The major focus of pollinator gardening is to provide floral abundance from early spring to late fall. To have a truly effective pollinator habitat you need to provide nesting sites. The good news is that a few simple strategies in garden management will provide ample nursery space for the next generation.

Ground-nesting bees

Did you know that 70% of native bees are ground-nesting? They are solitary bees that build their own nest, gather provisions, lay eggs, and then seal off the underground nest. The eggs hatch, pupate, and become adults that stay dormant until it is time to emerge and start the cycle again.

Ground-nesting bees have a wide variety of preferences for their nest sites. Prime real estate for some bees is a site that is sunny and bare. Others use sparse grasses with exposed soil between plants or a thin layer of gravel with bare soil exposed in places. Crevices under rock piles, logs and  brush piles also provide nesting sites.

But what about weed suppression? Arborists’ wood chips are too big for bees to move through to get to the ground below. A thin layer of compost or leaf litter is light enough for bees to penetrate. Dense plantings also provide weed suppression, while allowing access to the ground below.

Here are a few things to avoid: 

  • Tilling the soil can destroy ground nesting sites, so leave nesting areas undisturbed.
  • If you irrigate an area, water it in the evening. Splashing water during the day can create mud that covers up the entrance hole to the nest and the bee won’t be able to find her nest. If the nest entrance is disturbed during the night, it is a simple matter for the bee to dig her way out.
  • Avoid soil-drenching pesticides designed to be taken up by plant roots because the plant may retain the pesticides in the flowers.

Cavity-nesting bees

Creating habitat for cavity-nesting bees is as simple as delaying cutting back plants with pithy or hollow stems.

They include:

  • Raspberry (Rubus),
  • Elderberry (Sambucus),
  • Sumac (Rhus),
  • Milkweed (Asclepias),
  • Asters (Symphyotrichum),
  • Coneflower (Echinacea),
  • Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium),
  • Bee Balm (Monarda),
  • Roses (Rosa),
  • Native thistles (Cirsium),
  • Hyssop (Agastache),
  • Sunflower (Helianthus),
  • Blazing Stars (Liatris),
  • Switch grass (Panicum virgatum).

Cavity-nesting bees will also use holes in logs created by wood-boring beetles, wood siding, and any appropriately sized hole or crevice.

“How to Create Habitat for Stem-Nesting Bees” (link below) is a great resource on when and how to cut stems so they are most useful to cavity-nesting bees. 

https://xerces.org/publications/brochures/save-the-stems

Bumble bees

Bumble bees are social bees that work together to build and maintain a nest. They use abandoned rodent holes, brush piles, and leaf litter to build their nests. The Black-Tailed Bumble Bee, Bombus melanopygus, will even use bird houses to create a nesting site.

One of the most important steps you can take to provide habitat for bumble bees is to leave leaf litter in place. Bumble bee queens overwinter in thick leaf litter and under brush piles. The queens emerge in the spring and start creating the new colony.

Conclusion

Relax! Gardening practices that mimic nature are best for bees. Leave portions of your garden unmanicured. Saving the stems and leaving the leaves are the best ways to provide for future generations of bees.

To Learn More

The University of Minnesota Bee Lab, https://beelab.umn.edu/create-nesting-habitat

Xerces Society – Nesting and Overwintering Habitat for Pollinators https://xerces.org/sites/default/files/publications/18-014_02_Natural-Nesting-Overwintering-FS_web.pdf

Click here for a printable pdf of this article. Written by Leah Puhlman, June 2025

How to Create Habitat for Stem-Nesting Bees graphic provided by Colleen Satyshur, Elaine Evans, Heather Holm, and Sarah Foltz Jordan

Native Bee  Photo: Heather Holm