Author: The Xerces Society Date: 2015
The purpose of these guidelines is to provide information about native bees and their habitat requirements so that farmers can manage the land around their fields to provide the greatest advantage for these crop pollinators. These guidelines will help growers and conservationists:
understand how simple changes to farm practices can benefit native pollinators and farm productivity;
protect, enhance, or restore habitat to increase the ability of farmlands to support these bees; and
ultimately increase a grower’s reliance upon native bees for crop pollination.
Making small changes to increase the number of native pollinators on a farm does not require a lot of work. Subtle changes in farm practices can involve identifying and protecting nesting sites and forage, choosing cover crop species that provide abundant pollen and nectar, allowing crops to go to flower before plowing them under, or changing how pesticides are applied in order to have the least negative impact on bees.
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