Creating native bee habitat in the landscape

Winter blooms feed the bees

A great way to help native bees is to provide bee-friendly flowering plants in your yard, especially ones that bloom in the winter. In western Oregon, heather is one such reliable winter bloomer.

Martha Richards | Aug 2021 | OSU Extension Catalog

Less showy flower petals mean more pollinators

As beautiful as they are to us, some horticulturally “improved” varieties of flowers just aren’t as attractive to bees, butterflies and other insects. Doubled petals, in particular, may block access to nectar or pollen.

Ellen Silva | Aug 2021 | OSU Extension Catalog

Leave behind some stems for bee habitat

Home gardeners can provide natural habitat for native bees by leaving behind the dried, pithy stems of shrubs such as raspberries, elderberries and hydrangea. It's in those stems that carpenter bees build their nests.

Leana Dickerson | Apr 2025 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Gray level)

Maintain a bee-friendly garden in fall and winter, too

Many home gardeners put much effort into attracting bees to their summer flower and vegetable gardens. But it's just as important to be bee-friendly in the fall and winter. Here's how to do it.

Candy Solovjovs | Dec 2024 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Gray level)

Carpenter bees are right at home in dead blackberry canes

That tangle of dead blackberry canes just might be hiding new life! Look for hollow stems, signs that the small carpenter bee has built a safe nest for her eggs.

Ellen M. Silva | Dec 2024 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Gray level)

Raspberry canes and carpenter bees

If you want to raise bees in your yard but aren't up to maintaining a hive, old raspberry canes might be the answer. Friendly carpenter bees like to burrow into spent berry canes to create their nests.

Jocelyn McAuley | Dec 2024 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Gray level)

Nesting habits of solitary bees

Providing healthy habitat alongside pollen and nectar sources for our native bees is one of the best ways to support a healthy pollinator population. For cavity-nesting bees, home can be as simple as a hole in the wall.

Leana Dickerson | Dec 2024 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Gray level)