Native Bee Houses Benefitting Local Wildlife

Native Bee houses benefitting local wildlife

Many people are familiar with the honeybee colonies that pollinate a variety of our food crops in the U.S.A. Our native bees are less familiar, but actively pollinate our native plants and local small-scale food crops. There are as many as 600 bee species in San Diego County and more than 4,000 in the United States. Our native bees are vulnerable to threats such as habitat fragmentation, native plant loss and disease or sickness due to pesticide use.  You are taking action to help native bees when you plant native plants, use alternative outdoor pesticides, and provide places for bees to nest!

A native bee ‘house’ provides a place where one of our native female bees can lay their eggs. Some of our native bees burrow holes into wood to lay eggs. They use stands of dead trees, eaves of houses, and firewood piles. They pack the holes with pollen and saliva, then leave. The larvae snack on the pollen in the holes before they emerge. These solitary pollinators are non-aggressive, non-swarming and incredibly beneficial to our local habitat. Our decorative owl bee houses not only provide alternative nesting spots to relocate bees from pesky nesting areas, but supply additional nesting spots when needed.

Native Bee Houses at Etsy

JT Wood Designs uses reclaimed, recycled and reused materials to create one of a kind decorative art pieces that also serve a purpose. We create homes for native birds and native bees. While various types of bird houses are common; native bee nesting blocks are not as well known, so each house comes with a bee information card with tips for ideal placement in your yard, along with our business card with contact information.
If you would like more information about bees, there are amazing documentaries and bee resource websites available covering topics from mass pollination using honey bee colonies, colony collapse, habitat restoration, local bee conservation efforts, and the various species of native bees and their nesting habits (see links below).

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation 

California Native Plant Society 

Native Bee Conservancy