Where are the bees?

Q. I’m worried about my tomatoes getting pollinated, as well as other flowers. What can I do about the lack of bees?

John from Youngstown

A. If you get up really early and take a walk around the garden, you’ll see lots of insect activity on your flowers. Most of what you see pollinating your flowers, fruits and vegetable crops will be native bees, flies and other native pollinators.

Honey bees are helpful, but they are not a native bee. Most people read the articles about colony collapse disorder – CCD – and look for honeybees in their yards and gardens.

Why aren’t you seeing honey bees? They are fussier than our native bees. They hate cold, rainy weather such as we’ve been having. Also, there most likely are no managed hives near your location. Honey bees might fly a mile, but no farther. Wild honey bees are highly unusual, unless there is a nearby hive that is splitting.

When it comes to tomatoes, they don’t require pollinators. Tomatoes are self-pollinators. Pollen transfers within the flower itself. Tomato flowers can be assisted by the wind and buzzing bumblebees, though. The only pollination issues in tomatoes are in dry weather, hot conditions.

Here are some best practices for attracting native pollinators:

Choose plants that will attract them.

Plant native flowers and plants.

Have something blooming from spring through fall.

Provide nesting sites (clump grasses, unpruned twigs, etc)

Read the label if applying pesticides. Avoid spray on blooming plants, apply after 3 p.m., choose bee-friendly products, and follow safety precautions.

You can get a list of plants and other details on this factsheet: http://go.osu.edu/attractive.

You can learn about the best plants to put in your garden to attract native pollinators. You can follow the blog and find more information at: http://go.osu.edu/pollination.

Eric Barrett is OSU Extension educator for agriculture and natural resources in Mahoning County. Call the office hotline at 330-533-5538 to submit your questions.