How to Help Pollinators
Plant a Pollinator Garden
While each pollinator has a specific need to support each stage of its lifecycle, they all need high-quality habitat that provides an abundance of flowers, shelter and nesting sites, and protection from pesticides.
Plant Food in the form of abundant flowering plants that provide access to pollen and nectar throughout the growing season Plant Flowers with this Ecoregional Planting Guide
Provide access to shelter and nesting sites including host plants for butterflies like Milkweed for Monarch butterflies or Western Dog Violet for Behrens butterfly, pithy stems and dead wood for cavity-nesting bees, and bare earth for ground-nesting bees. Nesting and Overwintering
Provide access to water: Monarchs need dirty water to satisfy their mineral needs and bees need water to drink
Protection from pesticides that kill non-target insects and degrade habitat by removing or contaminating flowering plants
Help monitor pollinator populations
Help save Monarch Butterflies: Integrated Monarch Monitoring Program
Join a community of naturalists or birders: iNaturalist , Seek eBird
Find more community science projects at SciStarter or CitizenScience
Help Monarch Butterflies
Help Bumble Bees
Plant Early Blooming Flowers - Plant List from Xerces, Native Seed Directory
Allow Dandelions and Clover to Live Longer in Your Yard - These weeds provide important early blooming resources for bumble bees
Help Your Yard Be Wild - Bumble bees like to nest in hollow logs, spaces in rock walls, under bunch grasses, in birds' nest boxes...etc. Nesting and Overwintering
Track Bumble Bees - Join this fun community science tracker Bumble Bee Watch
Plan for Fall with Food and Habitat Resources - Prepare your site for fall blooms and participate in the Leave the Leaves campaign