PROMOTING POLLINATORS: NIAGARA beeS ANd hOw TO heLP … · Mow lawns less frequently and grow a mixed lawn that includes low-growing ﬂowers that provide food for bees. Consider

Niagara CommunityObservatory

NCO Policy Brief #39 | May 2019 By Miriam Richards

PROMOTING POLLINATORS:

NIAGARA beeS ANd hOw TO heLP TheM

NCO Policy Brief 1 September 2018NCO Policy Brief 1 May 2019

The status of bees in NiagaraIt is well known that wild bee populations havedeclined in many regions. The main threat to bees, asto most wild animals and plants, is habitat loss. Insummer, bees require places to build their nests, andflowers from which to gather nectar and pollen tofeed to their offspring. In winter, bees require places

IntroductionThe Niagara Community Observatory (NCO) has partnered with Miriam Richards, a professor in theDepartment of Biological Sciences at Brock University to explore some of the realities of land-use in Niagara: its impact on bee communities, and ultimately on the integrity of our biodiversity. Niagara isno exception to the current “tsunami” of human-dominated land uses that are washing over naturaland semi-natural habitats and compromising the welfare of bees, specifically wild bees. Bees commanda functionally significant and economically vital role in our lives. Given that the vast majority of floweringplants are pollinated by insects, it is not far-fetched to imagine a “pollination crisis” in the near futureif current trends and attitudes in land-use continue unabated. The combined waves of urbanization,agricultural expansion and industrial-site abandonment in Niagara and communities across Canada arecreating compounding effects on bee diversity. From the analysis and recommendations put forwardby Prof. Richards in this policy brief, regional and local municipalities along with ordinary residents canengage in a concerted effort to rethink land-use planning and calibrate our approach to the surroundingnatural and semi-natural habitats. From a public policy standpoint, balancing the goals of efficient,effective, ethical and ecologically sound use of the land cuts across many policy objectives, and Niagarawill be well prepared to navigate this landscape. A systematic campaign toward greater public awarenessand strategic policy action will be necessary to preserve the pollination of crops as well as of wild flowersthat we so often take for granted.

Charles Conteh, Director, NCO, Brock University

to overwinter, where they can remain dry and avoidice crystals.

Intensive human activity has strongly reshaped theNiagara landscape, especially since Europeansettlement, and this has undoubtedly influencedNiagara’s wild bee populations. In comparison with

NCO Policy Brief # 39:Layout 1 01/05/2019 1:47 PM Page 1

NCO Policy Brief 2 May 2019

1The landfill was located adjacent to residential communities and agencies such as the Niagara Region headquarters, Brock University,and Shaver Hospital, which amplified concerns around storm sewer overflows, gas odours, degradation of groundwater and surfacewater. The NCO published a policy brief in 2010 on the restoration of the quarry site: https://brocku.ca/niagara-community-observatory/wp-content/uploads/sites/117/Niagara%E2%80%99s-Natural-Park.pdf

NIAGARA’S DIVERSE BEE GROUPSSweat bees The sweat bees are a diverse group of bees and themost abundant bees in Niagara. Their name derivesfrom their habit oflanding on humans tolick their perspiration.Most of the sweat beesare rather plain, blackbees that many peoplemistake for flies, butseveral species arebright, emerald green,at least in part. Sweatbees are an especiallyinteresting group behaviourally that excavateburrows underground. Some species are solitary,each female digging her own nest and raising herown brood. In Niagara, most sweat bees are social,living in colonies comprised of a queen that laysmost of the eggs, and workers that do the workrequired to raise the queen’s brood, rarely laying eggsof their own. One of the most attractive and easilyrecognizable sweat bees is the BicolouredAgapostemon (Agapostemon virescens), which has abright green head and thorax, with a black andyellow-striped abdomen. It also lives in colonies,but with an interesting twist – instead of beingdominated by one queen, Agapostemon societies areegalitarian, and each female can lay eggs.

other areas of southern Ontario, bee diversity inNiagara is relatively low. Niagara bees are floralgeneralists, which means they can utilize pollen andnectar from a variety of different types of flowers. Thefloral specialists still common in other parts ofsouthern Ontario probably disappeared withextensive conversion of natural habitat to agriculturaland urban uses. We cannot know for sure, becauseNiagara’s bees remained almost unknown until theBrock Bee Lab began systematic research here in2003.

In 2003, the Brock Bee Lab began long-termmonitoring of bee populations at the newly restoredGlenridge Quarry Naturalization Site (GQNS), insouthern St. Catharines. This site, which was first afarm, then a quarry, and then one of the mostnotorious landfills in Canada , is now an urban oasisof bee habitat on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment.1

Replanting the site following closure of the landfill in2003 resulted in immediate and dramatic recoloniza-tion of the site by bee populations. By 2006, beepopulations at the GQNS were higher than those ofsurrounding meadows at Brock University. Therestoration of both vegetation and bees, as well as themany other species that now call the GQNS home,has provided crucial evidence that habitat restorationworks in efforts to increase bee populations. In 2011,two additional landfills were restored in Port Colborne(Elm St. Naturalization Site) and Wainfleet (StationRd. Naturalization Site). Monitoring of beepopulations at these sites confirms the success of theapproach pioneered at the GQNS: when habitat isrestored, bees rapidly move in, first to find floralresources, and then to build their nests.

The success of Niagara Region’s restoration projectsat the Glenridge, Elm Street, and Station Road Natu-ralization Sites, is something about which Niagararesidents can be happy and proud. But these are smallspaces compared to the overall size of Niagara – theyare islands in a sea of human development. Thesmaller an island, the fewer individuals and species itcan support, even if it is protected. What bees (andmany other species) need is more habitat. The natu-ralization sites prove that creating habitat increases

bee populations. So, what can we do to create morehabitat?

What are bees?Technically, bees are wasps that evolved to use pollenas a protein source for feeding to their babies. Likeany animal, baby insects need protein to grow –wasps are efficient predators that usually providetheir offspring with insect prey, whereas adultsmostly live on a carbohydrate diet, namely the nectarproduced by flowers. Fossil evidence suggests thatbees split from their wasp ancestors about 100



million years ago, prior to the evolution of theflowering plants. In fact, bees are sometimes saidto have “invented” flowers: plants that were moresuccessful at attracting bees to collect pollen,would have produced more seeds as bees acciden-tally transferred pollen among them. Flowers andnectar both seem to have evolved as ways ofattracting bees more efficiently.

There are at least 20,000 species of bees in theworld, about 800 in Canada, and at least 150species in Niagara, yet when most people thinkabout bees, they think of honey bees. Most peopleare surprised to learn that honey bees are domes-ticated insects that were brought to the New Worldto provide European colonists with honey – theyare not native to North America. Nowadays,honey-bee colonies are also shipped far and wideto provide pollination services for agriculturalcrops. It is important to keep this in mind, becausehoney bees are a non-native species that competeswith wild bees for access to pollen and nectarresources. In fact, honey bees are implicated indeclines of wild bees, because they compete withwild bees for pollen and nectar resources and mayalso spread diseases to which wild bees aresusceptible.

Creating bee habitat in NiagaraNiagara’s human population is growing, andnatural habitat continues to be converted to urbanand industrial development. Conversion of naturallandscapes is sometimes obvious, as when forest iscleared for housing developments, but more subtletypes of habitat conversion often go unnoticed.Every field that is converted to a new housingdevelopment results in the deaths of thousands ofbees and myriad other small creatures. The badnews is that every time flowers and nest sites aredestroyed, we lose more bees. The reality is thatdevelopment will continue – can we mitigate thedamage to pollinator populations? The good newsis, that habitat restoration on both large and smallscales helps bees. The trick then is to provide morehabitat – and that can happen if we learn to see theworld through the eyes of bees and otherpollinators.

Learning to see the world through bees’ eyes meanslearning to look at big spaces in landscapes as

places where bees live, instead of as places to be usedprimarily by urban humans. We need to think aboutthe challenges that small creatures like bees face asthey go about their daily lives. As an example, imaginean abandoned farm field slated for development.Where humans see emptiness or “weeds”, bees see acornucopia of flowers that provide pollen and nectar.Where humans see fast-growing, untidy shrubs, beessee shady resting places and nest sites. Wherehumans see patches of useless bare soil, ground-nesting bees find nesting and hibernation sites.

Seeing the world through bees’ eyes is not just for big

WHY SHOULD WE CARE?Pollinators

Pollinators are animals that help plants toreproduce by moving pollen among blossoms.Pollen is to plants what sperm is to animals –the male gametes that are required for fertil-ization and production of seeds. Althoughsome plants self-fertilize, many plants requirean animal intermediary to move pollen fromthe flower in which it was produced toanother flower, where it will fertilize an ovumand produce seeds and fruits. Some plants arewind-pollinated, but many are pollinated byanimals that collect pollen and accidentallydeposit it on different blossoms as they movefrom flower to flower. There are many kindsof animal pollinators in Niagara, includingbutterflies, beetles, and flies, but the mostimportant are bees. Bees are the primarypollinators of several crops important toNiagara’s agricultural sector. Althoughhoney bees often get the credit, Niagara’smostly unnoticed and unappreciated wildbees are important pollinators for fruittrees, vegetables, and hay crops. Wild andcultivated flowers also require pollinationand much of this is also done by Niagara’swild bees.


NCO Policy Brief 1 September 2018

spaces. Because bees are small creatures, bee habitatcan be provided on a small scale – providing beehabitat is as simple as providing them with food, nestsites, and hibernation sites. For instance, a “perfect”lawn provides no resources to bees – it containsneither flowers nor nesting sites and may even betreated with bee-killing insecticides. An “imperfect”lawn that contains clover and dandelions, and a fewpatches of bare soil, provides both food and nest sitesfor bees. The main change is in our attitudes andperceptions – from the point of view of bees and bee-lovers, the “imperfect” lawn is actually the “perfect” lawn.


A crucial role for institutions,businesses, and local governmentsInstitutions, businesses, government, and other or-ganizations can provide flowers for food and placesfor bees to nest and hibernate. Many institutionsoperate buildings surrounded by large lawns –consider a different approach to lawn maintenancethat would encourage bees. Mow lawns lessfrequently and grow a mixed lawn that includes low-growing flowers that provide food for bees. Considershrinking the lawns by replacing them with showcasegardens of native Ontario plants. Don’t promotehoney-bee keeping as a way to “Save the Bees”.

Set a new aesthetic standard forgardensMunicipal and regional governments, including insti-tutions like the Niagara Peninsula ConservationAuthority, have an especially crucial role to play inpromoting wild bee diversity. Scientific studiesdemonstrate that bee diversity can be quite high incities – the crucial factors are whether bees can findfood and nest sites. Local governments can promotean approach to gardening and landscaping thatpromotes wildness, instead of tidiness, as thestandard for defining beauty and respectability ingardens. Government buildings could be surroundedby pollinator gardens designed to attract bees andother small creatures, rather than being designed toemphasize traditional, formal beds of non-nativeplants. The plants purchased to stock those gardensshould be purchased from nurseries that canguarantee they were not treated with insecticides,especially systemics like neonicotinoids. The lawnssurrounding these buildings could be managed toinclude low-growing flowers that provide food forbees. Mowing lawns less often and using fewer or noinsecticides would save money for more importantpurposes.

Prevent habitat loss and create newhabitatThe most important cause of wild bee populationdecline worldwide is habitat loss. Preventing habitat

NIAGARA’S DIVERSE BEE GROUPSBumble bees These large, fluffy bees live in colonies that lastfrom spring to autumn. At least 13 species arefound in Niagara, including the Common EasternBumble Bee, Bombus impatiens, a native speciesthat is also raised commercially for pollination ingreenhouses. In spring, very large young queens

leave their hibernationburrows and beginsearching for places tonest. Bumble beefemales do not dig theirown burrows, insteadrenovating holes andchambers that they findin sheltered spots wherethe nest will remain dry.Each queen bumble bee

starts her own nest inspring, first raising a few very small daughters thatwill become workers. Amazingly, queen bumblebees incubate their young, much like birds do.Once the workers have become adults, they takeover the work of the colony, leaving the queen tofocus on laying eggs. Towards the middle ofsummer, the colony begins rearing big futurequeens and males. These mate in late summer orfall, and the new queens enter hibernation to startthe colony cycle again the next year.



loss in the first place and recreating habitat wherelosses have already occurred, are the two most crucialroles for government. A crucial factor influencing beeabundance and diversity in cities is the amount ofimpervious surface in a city, in other words, the

amount of pavement in an area. Wherever surfacesare paved, flowers cannot grow, and bees cannot nest.Urban spaces could be designed with less impervioussurface. For instance, many strip malls and shoppingmalls are surrounded by enormous parking lots, andin some cases, these parking lots are never full, even

at the busiest times of the year. An additionalproblem created by these large impervious surfacesis the amount of rain water they collect and directinto overloaded sewer systems. Local governmentscould require that shopping malls and other retail andbusiness developments limit the size of parking lotsto accommodate the number of cars actually usingthe lot.

A success story to emulateNiagara Region’s Waste Management Division hasturned three former landfill sites into naturalizationsites -- beautiful parks that support pollinators, otherwildlife, and recreational use by citizens. If formergarbage dumps can be turned into pollinator havens,then so too can many former industrial sites. Thiswould be especially beneficial for sites that areunlikely ever to be redeveloped due to concerns oversoil contamination. Niagara’s cities and towns aredotted with abandoned former industrial sites andbusiness areas. Often, the buildings are removedfrom these sites, but they remain covered withimpermeable surfaces like concrete floors and parkinglots. While some of these may be slated for eventualredevelopment, this may take years or decades.Instead, the impermeable surfaces could be removed,and the sites planted as new naturalization sites,providing attractive green space for bees, otherwildlife, and people.

What Niagara residents can do for beesGrow flowers

The easiest thing to do is to provide bee food. Beesare active from spring to fall and during that time theyneed access to both nectar and pollen. Plan yourgarden so that there are always some flowers inbloom. Focus on flowers that don’t have reallycomplicated shapes or masses of petals that hide thecentre of the flower. Grow vegetables that produceflowers – some of these attract specialist bee species.For instance, squash and pumpkin flowers arepollinated by squash bees, and the males also use theflowers as a protected place for sleeping in at night.To produce fruit, tomatoes require a special techniquecalled buzz pollination to release their pollen – only afew native bees can do this trick, including bumblebees.

NIAGARA’S DIVERSE BEE GROUPSCarpenter bees Carpenter bees get their name from theirhabitat of excavating their nests in wood. They

do this by chewing thewood with theirmandibles. The largeEastern Carpenter Bee(Xylocopa virginica)looks much like abumble bee, andnowadays prefers tonest in wooden struc-tures like railings,barn eaves, decks, and

wooden houses. In Nia-gara, Eastern Carpenter Bees usually nest ingroups, apparently preferring to nest togetherinstead of doing the hard work of digging a nest,which takes about a week. Only the alphafemale lays eggs – her nestmates must wait forher to die before one of them can become thenext alpha female. In big colonies, mostfemales never get the chance.

The small carpenter bees (Ceratina) nest intwigs and stems in herbaceous plants and trees,including roses, sumac, teasel, and raspberry.These tiny bees are greenish or bluish in colourand only about 5 mm long. Each female digs anest in spring, raising her brood in a long narrowburrow, just like peas in a pod. Many of theyoung bees remain in the nest until thefollowing spring, but a few fly away to dig ashort hibernation burrow in a different stem ortwig.



Provide nest sites

By providing nest sites, as well as food for bees, youcan take this one step further. Most native bees dignesting burrows in the ground – leave some open soilsurfaces in the garden for them, instead of coveringeverything with mulch. Many other native bees nestin stems and twigs - resist the urge to remove all thedead stems and twigs from your plants. Don’t cleanup too much in the fall – bumble bees and other smallcreatures often spend the winter in piles of leaves orbrush where they can remain dry and avoid freezing.Bees that nest in twigs often remain in those twigs forthe winter – pruning them deprives their beeoccupants of shelter. Cultivate a bit of a wild look –gardens don’t have to be perfectly tidy to bebeautiful. Put up a sign to let your neighbours andpassersby know that your property and gardens arewild bee habitat!

Mow your lawn – but less often

Even your lawn can support bees if you treat it right.Lawns made of 100 per cent grass treated withfertilizers and herbicides, not only provide noresources for bees, but are the source of chemicalsthat leach into other parts of your garden and harmmany small creatures. Ultimately, these chemicalsend up in our drinking water. Try a lawn that includeslow growing flowers like clover. And save yourselftime and money by mowing less often. You don’thave to grow a meadow in your lawn – a recentscientific study demonstrated that mowing everycouple of weeks resulted in more bees visiting thearea than mowing every week or every three weeks.

Remember that honey bees are not wild bees

In Ontario, awareness of the dangers of neonicotinoidinsecticides came to public awareness largely due tothe efforts of honey-bee keepers who realized thatneonicotinoids were poisoning and killing theircolonies. The drastic impacts on honey bees demon-strated the dangers of these chemicals to all bees.Ironically, honey bees, themselves, are a threat to wildbees. It is important to remember that honey beesare non-native bees domesticated for honeyproduction. A honey-bee colony may contain 50,000efficient foragers that compete effectively with wildbees for food resources. Scientific studies demonstrate

NIAGARA’S DIVERSE BEE GROUPSMining bees

Mining bees, named fortheir underground bur-rows, are the mostcommon bees flying inearly spring, and areimportant but unappre-ciated pollinators ofspring-flowering trees,including willows, cher-ries, and other fruittrees. Their ability to flyin chilly, breezy weather

and their habit of visiting flowers even at thetops of trees, make them important pollinatorsfor apples, pears, and cherries. All species aresolitary, meaning that each female raises herown brood in her own nest.ph

oto by

C. S

heffield

NIAGARA’S DIVERSE BEE GROUPSMasked or yellow-faced bees Towards the end of summer, some of the mostcommon flowers in Niagara are Queen Anne’sLace and Goldenrod. Look closely and you willlikely see lots of tiny black bees with yellow orwhite marks on the faces and legs. These littlesolitary bees carry pollen and nectar internallyin their crop or “honey stomach”, and arealmost bare, instead of furry like most otherbees. Consequently, when people do noticethem, they are often mistaken for tiny wasps.



NIAGARA’S DIVERSE BEE GROUPSMason bees and leafcutter bees Most bees carry pollen loads on their legs, butmason bees and leafcutter bees carry pollen onthe underside of the abdomen, which makesthem easy to see as they whiz by. They are allsolitary and sometimes can be induced to nestin “bee hotels” because they refurbish pre-existing holes as nests. Mason bees constructtheir nests of mud in pre-existing crevices andholes, and they can sometimes be seen aroundpuddles, gathering mud or dust. In Niagara, themost abundant mason bee is the dark blueDouble Bumped Mason Bee, which nests in theempty shells of land snails. The first Canadianrecord of occurrence was at the GlenridgeQuarry Naturalization Site in southern St.Catharines, where it is very abundant.

Gardeners may have noticed round holes about5-7 mm wide appearing along the edges ofsome of their plants, especially roses. Theculprits are leafcutter bees which use pieces ofleaf or flower petals to line brood cells insidetheir nests. Mothers provision each brood cellwith a loaf of pollen and nectar upon which asingle egg is laid. When the egg hatches, thelarva eats all the pollen, eventually developingto adulthood, but remaining in its brood celluntil the following spring.

wild bees are negatively affected by competition fromhoney bees. Despite what you may have heard,honey bee populations in North America are not indanger – they are non-native, domesticated animalsraised for agricultural production.

ConclusionThe recipe for bees is surprisingly straightforward –provide flowers and nesting habitat, avoid pesticideuse, and like magic, bees appear and thrive! Whenbees thrive, the benefits reverberate well beyond thebee community. The same conditions that supporthealthy bee communities also support otherpollinators like butterflies, moths, and syrphid flies,as well as non-pollinators like dragonflies, ladybugs,and crickets. Where insect communities are healthy,insectivorous birds and bats also flourish. Andultimately, cities that support pollinators are richerand more pleasant places to live. So let’s makeNiagara wild bee-friendly! Go Bees!

photo by D. Chute

photo by A. Rutgers-Kelly


Contact informationAbout the author:Miriam Richards, PhD, is a professor inbiological sciences at Brock University. Her researchinterests include the social behaviour of bees, monitoring ofbee populations, and the restoration of their habitat.

The Niagara Community Observatory at Brock University isa public-policy think-tank working in partnership with the Niagara community to foster, produce, and disseminate research on current and emerging local issues. More information on our office, and an electronic copy of this report, can be found on our website brocku.ca/nco

Contact UsCharles Conteh, PhDDirector, NCO, Brock [email protected]

Brock UniversityNiagara Region 1812 Sir Isaac Brock WaySt. Catharines, ON, L2S 3A1 Canada

brocku.ca/nco@BrockNCO

NCO Policy Brief 1 September 2018NCO Policy Brief 8 May 2019


Documents

PROMOTING POLLINATORS: NIAGARA beeS ANd hOw TO heLP … · Mow lawns less frequently and grow a mixed lawn that includes low-growing ﬂowers that provide food for bees. Consider