Leave the Leaves: Why Your Spring Yard Cleanup Can Wait

As spring arrives, so does the urge to tidy up our yards, clearing away winter’s remnants to make room for fresh growth. Here at The Hive Taproom, we get it—the itch to neaten up is real. But if you take a closer look, you’ll find that your garden debris is more than just “mess.” It’s a sanctuary for pollinators and beneficial insects emerging from their winter slumber. That’s why we hold off on cleaning up leaves and cutting down stalks in our garden. And if you love pollinators (and let’s be real, who doesn’t love bees and lightning bugs and butterflies?), you might want to consider doing the same.

Pollinator Hideaways: What’s Lurking in the Leaves?

Many insects, including solitary bees and butterflies, overwinter in leaf litter and hollow stems. They hunker down, waiting for the right conditions to wake up and get to work. It takes at least three consecutive days of 60-degree weather for these tiny workers to emerge. If we clear away their winter homes too soon, we risk wiping out a whole season of pollinators before they even get started.

The Queen Has Arrived—Let’s Not Rush Her!

Soon we’ll be spotting queen bumble bees buzzing around our garden, fueling up on nectar from early bloomers like purple dead nettle (which, fun fact, is also medicinal!). Unlike honey bee queens, who leave the hive only once or twice in their lifetime to mate, bumble bee queens emerge from hibernation each spring, hungry and ready to start their own colonies.

After gathering enough energy, these queens search for the perfect nest site—often an old rodent hole, ideally tucked beneath leaf cover. If we rake too soon, we’re not just tidying up—we’re evicting the future of the bumble bee population before they even have a chance to establish their nests.

A Simple Step: No Mow May or Mow Less May

Want to take your pollinator support a step further? Join us for No Mow May or Mow Less May! It’s an easy (and incredibly low-effort) way to help pollinators. You don’t have to let your entire lawn run wild—just choose a patch or a corner and let it grow. Let dandelions, clover, and other flowering “weeds” do their thing for a few weeks, and you’ll be providing an essential early food source for bees.

If not mowing is making your skin crawl, then try it’s alternative, Mow Less May, where you mow half as frequently. The less mowing you do, the more the pollinators get access to early blooms and your yard will be unchanged. 

Cheers to the Bees—And to You!

Here at The Hive Taproom, we’re raising a glass to the pollinators who remind us how to live in harmony with nature: appreciate the beauty around us, nurture our favorite plants, work hard when the sun shines, and, of course, spread a little love (or pollen) wherever we go.

Join us this weekend to toast the bees and enjoy one of our session meads, made with the raw honey they so generously provide. Because when we take care of the bees, they take care of us.

Will you join us in giving pollinators the head start they deserve this spring?