https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/pollinator-week/

If anyone has suggestions on what they do to help pollinators, lets hear it.

I kill coons that like to knock over my honeybee hives in the winter and rob them.

1) stop mowing your lawn, or at least a portion of it. Plant native grasses and forbs that would do well in your area. No need for anyone to mow over 1/4 acre of land.
2) always use native plants in your flower beds and ornamental plantings. It does 2 things, eliminates the possibility of another invasive plant being set loose and it feeds the native pollinators some of which don't feed on non-native plants.
3) stop using insecticides indiscriminately.

just as an aside honey bees are non-native and planting non native plants to attract/feed them is not helping the situation, many invasive non-native plants are planted for honey bees.

an article in American Bee Journal for those who might disagree.

invasive plants just for honey bees




my yard in early June this year while we were are very dry. It never goes brown during the summer.

Dirty D that's wild parsnip in the top picture that is some nasty stuff

No its not, I thought someone might think so but its not its Golden Alexanders, Zizia aurea

https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=g710

Overseed your yard with clover. My place is a mix of grass and clover, bees really hit it this time of year.

We’re cutting back on some mowing. We have a couple chunks we’ve been mowing since my childhood that are out near the road and we don’t set foot in them except to mow. Gonna plant some pollinator friendly stuff and crab apple trees and call it good! I don’t have enough time to do what needs to be done already so less acreage to low will be very welcomed! Happy trapping! ScottW

I've mowed once so far this year Dirty D.

What is not talked about is now to help them survive the winter as well. Leave dead stems standing(or at least do not mow them lower than a foot high) so there are lots of hollow stems for them to pupate it and complete their life cycle as several native bees use them.

I leave about half of my 96 acres un mowed other than once in early spring. All the natural local flowers milk weed black eyed susan, yellow wing stem ect. Do their thing. I want to plant the other half for honey production.

I planted a warm season pollinator mix in a couple of the pine tree clear cuts they did this year on my land. Figured I might as well put some stuff in to help prevent a bunch of undesirables moving in by having the ground bare all year. Also figured it would make good ground prep for planting next year. Didn't take long for some of the stuff to flower.

Sounds like a good idea. I haven't found a good native pollinator mix yet

I just planted a bunch of annuals that winter kill. It has everything from sunflowers to gourds.

That said I always love this time of the year when my buckwheat is flowering. It is just full of all different kinds of bees and bugs. It almost makes me not want to roll it down in the food plot.