Becky Griffin, community and school garden coordinator with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and UGA Cooperative Extension, recently spoke with Southern Living about how to attract mason bees to gardens and why they’re important.
Mason bees specialize in pollinating and are helpful to have around. But Griffin points out that their habitat has been threatened.
“When we take away a ‘messy’ field or clean up our yards around our home, [mason bees] have no place to nest and reproduce,” she said.
To support mason bees, plant bee-friendly flowers, leave some “wild” areas in the garden, provide water, limit the use of pesticides and consider putting out a bee hotel.
“It’s not good for them if your garden is too tidy because they have no place to nest,” says Griffin.
