But it’s not what you think. I am not going to insult you and tell you to plant flowers or herbs to attract pollinators to your yard because if you are on my page you are already a gardener and the plants you grow do exactly that.  They attract bees.

I am not going to tell you to give bees a place to nest, or water to drink. Again, I assume you already know that every living creature needs a place to rest and fresh water to drink.

I am going to tell you to let laying logs rot and to find and spread bark chips. Because in an exclusive interview that is what world mushroom expert Paul Stamets told me to tell you.

Stamets based his research and his new patent – just released Oct 25, 2016 while I was with him in the woods – on observations he made in the field. We now know that bees need a special material to help them resist the many virus’ spread by mites in the hives. The big news is this: bees get the special ingredient from mushroom mycelia.  These are the white mushroom roots growing throughout your bark mulch and soil in your garden or between your paths.

I spent a week at Hollyhock on Cortes Island following Paul Stamets into the bush and learning to identify the good, the bad and the ugly mushrooms discovered along our many walks. Then I sat in class as we looked at the many ways to tell mushrooms apart and all the various benefits mushrooms have in our world and to our health. And then Stamets told us the big news.

Stamets has been working on research to save bees because – like all of us – bees get infected with virus disease. We get a cold; the bees get a variety of viral problems including wrinkled wings.   The result is each bee lives a shorter life and the queens lay fewer eggs. And because of that we are dangerously close to having a mass extinction of bees worldwide.

One day in his garden Stamets’ noticed bees pushing aside bark mulch. They were looking for something and after years of research and putting the pieces together he now knows what the bees were looking for and he has patented it. But if you want to make life easier for the wild and tame bees in your life do them a favour. Let dead logs lay and spread bark. Both will attract mushrooms. The bees will be drawn in to take what they need from the mushroom mycelium as it grows in the rotting logs, the bark and the soil. And maybe, just maybe, the bees will get what they need. With Paul’s patent now in place honey producers will finally be able to buy this supplement commercially. But as a gardener you can do your part to change the world and make it a better place for bees even if you don’t buy the new patented bee virus killer.

Here is an exclusive interview with Paul Stamets. I asked him share the one thing gardener’s could do right now, right away and here is his answer. Happy gardening:

For more information about Paul Stamets see his book “Mycelium Running- How Mushrooms can save the world” or check out his web page www.fungi.com