The Brief

California is home to 1,600 species of native bees — nearly 10% of the world's bee species. These pollinators evolved alongside local ecosystems, crops and climates — and are responsible for pollinating the vast majority of flowering plants.

But for decades, U.S. farms have relied on just one fragile species: the European honeybee.

Commercial hives of European honeybees are collapsing in record numbers — 62% of commercial bee colonies died last year, according to a survey conducted by a beekeeping nonprofit — leading researchers and farmers to ask: What if the future of farming is native?

Projects affiliated with the University of California have helped farmers integrate and support native bee populations. The presence of native pollinators not only increases crop yield, research has shown, but also the effectiveness of the commercial colonies of European honeybees.

“There's a lot of literature that shows that honeybees will work harder if there's a lot of native bees around because they see competition,” said Dr. Ben Faber, a farm advisor with the University of California Cooperative Extension.

So what exactly does it mean to support native bees?

In order to create an environment where wild bees thrive, researchers observed native colonies in California and procured a list of “bee plants” that pollinators seem to favor most. The plants, evolved to withstand the conditions of Southern California, serve as a bridge to agricultural crops.

“Most of the native bees are in coordination with whatever the flowering pattern is of whatever the native plants are,” Faber said. “A lot of the native bees are specific to a certain species of native plant, and so without that native bee, in sync with the native plant, we wouldn't get propagation of that native plant. So you know, it's really critical that conservation of habitat is maintained.”

Bees aren't the only pollinators you'll find in a garden or orchard. The right plants can attract butterflies, bats and hummingbirds too.

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Ben Faber

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UC Cooperative Extension

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Researchers planted hedgerows around groves of avocado trees and other crops.

The introduction of native bee-friendly plants helped establish local wild bee populations, which subsequently extended their foraging to primary crops, such as avocado.

Faber said what really matters is bringing in a diversity of bee species.

“For example, bumblebees,” he said. “There's a whole bunch of different species of bumblebee in Southern California. And bumblebees love avocados. ... You'll see a bumblebee working in avocado, and you won't see any honeybees out there, but the bumblebee will kind of be bumbling around.”

Faber also emphasizes these efforts don’t help bees alone: “There's a lot of other pollinators out there besides honeybees and native bees.”

The native flora planted on the farms attracts pollinators such as flies, bats, butterflies and birds.

“I've seen hummingbirds inside avocado orchards that are, you know, feeding on the flowers, and their bill is covered with pollen," Faber said. "There's a lot going on in your orchard.”

How can people help native bees?

Ben Faber recommends people plant Encelia californica, a California native also known as bush sunflower.

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Ben Faber

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UC Cooperative Extension

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Farmers aren't the only ones in contact with pollinators. The flowers cultivated by backyard gardeners have a role to play, too.

“The highest number in diversity of native bees are actually in backyards where people maintain flowering species year round,” Faber said. “There's a lot of unnamed, unknown activity out there. ... So there's a lot to learn yet.”

One of the bee plants Faber recommends is Encelia californica, a native, drought-tolerant flower.

“It's a yellow flower, and it flowers pretty much year round as long as it's water-irrigated," Faber said. "Encelia is just covered with all kinds of different bee species depending on the time of the year.”

Faber — alongside Gordon Frankie, the lead researcher of the Farming for Native Bees in California project — has resources available to the public, including research, guides and seminars on how to support native bees.

DeLaczay is a 2025 LAist summer intern.

Long-term eviction defense funding for Los Angeles renters could soon begin to flow now that city officials have announced a break in an impasse dating back to May 2025.

L.A. City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto said Thursday she intends to sign a new $107 million contract with the Legal Aid Foundation of L.A. She said the contract — which was approved by the City Council and the mayor in April but still awaits her approval — was “nearly finalized.”

“I am fully committed to supporting these crucial eviction defense services for our vulnerable neighbors in need,” Feldstein Soto said in a statement.

Feldstein Soto — who will not secure a second term after placing third in last month’s primary election — pledged to continue investigating the legal aid group. She has frequently criticized the nonprofit for what she sees as a lack of transparency, though L.A. Housing Department officials say the group has consistently provided accounting and caseload data to the city.

“Taxpayers deserve transparency and accountability and to know that their money is being used as intended,” Feldstein Soto said.

Barbara Schultz, a Legal Aid Foundation attorney overseeing the city-funded Stay Housed L.A. program, said both parties have been negotiating final contract details for more than a week. She said the city attorney’s announcement was encouraging.

“[Feldstein Soto] said she was going to approve the contract, so I'm very excited to hear that,” Schultz said. “Moving forward… we can continue to grow, fully implement the ‘Right to Counsel,’ and tenants in Los Angeles will be much better off as a result.”

In response to Feldstein Soto’s claims that more than $58 million in eviction defense grants remain “unaccounted for” in the foundation’s financial audits and IRS forms, Schultz said taxpayer dollars have not been misspent and that no findings have been made to that effect.

“[The Legal Aid Foundation] is a very large nonprofit law firm that has over 40 federal, state and local government contracts,” Schultz said. “We are very used to being audited. Any audit the city wants to do to satisfy itself is absolutely fine with us.”

Feldstein Soto denied a five-year contract to the legal aid group last year, arguing it should have gone through a competitive bidding process. After the city solicited applications and selected the group for new long-term funding, she later told city councilmembers in a confidential memo that they should consider withholding support for “a frequent litigant against the city.”

While she announced the contract should be ready for her signature by July 7, Feldstein Soto said her office would move forward with plans to assign forensic accountants to study how the legal aid group has spent more than $90 million in city funds since 2021.

At the Bristol Swap Mall in Santa Ana, people are flocking to buy their Mexico soccer team jerseys and paraphernalia.

“The color is green and that says Mexico right here,” said Catherine Hernandez, who’s entering third grade, as she pointed to the replica Mexico soccer jersey her mother had bought her at a nearby stall.

She asked her mother to get her one the day after Mexico’s win against Ecuador and is already thinking about how she’ll feel wearing it Sunday during Mexico’s knockout game against England in the Round of 16.

“Excited, very excited because I’m Mexican and I love this shirt,” she said.

Hernandez was born in the U.S. and her mother was born in Mexico. Both say their Mexico jerseys symbolize those similar but different prides in their Mexican backgrounds.

They're among fans rooting for Mexico’s men’s national soccer team to advance further than ever before into the World Cup tournament. A win against England would move the team to the Round of 8, the quarterfinals, for the third time. Along the way, this Mexico team has captured the imagination of many in the U.S. who have, or are close to, those of Mexican heritage.

Proudly wearing the green jersey

The market vendor at the stall said only one adult-size 2026 jersey remained. So many had been sold they'd had to place an order for more.

A replica of Mexico's 2026 FIFA World Cup soccer jersey.

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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez

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LAist

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Many Mexico fans have been wearing their jerseys on the days leading up to the team's World Cup matches.

“On Monday, I looked around to see a sea of green, white and red, and it nearly brought me to tears in line at Costco,” said Alex Alcantar, who lives in Norwalk.

He was born and raised in the U.S. and he says his Mexico soccer jersey symbolizes that experience.

“Why I wear my Mexico jersey is because I want to visibly represent this community when our contributions to society are so heavily discounted,” he said.

The team’s growing prominence has also coaxed some others in Mexican communities in the U.S. to feel more confident in their identity.

“I've never used [a Mexico jersey] before,” said Xochi Flores, who was born in Oxnard and whose great-grandparents were Mexican.

“I didn't feel like I could go around representing Mexico when I'm a Chicana, third generation, not the best Spanish speaker,” she said.

Xochi Flores (left), with her husband Cesar Castro, has become more comfortable wearing the soccer jersey recently.

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Courtesy Xochi Flores

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In the past year, she said she’s felt closer to her Mexican roots as she’s seen reports of farmworkers and other people of Mexican descent arrested by ICE agents.

So to her, wearing her Mexico soccer jersey means leaving behind insecurities she used to have about not being “Mexican enough,” as well as “not being American enough.”

“I want my kids to see me embracing all of the parts of me. … They don't have those insecurities, and that makes me happy,” Flores said.

Wearing the jersey when you're Mexican-ish

The stalls are attracting all types of customers. “I'm just looking for a Mexican soccer jersey,” said Son Lam, who lives in nearby Orange and identifies as Vietnamese.

Lam says he’s become devoted to soccer since the World Cup started June 11. Buying and wearing a Mexican soccer team jersey means showing off his newfound sports fandom already embraced by his extended family

“My wife is Mexican and to me, [wearing the Mexico jersey] means I can fit in with the family more," he said as he laughed.

However they identify, all these shoppers will likely be wearing their jerseys as they watch Mexico compete against England on Sunday, July 5. Joining millions of fans rooting for their team to advance to the next round, and keeping dreams of a 2026 FIFA World Cup championship alive.

Santa Ana voters could be asked in November to maintain the city’s 1.5% sales tax, which was set to decrease in 2029 and eventually expire.

Voters approved the citywide sales tax in 2018 on the condition that it sunset in 20 years. Now, the Santa Ana City Council will vote Tuesday on whether to ask voters in November to make the tax permanent.

The big picture

Only about one-third of cities in Orange County have a local sales tax on top of the county-imposed sales tax of 7.75%. Sales taxes in most of Los Angeles County are much higher — L.A.’s countywide sales tax is 9.75% and the highest total sales taxes for cities in L.A. County are in Lancaster and Palmdale, at 11.25% each, according to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration.

Other potential tax hikes in OC

Voters in Orange will be considering a sales tax hike on their November ballot, after failing to get voters’ approval in 2024. San Clemente voters will also consider a local sales tax in November to pay for more sand to shore up local beaches.