How you can support wild bees by installing a BeeHome on your property

In the bee world, honey bees tend to get all the hype. We get it – they’re social, domesticated, and responsible for making the honey we all love so much. But did you know honey bees are just one of over 20,000 bee species? Today, let’s shine the light on the wild bees who are critical for maintaining biodiversity within ecosystems and who deserve some serious love and support.

WHAT ARE WILD BEES?

Unlike domestic honeybees, which have been domesticated by beekeepers, wild bees are just that: wild. These undomesticated bees are often solitary bees, meaning they do not form colonies. They create nests in the ground or in cavities (like dead wood, hollow logs, or plant stems) and often do not produce honey. Most wild bee species live for about four to six weeks, during which time they reproduce and create brood cells.

Solitary bees include a wide variety of native pollinators, such as leafcutter bees, mining bees, cuckoo bees, and the well-known mason bees. See this article for 10 types of bees you probably never heard of.

Leaf cutter bee

Mason bee

Wool carder bee

Wild bees are very effective pollinators – sometimes even more so than honey bees. For example, just one mason bee can do the pollination services equivalent to over 100 honey bees! This efficiency is particularly notable for many crops like tomatoes and blueberries, where wild bees excel due to their specialized pollinators techniques and ability to collect pollen from different plants.

Unlike honey bees that store nectar for the colony, female bees of solitary species gather pollen and nectar solely to nourish their developing young.

WHY DO WILD BEES NEED SUPPORT?

All pollinators are facing the same main issue: habitat loss and lack of available food sources. The vast expansion of urban centers and increasing prevalence of monocultures have resulted in a lack of biodiversity and a disappearance of essential pollinator habitat.

Bee populations are also impacted by climate change, pesticide use, and colony collapse disorder, which together threaten both managed bees and wild bee communities.

The loss of flowering plants and pollinator friendly plants further limits access to the food they need. Since most bee species are solitary, they rely heavily on access to appropriate nesting sites and a wide variety of native plants to thrive.

Over the last decade at Alvéole, we’ve watched thousands of people connect with honey bees, fall in love, and become full-fledged ambassadors for the protection of these creatures. Now it’s time to extend that same love and awareness to native wild bees and other bees that are just as crucial to our ecosystems.

MEET THE EXPERTS IN WILD BEE HOSPITALITY

Wild bees deserve the best of the best, so we partnered with the experts. Based in Switzerland, Wildbiene + Partner supports the survival of wild bees through extensive educational work and by creating habitats for solitary bees, including the BeeHomes we install on rooftops and other unused spaces on properties.

WHAT IS A BEEHOME AND HOW CAN THEY HELP?

One way to support native bees is by installing a BeeHome on your property, a place for solitary bees to create nests and lay their eggs. These structures help in a few meaningful ways.

Additionally, creating a wildflower meadow with native plants and pollinator friendly plants is a great step toward attracting many bees, giving them access to vital nectar and foraging options throughout early summer, mid summer, and into the fall.

Offer wild bees a safe place to nest

BeeHomes are made up of many hollow wooden tubes where female bees can lay their eggs, keeping them protected through their full life cycle until the adult bees emerge the following season.

As part of Alvéole’s BeeHome service, mason bee cocoons are harvested at the end of the season. They are cleaned of parasites and stored safely over the winter before being released in the spring. This process dramatically increases the survival rate of future native wild bees.

Bring visibility to these often invisible bees

They tend to receive less attention than bumble bees and honey bees, but once you get up close with wild bees, they’re impossible not to love. The BeeHome’s observation drawer allows you to take a peek right inside the nesting tubes without disturbing the bees, a front-row seat to the amazing diversity of bees in action.

Alvéole clients are key players in spreading awareness and appreciation for important pollinators. Through team building activities and educational workshops, the wild bee fan club is multiplying!

Track your building’s impact

Each time your Alvéole beekeeper inspects your BeeHome, you’ll receive an update on the number of tubes used and the species of bees identified. At the end of the season, a report will summarize their health and offer guidance to make your property an even better home for native pollinators in the years to come.

Make urban spaces greener

Alvéole is part of the 1% for the Planet movement, meaning 1% of our annual revenue goes back to environmental nonprofits carrying out urban greening initiatives in every city where our bees buzz. In other words, every BeeHome installed financially contributes to planting more flowering plants and supporting native pollinators across urban landscapes.