Visiting the Arboretum: All members and visitors need to make a reservation in advance of their visit to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. We hope to see you soon!

Photo by Kelli Heimerl.

By Jenny Ekeren-Holm

At the Arboretum, we love our pollinators, especially our honey bees. They not only produce honey, but are instrumental in plant pollination for flowers, fruits and vegetables. In honor of National Honey Bee Day (August 21),  we are announcing the re-opening of the Tashjian Bee and Pollinator Discovery Center on weekends in September and October.

To visit the Bee Center, enter through the Arboretum's main Gatehouse and take Three-Mile Drive to Eastern Drive, which leads to the Farm at the Arb.

Visitors can explore interactive exhibits, observe bees at work and learn more about these amazing creatures from 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays Sept. 4 through Oct. 31 at the Bee Center. Visit the Pollinator Garden surrounding the building to learn about the plants that attract bees and pollinators.

The pollinator garden surrounding the Tashjian Bee & Pollinator Discovery Center is always buzzing. Photo by Norbert Lucas.

Floral resources are especially important to bees this year, says Ping Honzay, the beekeeper at the Bee Center. "In general, scientists have found negative effects of drought conditions on bees as plants tend to produce fewer flowers during droughts, and the flowers they do produce may produce less nectar," Honzay says. "One small potential silver lining can be that honey bees won't go out to forage on rainy days, so fewer rainy days can mean more days to collect food and process nectar into honey. I've heard mixed results from some area beekeepers, with a few actually having a banner year so far. It can really depend on the area and its particular floral resources and growing conditions."

Honzay hasn't collected the honey from the hives this year -- she's planning to do that in September -- but she notes that Arboretum bees are fairly well positioned when it comes to gathering food. "Honey bees will fly over two miles to collect food, so they have a pretty big foraging radius," she says. "The bees at the Bee Center will go all over the Arb, so we're pretty lucky here with the flowers available at the Arb and our hives have had a pretty good year so far."

However, summer's heat, which created a faster bloom cycle for some flowers, has resulted in tense times for some honey bees. "With the hot conditions this summer, I noticed many flowers blooming earlier than previous years, and the main heavy nectar flow ending a little earlier than usual," she says. "Once the main summer flow is done and food is scarcer, the honey bees (and other insects, like yellow jackets, too!) will sometimes try to rob honey from each other, and I have noticed some robbing behaviors a little earlier this year, which I've heard from other area beekeepers, as well."

So, how can you help the honey bees on their special day and throughout the year? Try planting a landscape with pollinator-friendly plants, using less pesticides and supporting local beekeepers. Check out resources from the University of Minnesota Bee Lab to learn even more about honey bees and native bees.