Urban Areas Can be Critical for Bees

Researchers at Oregon State University have determined that urban areas can be a host to a wide variety of bees, and that cities can play a critical role in benefitting pollinators.

Gail Langellotto said cities can be biodiversity hot spots.

“Where you have cities you have a lot of people and people love to plant gardens and gardens are full of lots of fantastic and diverse flowering plants and that ultimately appears to benefit the bees.”

There was a common thought that cities had been something of a biological wasteland.

Langellotto said urban gardens and farms can be a refuge for bumble bees, honey bees and a lot of other pollinators if the growers maintain them with bees in mind.

“Reduce or eliminate insecticide use and definitely if they have plants that are in bloom to avoid any flowering trees or shrub or any plant in bloom because bees could be working those blossoms.”

Bees, depending on the city, might be able to travel between an urban area and a farm, but mostly likely they will stay in some of the larger cities to pollinate the urban gardens and farms.

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