How to Know if Your Nursery Plants are Bee-Safe

Pollinators are a vital part of a thriving garden ecosystem, but their populations are dwindling. More and more often, the plants we buy from nurseries have undergone treatment with chemicals that harm these helpers. Beekeeper Melissa Strauss explains how you can foster a more bee-friendly environment in your yard to help preserve the valuable populations and keep your flowers blooming and vegetables producing.

Written by Melissa Strauss Horticulture review by Sarah Jay Last updated: April 7, 2025 | 5 min read

A female gardener holds potted flowering bee-safe plants including petunias, calendula and African daisy above a table in a garden for replanting.

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Bees are an incredibly important part of our ecosystem, and without them, humans would have great difficulty surviving. Animal pollinators, primarily bees, are responsible for pollinating about 35% of the food humans consume and 75% of the world’s flowering plants. If you like to eat apples, almonds, blueberries, avocados, and a host of other fruits and vegetables, bees are vital.

In spite of their importance to humans, many of the plants we buy commercially are treated with chemicals before they make it to our gardens. These chemicals are intended to ward off nuisance insects, but in the process, they also make your yard unsafe for beneficial insects.

It’s not impossible to find bee-safe plants, but it’s not as simple as walking into the nursery and picking out the prettiest flowers. Even those designated as pollinator-friendly are often treated with substances that can harm bee populations. You’ll often need to ask questions and read labels if you want to make sure they are coming from a safe source.

As a beekeeper and avid pollinator enthusiast, it’s important to me that my yard is a safe place for these animals. Some of the threats to their survival are outside our control. Sadly, we cannot single-handedly combat climate change or prevent the destruction of their habitats. But there are some simple steps you can take to create a refuge in your garden for native bees and other pollinators. Here’s what you can do to help.

Locate a Pollinator-Friendly Nursery

A young man in a shirt and striped apron carries a large wooden box full of flowering potted geraniums and dianthus plants in a large nursery with various flowering plants in hanging pots. — Find a nursery focused on supporting natural ecosystems.

The ideal solution to finding plants that are safe for bees is to locate a nursery that prioritizes this. Larger outfits aren’t typically as concerned with being pollinator-friendly. They tend to be more focused on the aesthetic appeal of their inventory. Treating with pesticides and anti-fungal agents means less work and fewer pests for those who like to maintain a more manicured and pristine landscape.

If you can locate a nursery that focuses on being pollinator-friendly, you’ll save yourself a lot of time. Knowing that whatever you find there is going to be safe will make it simple to choose the things you want in your garden without doing any homework or feeling limited to a few selections.

I’m fortunate to have a local nursery that focuses on supporting natural ecosystems and restoring native plant populations. Check your area to see if you have a similar source. A nursery that sells predominantly native plants is more likely to be consciously bee-safe.

Avoid Plants Treated With Synthetic Chemicals

A gardener in a white protective suit sprays chemicals from a plastic bottle onto young seedlings in seed starting trays in a greenhouse. — Skip plants with neonics to protect our struggling bee populations.

If you take the time to read the inserts in your nursery plants, you may have noticed that some of them are already treated with neonicotinoids. Also called ‘neonics’ these are synthetic pesticides that affect the nervous system of insects. Sadly, they don’t discriminate and will harm pollinators in addition to nuisance insects.

There are two ways these neonics come into play. They are sometimes applied to seeds before planting. Other plants come sprayed with foliar sprays containing these substances and other harmful chemicals. Antifungal sprays are another common treatment.

Neonics bind to nerve cells and overstimulate them, which is destructive. In the more extreme cases it kills them. In lower concentrations it can cause some unpleasant side effects. They can cause impaired foraging, interfere with memory and the immune system, alter flight patterns, and cause harm to the colony including reduced brood and queen loss.

So, how harmful are neonics really? The answer is that they are very harmful. Between April 2020 and 2021, beekeepers experienced a 45% hive collapse. That’s nearly one in every two hives lost over the course of one year. Because we can’t determine how gravely affected native bees are, we can look to human-tended honeybee populations to give us a picture of the effect of various conditions on bees in general.

Many studies explore the effects of these chemicals on bees, humans, and animals, and they all give us a daunting picture. Neonics cause birth defects, alter insulin regulation, and act as endocrine disruptors in humans. Imagine how much harm they do to tiny bee bodies! Neonics can be present in both the pollen and nectar of treated plants.

It would be great if we could see these chemicals outlawed, but it’s unlikely to happen. You can contribute to preserving bee populations in your space, though, by only purchasing untreated products.

Often, labels will be present indicating that they are treated with neonics and other chemicals. If you see these indications, steer clear. If present in your plants, they can get into the groundwater.

Buy Certified Organic

A gardener in jeans with a large hoe works in an organic garden marked with a black sign. — Choosing organic ensures your plants are free from synthetic pesticides.

I know we’ve all heard the sad news, that organic foods can’t truly be 100% organic because of proximity to non-organic farms. So while buying organic may not rule out small amounts of synthetic pesticides, it generally means that the presence of those chemicals is minimal.

Organic farming practices don’t allow for the use of synthetic pesticides. This promotes a healthier and more balanced and diverse ecosystem. The idea behind this is that a balanced ecosystem will support the good insects and animals, which in turn feed on the nuisance pests.

When you purchase plants, you can rest assured that if they are organic, they are safe for the bees. If the plant has organic certification, it can’t contain synthetics. Instead, they may use naturally derived pest control products which are generally much safer for bees.

Ask Questions

A young woman asks a nursery worker questions about flowering plants in hanging pots and on shelves. — Educated local nursery staff can guide you on chemical treatments.

If you’re not sure if your nursery purchases treated products, asking is the best way to find out. Many times there will be a written indication of treatment, but in the absence, you can’t always be certain.

Try to locate the person who does the purchasing for your local nursery, as this is the person who should have this information. Most of the time, this individual will know exactly what you’re talking about, and whether it’s a priority when they make those purchases.

As I mentioned earlier, some retailers are vigilant about avoiding chemically treated inventory. It’s wonderful if you can locate one of these in proximity to your garden. If not, just ask, it can’t hurt and hopefully you’ll get straightforward answers from a knowledgeable associate.

Grow Your Own From Seeds

Close up of young sprouted seedlings with thin stems and tiny rounded green leaves in a black starter tray. — Starting plants from seed gives you more control over chemicals.

While growing from seeds isn’t for those who prefer instant gratification, this is a great way to ensure that your plants are free from harmful chemicals that destroy bee populations. This is particularly important when it comes to growing food, as neonics are bad for us, too.

It’s difficult to find out whether the seeds you’re buying come from untreated plants, but not impossible. As long as the seeds themselves aren’t treated, there is very little risk, as there is very little of the chemicals that transfer to the seeds, and even less will show up in the resulting flowers.

In general, growing your own seeds will result in plants with fewer harmful chemicals. As an added safeguard, purchasing organic certified seeds eliminates the guesswork. The USDA prohibits the use of neonics in organic growing practices, so the resulting seeds won’t contain trace amounts.