Creating Native Bee Habitat in your Backyard

by Abi Saeed, Garfield County Agri/Horticulture and Natural Resources Extension Agent Just like us, pollinators need two main things in order to survive: food (floral resources) and shelter (nesting materials and habitat). Bee on Black-eyed Susan (Photo by Abi Saeed) Pollinators, like bees, butterflies, birds, bats, etc., play an enormous role in our lives, affecting agriculture, the economy, wildlife and plant diversity in the region. Of the plethora of animals referred to as pollinators, bees are the most important because of a key part of their anatomy: their fuzziness (aka: the tiny hairs that they have all over their bodies). Bees are covered with these branched hairs specialized for collecting pollen, and different bees have hairs on different parts of their bodies. These hairs allow them to be the incredible pollen-carrying critters that we know and love. Colorado is home to 946 different bee species. The majority of these bees rely on floral resources in the natural environment