Book Review of "Bees: An Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide"

Recently, many leading horticultural researchers and garden writers have been emphasizing the need for gardeners and homeowners to help out Mother Nature by changing their landscaping practices and plant choices. The crises facing us are monumental. While the desire to help is real, it feels overwhelming for one gardener to know where to start. Heather Holm, in her award-winning book Bees: An Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide (Pollination Press, LLC, 2017), continues the theme of these writers. Her book is specific to bees and native plants in the Midwest, Great Lakes, and Northeast regions of the United States, and, as such, significantly adds to this area of study. The book is important because it provides the reader with clear, essential, and specific information that can be used to change gardening habits to help provide what is needed to assist in reversing the decline of bees in this large geographic region.

The first section of the book provides a good introduction to bees, the bee’s interaction to native plants, and the human interaction with both of those. Bees are pollinators; many of us have become familiar with the statistic that if bees disappear, so would 20 to 35% of human food. Understanding bees starts with their anatomy, life cycle, their degree of sociality, and types of nesting sites. Holm goes into the details of plant parts and the manner in which different bees provide pollination based on the structure of the plant’s parts. She concludes with a critical narrative of the factors impacting our native bees and direct actions that gardeners can take to mitigate the problems. Inventory bee populations before making any landscape changes. Protect their nesting sites and provide additional nesting opportunities. Provide adequate forage plants. Reduce fragmentation of their landscape and create habitat corridors. Reduce or eliminate pesticide use.

The second section gives in-depth characteristics of many species of bees, including Mason bees, bumble bees, leafcutter bees, metallic green sweat bees, European honey bees, mining bees, cellophane bees, carpenter bees, digger bees, and cuckoo bees. There are photos of the bee’s distinguishing features and nesting site, as well as information on their size, activity timeframe, nesting site locations and common forage plants during different seasonal timeframes. The level of detail is impressive, and the use of graphics, drawings, and photos makes it easier to consume. Clearly the intent is to provide enough detail so that the gardener can inventory their bees. This reviewer would suggest a supplemental, stand-alone, waterproof guide that could safely be taken outside.

The third section provides at-a-glance and detailed information on the native plants that provide forage for bees. All categories of plants are included from large and small trees and shrubs, to perennials, biennials, and annuals. As in the section with bees, the information is comprehensive and includes a map of native distribution, habitat, plant requirements, size, timing for flowers and fruit, and which common bees and specialist bees are attracted to the plant. While the list of plants only includes natives that are forage plants for bees, Holm does include symbols to indicate that the plant is useful to songbirds who consume their fruit or nest in their limbs, and whether the flower is visited by moths, butterflies, flies, beetles, wasps, and hummingbirds. The plants she included are not meant to be the sole plants from which to choose for your garden. Instead, she notes that we should “Therefore, foster all native plants in the landscape for the other ecological functions they provide, even if they may not provide forage for bees.”

With the climate changing and the potential for the mass extinction of flora and fauna, many gardeners wonder what they can do to help. There are actually many ways to start. One is with the bees. Heather Holm, in Bees: An Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide, gives us the steps to follow and provides enough information to complete the steps. As someone once said “Save your garden. Save the world.”