Bees and pollinators: the workforce behind your harvest

Bees are the quiet workforce behind a good harvest. Honey bees and Australia's native bees — like the gorgeous blue-banded and teddy bear bees — pollinate your flowers so they set fruit. No bees, no tomatoes, no cucumbers, no pumpkins. Looking after them is one of the best things you can do for your patch.

What they do

They pollinate — essential for fruit set on tomatoes, capsicum, cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins, strawberries and beans. Blue-banded bees are special “buzz pollinators” that shake stubborn pollen loose from tomatoes and eggplant, doing a job honey bees can't.

How to help them

• Plant flowers across the seasons so there's always something in bloom.
• Never spray insecticide on open flowers, and steer clear of bee-harmful chemicals like neonicotinoids and pyrethroids.
• Put out a shallow dish of water with pebbles to land on.
• Leave a patch of bare ground and a few hollow stems — that's where many native bees nest.

Protecting your pollinators is exactly why we steer away from the harsh sprays — the bees pay you back at harvest time. For the full approach, see our guide to managing pests the safe way.

Image: Mark Kineth Casindac, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.