers.

Bees, like humans and most other animals, can see in color and are attracted to colorful plants and flowers.

Provide a source of water such as a shallow birdbath with stones in it, or some bare ground that is kept moist. All bees and butterflies need water, and they seek shallow water sources.

Create and protect nesting opportunities for native bees. Bumble bees construct nests in cavities, using either existing underground cavities, or cavities under spent or fallen plant material. Wood-nesting bees build their nests inside hollow tunnels in dead tree limbs and hollow plant stems. Ground nesting native bees need direct access to the soil surface, often on sloped or well-drained sites.