Don't save the Honey Bees....Save the Wild Bees
Honeybee colonies populations are actually increasing in Canada(From over 500,000 to over 700,000), and worldwide(from 50,000,000 to 80,000,000) from 1995 to 2015.
Honey bees are not native to NorthAmerica and are not needed to pollinate native plants as long as there is suitable habitat to support wild bees. Wild blueberries, saskatoons, sunflowers, squash, pumpkin, rasberries, grapes, cranberries and all the flowers, berries, hazelnuts, currants and seeds have no need for the honey bee to pollinate them. In fact many of these are poorly pollinated by honey bees , needing the buzz pollination of bumble bees,
It is the wild bee populations,(where studied), that have been plummeting.
Honey bee apiaries are part of the problem of these population declines. Honey bees are voracious requiring 2 million flower hits to make one pound of honey and each hive producing 80 to 160 pounds of honey. Honeybees outcompete local bee populations for nectar and pollen. In the vicinity of honey bee hives, wild bee populations of bees plummet. Besides the loss of floral resources to sustain wild bees, honey bee hives are disease laden and there is evidence of disease transfer of honey bee pathogens to wild bee populations
What will save Wild Bees?
1)Plant a wide variety of flowering plants especially native trees, shrubs and flowers. Choose a variety of plants that span the entire season from early spring to late fall and provide abundant nectar and pollen.
2)Avoid pesticides including herbicides
3) Provide nesting habitat on your property. Depending on the type of bee, nesting requirements vary. But undisturbed bare soil helps the ground nesters. Some bees overwinter in stems such as elderberry. raspberry, rose and sumac, cup plants, sunflowers, goldenrod, echinacea, swamp milkweed, wild bergamot. Leaving stems stating tall overwinter and into early summer until all overwintering bees have emerged will provide a place for wild bees to survive and emerge.
https://www.acsh.org/news/2018/04/17/bee-apocalypse-was-never-real-heres-why-12851
http://squamish.com/blog/save-wild-bees-dont-get-beehive/
http://www.humanegardener.com/how-to-really-save-the-bees/
https://xerces.org/bumblebees/
https://www.pollinatorsnativeplants.com/plant-lists--posters.html
