Save Ohio Bees

Happy Pollinator Week! Consider coneflower for your garden or flower pot. Coneflower, a.k.a. echinacea, is a gorgeous perennial pollinator magnet and medicinal plant that is native to Ohio.

CONGRATS to Jenny of Columbus, Ohio, who won our potted coneflower, garden tool, and wildflower seed giveaway at the // Franklin Park Conservatory Pollinator Palooza on Saturday!

Coneflower does well in an area that receives 6-8 hours of sun each day. They prefer medium well-drained soil, and like to be watered regularly when they are young and getting established.

Coneflower will bloom throughout the summer and through the fall until the frost comes, which is very helpful to late-season nesters like bumble bees.

You can cut the dead flowers to the next leaf stem to dead-head them, and place the spent heads on the ground for the birds and reseeding.

Avoid cutting the whole stem down, as the stems may be used by small cavity-nesting bees in the fall for overwintering.

To plant a young coneflower, dig a hole about twice the pot’s diameter. Backfill the hole to the top of the root ball. Space plants 1 to 3 feet apart. Water them in. Feed them, or place a thin layer of compost on the soil surface before adding mulch.

Coneflowers will also do well in a container/flower pot. At the end of the season, you can place the pot in the garage or basement after they go dormant, keep them watered from time to time, and bring them back out in the spring.

To get a list of Native Plants of Ohio, visit saveohiobees.org.

YAY! U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced critical habitat designation for the Rusty Patched bumble bee! They have designated about 1.5 MILLION acres of occupied critical habitat across 33 counties in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin under the Endangered Species Act.

Of the estimated 16-20 bumble bee species in Ohio, about half are already considered to be rare or uncommon.

The Rusty Patched bumble bee has only been sighted in Ohio twice in the last 20 years, and the Yellow-banded bumble bee has not been sighted here since 1981 (Goodell, et al., 2019).

Bumble bees are essential pollinators in North America, particularly of vegetable crops and ecosystems.

Ohio is one of the top 10 growers of pumpkins, tomatoes, bell peppers, grapes, apples, and strawberries, among others (Ohio Secretary of State, 2022), and 1 in 7 people in Ohio are employed by agriculture, making the health of bumble bees and other native bees essential to the families and economy of our region.

Pollinator habitat restoration is essential to the recovery of bumble bees and other native bees. Ohio is home to nearly 500 species of native bees!

Would you donate to restore pollinator habitat? Every $1,000 we raise restores at least 43,560 sq. ft. of pollinator habitat in Ohio. www.saveohiobees.org/donate

Did you know that Carpenter Bees are INCREDIBLE vegetable and crop pollinators? They look similar to the bumble bee, except they are larger and have a "shiny hiney" instead of a "fluffy butt". (These are technical terms you can use to impress your friends.)

ABOUT CARPENTER BEES

1. Carpenter bees are only attracted to dead, soft, unfinished wood. They don't know the difference between "good dead wood" and "bad dead wood."

2. They are solitary cavity nesters and superhero pollinators of many vegetables, crops, and flowers who use buzz pollination.

3. The female builds the nest, and the male guards it. But, he doesn't have a stinger! So, no worries. He only looks tough.

4. Female carpenter bees are brilliant little bees who will return to the same nesting place each year unless the wood has been well-sealed (painted and or stained with two coats) or the nesting place has been removed.

5. The BEST way to deter them is to seal all wood with two coats of stain or paint, and caulk or plug any open spots.

If they are trying to nest but NOT established, you can deter them with a simple, 3-ingredient peppermint oil spray (recipe below), or try Mighty Mint, a commercial product available at most stores.

5. If you find a nest or have an established nest, call a pro for evaluation. Look for pros who can relocate if possible. If the bees are only scouting, try this deterrent recipe.

PEPPERMINT OIL RECIPE

This 3-ingredient recipe for a natural deterrent spray may prevent them from nesting when regularly applied early morning, and late evening, when bees are not active (do not spray it on the bees).

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

A clean spray bottle (22 to 32 oz.) Add 2 Tablespoons of vegetable soap, like liquid castile soap or Murphy’s Oil Soap. Fill the spray bottle slowly with water. Add 10 to 20 drops of pure peppermint oil. They hate it! Swish and apply to wood per above.

Or, buy a similar retail product called Mighty Mint.

Hey, bee-ple! Have you ever noticed a tiny, metallic green insect land on you? This may be the gorgeous Sweat Bee.

Sweat Bees are known for their metallic, green, or green-blue color. They got their common name because of their attraction to the salty perspiration of humans and animals.

Sometimes they land on us to get a sip because they need a little more salt than the average bee, but fear not! They are gentle by nature and rarely sting. The rare sting is also very mild, similar to a pin prick.

Sweat Bees are native to every continent except Antarctica!
These 'lil ground nesters may be social or solitary. They are tiny in comparison to a honey bee and range from 3 to 10mm in length.

One of their pollinator superpowers is their contribution to forest biodiversity. They can fly up to ONE MILE in a forest while providing pollination services. That would be like a human walking from New York to Los Angeles. WOW!

Sweat Bees are also important pollinators of native wildflowers and stone fruit trees.

Thank you, Sweat Bees, for being amazing.