Bee Kind and Celebrate Earth Day with 6 Fun Pollinator Projects 🐝

Make every day Earth Day with these fun projects to support our pollinators and enjoy the buzz and hum around your garden or patio.

Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day comes around every year to remind us about the importance of conservation

so we can do our part to help our planet stay healthy

and I’m sharing some fun projects in celebration!

If you’re a gardener, every day is Earth Day when you go out

to dig in the dirt, cultivate and care for nature’s gifts.

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Never underestimate the power of your backyard to help pollinators!

Whether it’s tending a window box of flowers, a patio container of tomatoes,

or planting shrubs or trees, you’re nurturing plants that absorb carbon dioxide

as well as air pollutants, which in turn, produce clean oxygen that we all need to breathe.

 Your garden can provide a safe haven for bees, butterflies, birds as well as

 other pollinators who play crucial roles in maintaining the local ecosystem.

Many pollinator populations are in decline attributed to a loss in feeding and nesting habitats.

Somewhere between 75% and 95% of all flowering plants on earth need help with pollination.

Pollinators provide pollination services to over 180,000 different plant species

and more than 1200 crops.

That means we have pollinators to thank for one out of every three bites of food we eat.

Pollinators are also responsible for half of the world’s oils, fibers and raw materials.

Most pollinators (about 200,000 species) are beneficial insects such as bees,

beetles, wasps, ants, butterflies, moths, and flies.

About 1,000 of all pollinators are vertebrates such as birds, bats, and small mammals.

In addition to the food that we eat, pollinators support healthy ecosystems that clean the air,

stabilize soils, protect from severe weather, and support other wildlife.

Here are some fun DIY projects for Earth Day and every day,

with ways to bee kind to pollinators . . . 🐝 🦋

 DIY Easy Pollinator Container

 Create a DIY Pollinator Container to welcome bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden with plants they love. An easy and fun way to celebrate Earth Day and brighten your patio or deck, while making a positive impact on the environment.

DIY Recycled Paper Wildflower Seed Bombs

Wildflower Seed Bombs make a fun project, gift or party favor, providing a little beauty, pollen and nectar for pollinators as they grow and bloom. Best of all, you can recycle paper or junk mail that most of us have in abundance, destined for the landfill.

Safe and Easy Bee Watering Station for Pollinators

Provide a safe water source for the bees and other pollinators in garden with a DIY watering station. It’s easy, comes together in minutes and can serve as a focal point and decorative garden ornament or *bee* as simple as you like!

Hummingbirds are prolific pollinators of flowers! Ruby-throated Hummingbirds deposit 10 times as much pollen as bumblebees.

Hummingbirds like flowers that produce a lot of nectar, such as bee balm, salvias, weigela, trumpet honeysuckle, other trumpet vines, cardinal flower, petunias or anything that is tubular in shape.

Hummingbirds’ wings beat more than 50 times per second, requiring them to feed every 10 to 15 minutes. Help keep them fed and enjoy their aerial acrobatics with a feeder in your yard or garden . . . you might find a surprise visitor too!

Attracting Hummingbirds and How to Revive a Tired Feeder

Find helpful tips for attracting Hummingbirds to your garden, along with an easy nectar recipe to slow down spoilage and the best way to clean your feeders. You’ll also find a method to revive a tired feeder and give it a refresh.

Create a Wildlife Habitat in Your Backyard

Learn how to create a habitat garden to attract birds, butterflies, bees and other neighborhood wildlife. It’s fun, makes a positive difference and easier than you might think!

 DIY ‘Stay Away Bunny and Critter Spray’

This recipe for ‘Stay Away Bunny and Critter Spray’ costs just a few dollars to make and won’t harm animals or aquatic life with run off. It repels through smell and taste, causing mild irritation to nasal passages of rabbits, squirrels and other critters that are sensitive to garlic, onions and hot peppers!

🐝 Bee Kind to Pollinators:

🐝 Reduce or eliminate the use of pesticides. If you must use them, use the most selective and least toxic ones and apply them at night when most pollinators aren’t active.

🐝 Plant in clusters to create a “target” for pollinators to find.

🐝 Plant for continuous bloom throughout the growing season from spring to fall.

🐝 Select a site that has shelter from wind (by trees and shrubs), has at least partial sun, and can provide water.

🐝 Allow material from dead branches and logs remain as nesting sites; reduce mulch to allow patches of bare ground for ground-nesting bees to utilize; consider installing wood nesting blocks for wood-nesting natives.

🐝 Support farmers and beekeepers by buying local honey and locally produced organic foods.

A couple of fun craft projects in celebrate pollinators:

DIY ‘Bee Happy’ Wreath 

Create a ‘Bee Happy’ Wreath to celebrate gardening season and in honor of Earth Day.

  Buzzing with Bees + ‘Honey It’s Good’ Flower Arrangement

Think outside the vase and upcycle a vintage honey can as a vase for garden flowers. Post includes includes flower arrangement longevity tips and additional floral inspiration.

I’ve had several styles of hummingbird feeders over the years, here a few favorites . . .

BOLITE Red Hummingbird Feeder 20 Ounces

4.6 out of 5 stars with 9,483 global ratings

I’m a fan of these umbrella shades with hooks! Not only do they have a built-in ant moat, but they help keep the hummingbird feeders shaded and clean from birds that perch on shepherd hooks holding the feeders.

Hummingbird Shade Umbrella with Ant Guard

4.5 out of 5 stars with 1,559 global ratings

Kingsyard Red Glass Hummingbird, Ant Moat Included

4.7 out of 5 stars with 5,523 global ratings

Perky-Pet Pinch-Waist Glass Hummingbird Feeder with Bee Guards and Built-in Ant Moat

4.2 out of 5 stars with  17,512 global ratings

We were in the NC mountains this weekend and spied our first hummers! No sightings of them at the lake yet (which seems backwards), but our feeders ready are waiting for their return!

If you’re in the market for a shepherd’s hook, I’ve had this one for several years been very happy with it:

92 Inch Adjustable Outdoor Shepherds Hook with 7 Prongs Base

4.6 out of 5 stars with 3,091 global ratings

Wildflower Seeds Pollinator Collection – 3 Premium Mixes: Save The Bees, Save The Monarchs, and Hummingbird & Butterfly – 15,000+ Wild Flower Seeds for Planting – Open Pollinated, Non-GMO  

🐝 🌸 🦋

Gardening is cheaper than therapy and you get flowers!

I’d love to know if you’ve had any hummingbird sightings in your neck of the woods!

🐝 🌸 🦋

Thank you for your visit, sharing with:

 Between Naps on the Porch