Bees and Pollinators

The way we garden and manage landscapes can help attract bees and other pollinators. Learn how to improve the health of pollinators. And discover beekeeping resources. This information is relevant for homeowners, gardeners, landscape professionals, producers, and commercial and backyard beekeepers.

Featured programs

Oregon Master Beekeeper Program

Are you curious about bees and how to keep them? Are you interested in learning how to become a better beekeeper? Do you want to help others learn about bees? Bee informed with the Oregon Master Beekeeper Program! ...

Program

Bee Steward Program

Do you want to help pollinators on your farm, managed forest, rangeland, golf-course or community garden? Are you looking for practical training on how to build, maintain and establish pollinator habitat?

Program

Master Melittologist Program

Although we estimate there are 500 species of bees in Oregon, there has never been a concerted survey of the state’s bees. Without even a checklist of species, it is very difficult to know whether the health of Oregon ...

Program

Pollinator habitat

Resources for building bee pollinator habitat in managed forests.

Postcards showing where native bees nest in managed forests can be obtained from the Oregon Bee Project (oregonbeeproject.org).

Brad Withrow-Robinson, Lauren Grand, Max Bennett, Christine Buhl | Mar 2020 | Article

Buzzing and Beautiful: Designing Pollinator Gardens with OSU Extension

A recording of a webinar touring through two new OSU guides to help you garden for pollinators and then ask questions of all the authors. We covered everything from what shrubs to plant, how to use mason bees, shrubs and...

Signe Danler, Andony Melathopoulos, Neil Bell, Amy Jo Detweiler, Nicole Sanchez, Heather Stoven | Jun 2020 | Video

Creating native bee habitat in the landscape

Learn how to support bee populations on your property with advice from Melittologists.

Aug 2022 | Collection

Explore pollinator habitat resources

Enhancing Urban and Suburban Landscapes to Protect Pollinators

The way we garden and manage the landscapes of the Northwest can help promote the health of bees, butterflies and other insects. Homeowners, gardeners, landscape professionals and volunteer groups all can work to attract a wide range of pollinators to their properties.

This guide offers detailed plant lists, garden designs and advice on creating pollinator habitat. Once plants are in the ground, learn to keep them healthy without exposing pollinating insects to pesticides that are toxic to them.

Explore more

Photo Credit: Andy Holmes - Unsplash.com (Cropped from original)

Native bees

Wandering squash bees and their millennia-long pursuit of squash cultivation

Few insects can digest the pollen of squash plants. But where squash plants go, squash bees have followed. Now, they've made it from Mexico and the Intermountain West all the way to Oregon. Learn about the journey of these special bees and their kinship to this family of plants.

Miranda Jones | Mar 2021 | Article

Gardeners And Native Bees-Langellotto

In urban areas, gardens promote bee abundance and diversity.

Mar 2019 | Educational document

Learning about forests and native bees

Researchers, forest managers and citizen scientists are working together to discover what native bees live in Oregon forests.

Amy Grotta | Feb 2019 | Article

Native Bee interactions with plants

Learn which pollinators are attracted to various flowering plants.

Aug 2022 | Collection

More native bee resources

Mason bees

Nurturing Mason Bees in Your Backyard in Western Oregon

An overview of mason bee basic biology and life cycle, and detailed descriptions of what is needed to start keeping mason bees, including desirable plants, nesting sites and types of nests, and caring for the cocoons over fall and winter. There are many helpful color photos throughout.

Brooke Edmunds, Ramesh Sagili | Feb 2016 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

214 - Paul - Mason Bees in (an unusually) Cool Wet Spring

Jerry Paul from the Benton Soil and Water Conservation District (BSWCD). Heath is BSWCD’s Communication and Community Engagement Manager and Jerry has been involved with BSWCD as a volunteer and Board Member. PolliNation caught ...

Andony Melathopoulos | Jun 2022 | Podcast episode

179- Michael Branstetter - The deep history of the mason bees

Mason bees in the subgenus Osmia emerged sometime before the ice-age, likely in Europe and Asia, but they radiated into North America early on in their history, resulting in one of the most beloved solitary bees, the blue ...

Andony Melathopoulos | May 2021 | Podcast episode

Find out more about mason bees

How to Reduce Bee Poisoning from Pesticides

Use this app to learn how a variety of wild and managed bees and their pollination activities are affected by pesticide application. Includes guidelines for how beekeepers, growers, and pesticide applicators can work together to prevent bee poisoning.

Download the free app

Photo Credit: CL Medien - Adobe Stock (Cropped from original)

Honey bees

Honey Bee Colony Maintenance Expenses: Supplemental Feed, Requeening and Medication

Success in pollination, honey production and other aspects of a beekeeping business depends on honey bee health. Strong, thriving colonies require many inputs from the beekeeper, including feed (carbohydrates and protein), medications and new queens when necessary.

Ellen Topitzhofer, Carolyn Breece, Ramesh Sagili | May 2020 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Beekeeping Equipment Expenses: Woodenware and Other Components

Woodenware for a typical honey bee colony includes vertically stackable boxes with removable frames, a bottom board, lid and a queen excluder. The most common design is Langstroth equipment. Langstroth colony configuration varies ...

Ellen Topitzhofer, Carolyn Breece, Ramesh Sagili | May 2020 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Revenue Sources for a Commercial Beekeeping Operation in the Pacific Northwest

Pollination services and honey production are the primary revenue sources for a beekeeping business based in the Pacific Northwest. Those starting a beekeeping operation should focus on two to three revenue sources initially and ...

Ellen Topitzhofer, Carolyn Breece, Ramesh Sagili | May 2020 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

213 - Whitford and Feken - The complex life of the honey bee

Frederick “Fred” Whitford, Clinical Engagement Professor, Botany and Plant Pathology and Director of Purdue Pesticide Programs. Fred received his bachelor’s degree in wildlife management from Louisiana Tech. He has expertise in ...

Andony Melathopoulos | Jun 2022 | Podcast episode

OSU Honey Bee Lab

The Honey Bee Research and Extension program focuses on honey bee health, nutrition, and pollination with a goal of servicing commercial beekeepers, backyard beekeepers, producers, and all citizens that are interested in bees.

Nov 2019 | Online resource

Learn more about honey bees

Latest News

Extension activity book ‘a perfect fit’ for nexus of pollinator, nutrition education

"Explore the Bees of Oregon," geared to all ages, specifically provides knowledge to kids while they’re having fun

Kym Pokorny | Apr 13, 2022 | News story

Master Melittologists garner national award for biodiversity conservation

Brothers Dan and Michael O'Loughlin of Yamhill County received the national Farmer-Rancher Pollinator Conservation Award from the National Association of Conservation Districts and the Pollinator Partnership.

Kym Pokorny | Nov 18, 2021 | News story

OSU study will provide insight into optimal nutrition for bees

With the $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, the team hopes to improve bee nutrition by building a database of macro and micronutrients found in the flowering plants used in the study.

Kym Pokorny | Jul 26, 2021 | News story

Browse all resources

Explore more resources

Flowers, Shrubs, and Trees

Gardening Techniques

Sustainability

Insects

Integrated Pest Management

Pesticide Safety and Education

Upcoming Events

Aug 25

Coos Beekeepers monthly meeting "Honey Harvesting"

6:00 pm - 7:30 pm Myrtle Point, OR

Sep 10

Low Maintenance Gardening

10:00 am - 12:00 pm PDT Online

Sep 24

Fall 2022 Master Gardener BioBlitz

Online

Oct 18

Make Your Garden into a Pollinator Haven!

6:30 pm - 7:30 pm PDT Online

Meet Our Experts

Brooke Edmunds

Community Horticulture, Master Gardeners

Contact me with gardening questions from Marion or Polk counties

Gail Langellotto

Master Gardener Statewide Coordinator

Contact me for insect and gardening questions.

Andony Melathopoulos

Pollinator Health Extension Specialist, Pollinator Ecology/Ecotoxicology

Smiling woman in white and pink outfit against bamboo background.

Elizabeth Records

Education Program Assistant

Contact me about becoming a Master Gardener Volunteer in Linn or Benton County. For plant/garden questions, please follow the link to "Have a Gardening Question?"

Have a question? Ask an Expert!

Ask an Expert is a way for you to get answers from the Oregon State University Extension Service. We have experts in family and health, community development, food and agriculture, coastal issues, forestry, programs for young people, and gardening.

Ask us a question

How can I support the endangered Monarch butterfly?

Q: I recently read in the news that the Monarch Butterfly was added to the endangered species list. What can I plant in my garden to help the butterfly? I read that milkweed plants are their natural habitat. Yesterday I ...

A: View answer | View all featured questions

See More Questions