April 22 is Earth Day! To celebrate our planet’s amazing pollinators, we’ve put together a list of 13 ways you can help butterflies and bees. For more ideas, visit our blog post “Make Your Yard a Pollinator Pit Stop” for beginner-friendly plant guides and citizen science projects.

Join the Science Mill’s Butterfly Bonanza (+ Bats & Bees) on Saturday, April 24 from 10am-2pm for up-close encounters with pollinators and all-ages activities.

13 ways to help butterflies and bees:

• Plant native species with a variety of shapes, colors and blooming seasons

• Add a border of native flowers around your vegetable garden

• To sync with pollinators, garden by early spring and don’t clip late blooms in the fall

• Create a butterfly feeder

• Give thirsty bees a drink (but it’s best to avoid sugar water)

• Find places in your yard to protect bare soil and brush for native bees to nest

• Build a bee condo or bee hotel for native bees

• Avoid chemicals on your yard and when you buy plants and seeds (some are pretreated)

• Support the reduced use of neonicotinoid pesticides that harm bees

• Invite natural “pest assassins” into your yard

• Rethink weeds: dandelions offer bees some of spring’s first nectar

• Rethink lawns: non-flowering grass + little plant diversity = pollinator dead zones

• Relocate beehives with professional help instead of exterminating

(Visit the Science Mill’s Butterfly Garden to see these beautiful blooms and many others!)