Plants to Encourage Bees in the Organic Garden

Not only do bees produce honey, they pollinate many of the plants which we or the animals which we eat rely on. Bees are active in the garden from very early in spring until the autumn frosts. It’s important to have suitable plants in flower throughout this period. They feed on nectar and take away large quantities of pollen to feed their young whilst carrying out the vital task of pollination, thereby ensuring the production of fruit and seeds later in the season.

The Decline of the Honey Bee

Their rapid decline is thought to be due to one or all of the following factors; namely the ‘ varroa mite’, the use of certain nicotine based pesticides, genetically modified crops and a series of wet summers. The inclusion of plenty of nectar rich flowers in the organic garden would go a long way to helping bee populations recover.

No Need to Fear Getting Stung

Understandably many people are hesitant to plant areas that are attractive to bees fearing they may get stung In actual fact most are gentle creatures simply searching for food and water for themselves and their young, a task in which they become so engrossed that you can even stroke them without getting stung.

Different Kinds of Bees Prefer Different Sorts of Flowers

Honey bees and bumble bees are widely known, but amazingly there are about 250 species of bees in Britain. The greater the variety of flowers on offer in the garden the more types of bees will visit. Bees’ tongues vary in length from about 1mm to 20mm and each species goes for flowers suited to its length of tongue. Short tongued bees favour dandelions and other plants in the daisy family, because the nectar is found in short tubular florets. Some bumble bees need flowers with long trumpets like foxgloves where the bee always starts with the oldest flowers at the bottom of the spike and after working their way to the top fly off to a different plant thus ensuring cross pollination.

Flowers Which are of Little Value to Bees

• Avoid those with double flowers as they produce much less nectar than single-flowered types.
• Bees have great difficulty in reaching the nectar and pollen of flowers with multiple petals.
• F1 hybrid plants usually produce very little pollen, because they have been bred not to set seed.

Some of the Best Plants for Attracting Bees to the Organic Garden

• One of the best plants for attracting bees is the bloody cranesbill (Geranium sanguineum) with its profusion of upright cup-shaped, deep magenta-pink summer flowers.
• Bees foraging early in the year seek out the flowers of the cowslip (Primula veris).
• Dead nettles (Lamium maculatum) provide early nectar for bees emerging from hibernation.
• Bistort (Persicaria bistorta) with its short, dense, pale pink cylindrical flower spikes provides a rich source of food from early summer to mid-autumn.
• Dahlias with simple, single flowers provide an accessible source of nectar from summer to the first frosts of autumn.
• Many herbs including dill, fennel and thyme are very attractive to bees, but borage with its sprays of star-shaped blue flowers is perhaps the most useful. It has a long flowering season and produces copious amounts of nectar.
• Fruit trees especially apple (Malus) and cherry (Prunus) are major sources of pollen and nectar.
• Garden shrubs to grow include lavender (Lavendula), buddleia (Buddleja), roses (Rosa species) and honeysuckle (Lonicera species).

For Bees Sake Garden Organically With Plenty of Single Flowered Plants

By practising organic gardening which avoids the use of all pesticides and herbicides the garden will develop a natural balance of pests and beneficial insects When plenty of simple, nectar rich flowers are grown pollinating insects including bees will be given every chance to thrive.