Feed the Bees: Let Sleeping Logs Lie

Along with posting about Purple Martins and our native prairie restoration efforts, I'm starting a new series here on my blog, called, "Feed the Bees". With the recent reports of the decline in the insect populations, it's becoming more & more imperative that we start taking a look at what we can do in our own micro-environments to help maintain or restore the insect populations. All life depends on our pollinators and if they die, we die.

I used to think the Virburnum, dandelions and wild plums were the first bloomers in spring. But this year, I was delighted to find this wee little flower growing all over my yard. It's called, Houstonia Pusilla - or more commonly:

Tiny Bluet, Small Bluet, or Least Bluet

As I've driven around Missouri in search of other purple martin sites and talked with people about their resident birds, I've seen a lot of man-made lawns and hay fields that really don't support the insect populations we need to sustain pollination.  But, I'm only one person.  I understand to some people, it can be daunting to try to figure out how to change a lawn into an eco-friendly garden that will support so many types of wildlife. With this blog, I'm hoping to encourage others to take baby steps towards supporting our insect populations, including ALL our pollinators, as well as reduce the back-breaking work that people do to maintain these sterile lawns.

Our "extended" Savanna - we were going to burn it this year (it's 4 years old), but life happens and we didn't make the window. So instead, we mowed down the dead stuff and mulched all the leaves. It's ready to be a bee-haven again this year.

 

We currently own 23 acres here in Licking, Missouri. For a long time, I was focused on picking up the dead branches that had fallen from some of the trees. It was back-breaking work. It was hard. And during the summer, it was hot and, even after spraying myself with Deet, I would still end up with a tick or chigger bite as my reward for my hard work. We would wait for it to rain, and then when there was little chance of a fire spreading to the neighbor's hay fields, we would burn all the old, dead and decaying wood.

We planted 50 of these wild plums as mere twigs(purchased from George White Nursery) in 2008 / 2009. I still remember crawling through the ragweed that got taller than the twigs and cutting it back to let the small trees get some sunlight. Today, 32 of them survived and on average they stand at approx. 14-15 feet and have a plethora of blossoms in the spring, providing a lot of early pollen & food for the bees.

 The plants in the southern fields have started to turn green.

The western half of the southern field - mowed and raked - will possibly be burned again next year. It has been planted for 7 years.

The eastern half of the southern field. mowed & raked to remove the duff. Also planted 7 years ago.

After reading more about bees however, I have learned that some of them actually NEED this dead, decaying wood in order to survive.  They also need undisturbed soil, covered with dead leaves, etc.

When Bob mowed the fields, he accidentally killed this black snake. It makes me sad when a snake dies, but we left it in the field for any scavengers to partake. Poor guy...wondering why he didn't hear the thundering of the tractor and get out of the way.

So, no more bonfires here on Gobbler's Knob to burn limbs or dead trees. From now on, we'll be piling up the dead wood and letting it decay. The larger limbs from these piles will be used to create new brush piles and cover for the resident quail (and other incidental wildlife that takes advantage of the refuge.

A dead tree. It was struck by lightning and then the insects and woodpeckers finished it off. We'll push it over and it will be at the base of the rest of the pile, providing food & cover for the bees & insects to make use of it.

We trimmed some of the lower limbs on our trees for two reasons: 1) Bob can mow under the trees now without getting slapped in he head by a low limb and; 2) the hawks that come after my martins won't be able to use them as cover. They will be piled on top of the dead tree log above and given over to nature's use.

Small limbs & rubbish will be piled up for the insects to make use of.

This will take a little bit of muscle, so Bob will use the tractor to push it all up together. Then, we'll make a nice brush pile for quail cover next to it. I can't wait to see what kinds of insects move in!

More limbs to add to the pile.

Supporting the Ground Nesters

How can we support ground-nesting bees and other ground-nesting insects?

1. Protect existing nesting sites (insects can be observed entering ground tunnels, small piles of soil often surround the entrances)
   • Do not disturb the soil (avoid tilling, digging, vehicular traffic)
   • Do not cover soil with mulch
   • Maintain existing vegetation, which is usually sparse, by removing strong-growing plants (shrubs, invasive weeds)
   • Nesting sites can be protected from predators like skunks and raccoons by covering the area with chicken wire
2. Create man-made nesting sites for ground-nesting bees
   • In gardens, areas can be dedicated for nesting sites. Rock gardens are ideal as they usually have well-draining soil and low vegetation. Some areas need to be kept free of vegetation. Rocks and clumps of perennials are helpful as orientation for bees to find their nest entrances. Bees choose sunny locations for their nesting sites and prefer slopes exposed to the southeast, which warm up quickly in the morning.

Supporting Tunnel-nesting Bees

How can we support bees nesting in wood tunnels and hollow stems?

• Leave dead trees standing as long as they are not a safety hazard.
• Do not remove dead wood and fallen trees from forests
• Pile up logs from cut trees (especially those containing burrows) to allow larvae of beetles, wood wasps and horntails to complete their life cycles, and to provide abandoned tunnels for nesting bees.
• Do not remove plant stems of dormant perennials and grasses from garden beds until early spring, and leave removed stems in a loose piles for as long as possible to allow young bees to hatch from their nesting material.
• Do not mow wild meadows more than once a year, ideally in early spring.

Shelter for Overwintering

It’s important to provide shelter for overwintering insects:

• As much as possible, keep leaf litter in woodlands and garden beds where it falls.
• Create stone, brush and wood piles as shelters for overwintering insects.
• Wait to cut down old stems and clumps of perennials until late winter or early spring.

Table 1. Nesting locations of common bee and wasp genera
Ground-Nesters:
Bare patches of well-drained soil, most often sandy or silty loam that does not collapse when dry and is soft enough for digging, but some species nest in pure sand, others in river banks that are periodically inundated	Mining Bees	Andrena
	Minute Mining Bees	Perdita
	Cellophane Bees	Colletes inaequalis
	Slender Sweat Bees	Lasioglossum
	Dark Sweat Bees	Halictus
	Green sweat Bees	Agapostemon, Augochlora, Augochlorella
	Digger Wasps	Sphex
	Horse Guard	Stictia
	Spider Wasps	Entypus
	Sand Wasps	Bembix
Wood and Stem-Nesters:
Tunnels in trees, logs, rotting wood, and also hollow stems of herbaceous plants and grasses, as well as wooden structures and old masonry	Mason Bees	Osmia
	Yellow-faced Bees	Hylaeus
	Carder Bees	Anthidium
	Leafcutter Bees	Megachile
	Large Carpenter Bees	Xylocopa
	Small Carpenter Bees	Ceratina
	Resin Bees	Anthidiellum, Dianthidium
	Mason Wasps	Euodynerus
Cavity-Nesters:
Abandoned mouse nests, cavities in the soil, in trees and buildings,	Bumble Bees	Bombus
	Paper Wasps	Polistes
	Yellow Jackets	Vespula