There are a lot of different garden types at the Gardens at Lake Merritt in Oakland. One structure stood out to us as we enjoyed the grounds: the AirBeeNBee. It is home for some of California’s 1600+ species of native nesting bees.
These bees don’t have a queen, or hives, or make honey. They are solitary and ground nesting. The AirBeeNBee was installed since many of the solitary bees usually nest in the ground. In this public garden the grounds are cleared, so this habitat was created with varied sized holes for different sizes of bees. They enjoy the flowers of the gardens, especially the Native Bee Pollinator Garden. Here flowers are planted for an all year long bloom since California native bees hatch year round.
Bees are not the only residents. Nearby is the dragonfly habitat and the monarch butterfly garden.
The Gardens of Lake Merritt are divided into 17 specialty gardens. I will highlight more of the gardens in later posts.
The Gardens at Lake Merritt are located at 666 Bellevue Ave in Oakland.
COVID open hours are Mondays to Fridays 7:30am – 3 pm, weekends 8 am – 4pm.
The Bee Hotel is near the South-West gate of the Gardens.
Admission is free.
Have you been to the Gardens at Lake Merritt?
If you enjoy insectaries you should check out Foraging Island at Byxbee Park in Palo Alto. An ecological sculpture to invite insects and rodents to live there.