In 2006, an alarm sounded concerning the health of honeybees in the United States when a Florida beekeeper found 400 of his hives were empty. 【小题1】 Home gardeners can play an important role in supporting bees, in particular, by offering food, water, and shelter for them.

Food. Grow a variety of plants to supply nectar (花蜜) and pollen (花粉) throughout the growing season. Bees like plants native to their habitats. 【小题2】 Choose a sunny location and set plants in groups.

Water. Although we rarely see them taking a drink, bees appreciate gardens with a source of water. It can be as simple as filling a shallow water dish with small stones and branches so bees can land and rest while drinking. A birdbath (水盘) also offers a dependable destination for bees. 【小题3】

Shelter. 【小题4】 These bees don’t live in hives like honeybees but in logs, dead tree branches, even in holes in the ground. You can build a bee shelter by drilling holes in an untreated wood block. The holes should be three to five inches deep and a quarter inch in diameter. 【小题5】 Choose a site protected from wind and rain for your nest — under the eaves of a shed, for example.

By creating an environment with shelter, water, and bee-friendly plants, soon your local bees will be buzzing.