It is more than likely that you don't have a good way to attract bees. Throw away the notion that bees are nasty, stinging critters. They are actually quite passive by nature and only sting in defense, when stepped on or threatened.

Bees, pollinating and good harvests all go hand-in-hand. One out of three bites of food depends on a pollinator (Creatures that move pollen from one plant to another, helping the plants create fruit or seeds. Bees are great pollinators.) Livestock also need pollinators for their food, as well as cotton and other fiber-producing plants. In total, 150 crops in the U.S. alone need pollinators. Those crops include apples, blueberries, melons, almonds, pears and citrus.

Bees tend to stay in an area if there is a constant source of food. You can make your garden a veritable buffet for these little friends. In turn, they will pollinate your vegetable plants.

How can we encourage bees to come to our gardens? Here are a few simple ideas to make our gardening season more productive and help bees at the same time.