That is the advice of bee expert Connal McLean, who recently completed a master’s in zoology.
Biodiversity could affect the behaviour of bumblebees, he said.
As part of his master’s degree he raised eight bumblebee colonies in glasshouses filled with plants grown from seeds with no pesticides or herbicides.
"I had the bee colonies in environments with either two flower species or 25 flower species."
The aim was to mimic an agricultural farm environment with limited flower types, compared with an abundance of flower varieties such as in a botanic garden.
"We know that having a lot of flower species is really ... important for bee health and just in general insect and pollinator health, but we don’t really know how it affects cognition or their learning ability."
His experiments in a controlled glasshouse setting did not appear to find differences in cognition.
However, recent work by his supervisor found there may be differences in learning ability between floral environments.
People could increase bee numbers in their backyard by adding a variety of flowering plants.
There are 28 native bee species and about 12 introduced species in New Zealand.
"The native bees are really small.
"They almost look like flies, or parasitoid wasps, and they don’t have a lot of coloration ... They are really effective pollinators.
"In addition to honey and bumblebees, they ... pollinate different plants ... and they operate at different temperatures and different times of the day."
Taking a moment to observe the behaviour of bees in the garden was an enjoyable experience.
"There’s just so many things — if you just sit for 10 minutes — that you would never expect an insect to do."
As part of Bee Aware Month in September, Mr McLean is helping organise a Bee Aware Day on Saturday, September 16, alongside Tūhura Otago Museum and the Entomological Society of New Zealand.
The event runs from 10.30am to 3pm in the level 1 atrium at the museum.
It will include workshops on backyard biodiversity and gardening, a hands-on bee-feeding station and face painting.
