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Elisabeth C. Miller Library

Archives: Plant Answer Line Q & A

Plant Answer Line questions and answers.

Attracting bats and bat-like plants

I have a couple of questions. Are there plants I can grow that will attract bats, and are there plants that are bat-like in appearance?

 

The organization Bats Northwest recommends providing habitat (such as hollow trees and snags). The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has information on bat houses you can build or purchase. More information can be found at Bat Conservation International.

I did not find specific lists of bat-attracting plants, but providing a diverse tree canopy which includes trees that attract moths (for bats to eat) may make your landscape more bat-friendly. The British Bat Conservation Trust suggests that you leave some wild areas in the garden, add a pond if you can (as a place for bats to drink and forage on insects and their larvae), and plant night-scented flowers. Plant diversity seems to be the key: you can try growing flowers of different shapes, sizes, and fragrances, pale single flowers, and flowers which are good “landing platforms” for insects (such as daisy and carrot family plants).

There are several plants that resemble bats. Here are a few suggestions:

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plants for attracting birds

I am planning a garden in Seattle and my highest priority is to attract birds. Do you have a list of plants I can use as a reference?

 

This is a more difficult question than one might imagine. According to Landscaping for Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest, “almost 300 species of birds are native to the Pacific Northwest. Many of them could call your yard home for at least part of the year, depending on what you provide for them. So it depends on what species of birds you want to attract and what environments they need.”

Source: Landscaping for Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest, by Russell Link (University of Washington Press, 1999, p. 48).

There is a lot of good advice on planning your garden with birds (and other creatures) in mind.

Washington Native Plant Society has a resource page devoted to native plants for wildlife.

The Miller Library has a booklist featuring titles on attracting wildlife to the garden: Information Resources for Gardening with Wildlife.

Another good source for this information is Native Plants of the Northwest, by Wallace W. Hansen.
The site has a page of wildlife habitat plant recommendations.

Following is an annotated list of plants that attract birds for western Washington: the oaks, chinquapin, Oregon myrtle, western hazelnut, cascara, and all trees in the Rose family (hawthorn, bitter cherry, chokecherry and Pacific crabapple). Native shrubs include: serviceberry, salal, all Oregon grapes, Indian plum, bittercherry, roses, blackcap, thimbleberry, salmonberry, Pacific blackberry, red and blue elderberries, russet buffaloberry, mountain ash, snowberry, and all huckleberries.

Birds Connect Seattle’s book and online resource (formerly called Seattle Audubon), Audubon at Home in Seattle: Gardening for Life has a chapter on designing a garden to attract birds, and it includes a plant list.

varroa mites and grooming behavior in honeybees

Apparently there has been some mystery about struggling honeybees lately, and today I saw what appeared to be a honeybee frantically grooming herself on a strip-upholstered lawn chair. I didn’t know what to do for the creature, who eventually blew or flew away. What should I do if I see this in the future? Also, does the grooming behavior inform the mystery in any way?

 

You may want to talk directly with someone at the Puget Sound Beekeepers Association. They meet at 6:30p.m. every fourth Tuesday of each month except July and December at the Washington Park Arboretum 2200 Arboretum Drive East, Seattle.

The following sites discuss varroa mites and bee behaviors, including grooming:

  • USDA
    Excerpt:
    “We’re not the only ones to brush off an annoying mosquito or other buggy pest.
    Honey bees, when plagued by tiny tracheal mites, will use their legs like a fine-tooth comb to rid themselves of the life-threatening parasites. But, as entomologists with the Agricultural Research Service recently confirmed, some honey bees groom themselves more fastidiously than others.”
  • Dave Cushman’s bee site
  • Wikipedia page on varroa mites

 

The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education website has information on honeybees and varroa mites, including breeding bees for grooming behavior. Here is an excerpt:
“Bees bred for hygienic behavior are able to detect and physically remove disease-infected brood from the colony before it becomes infectious. Hygienic bees are able to detect and remove diseased brood before the human eye can detect any sign of disease symptoms. When bees remove the disease in the non-infectious stage, it prevents the disease from spreading throughout the colony.”

Studies of colony collapse disorder are underway at Washington State University:
WSU Research news

What you observed in your garden could actually be a sign of a bee fighting off the mites. The best thing you can do is to grow a wide range of bee-attracting plants in your garden, avoid the use of pesticides, and encourage your neighbors to do the same. Below are links to information on bee gardening:
UC Berkeley Urban Bee Lab’s Gardening for Bees
Puget Sound Beekeepers Association list of honey bee-friendly plants for the Puget Sound area
University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana
Xerces Society (now archived) list of Pacific Northwest Plants for Native Bees