Plant Bee Friendly Plants
Purple Coneflower
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Spiderwort
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Did you know that the average Worker Bee only lives 6 weeks during the summer? Further, those honeybees that you see out visiting the flowers are the oldest ones and are in the last
2 weeks of their life. Help make their lives a little easier by giving them a nice source of both nectar and pollen.
When planting new trees, shrubs and flowers, consider planting something that will benefit honeybees and pollinators. Did you know that many of the flowers we plant do not actually produce any usable nectar or pollen for honeybees despite being very pretty and popular. Those tulips, carnations, and geraniums are like the garnish on the side of your plate at a fancy restaurant to the bees. It might look nice, but you’re probably not going to eat it….
Consider taking a portion of your yard and creating a Pollinator Garden. In fact, make it an edible pollinator garden (perhaps a mint and herb garden?). Plant edible items that you can benefit from the pollination that the bees are doing while visiting your plants. Consider incorporating herbs, mints, chives, blueberries, raspberries, giant sunflowers, and others into your landscape and enjoy both the taste and the beauty. Imagine how much we could benefit our pollinators (both honeybees and native pollinators) if everyone dedicated just a 10’x10’ portion of their yard to this? Imagine how much more it would be if it could be 20’x20’?? (Working Tea - Picture to the Right)
Better yet, plant a whole variety of trees and flowers that will provide them with nectar and pollen throughout much of the year. As mentioned previously, the bees often run out of nectar sources for much of the summer and fall in our area.
Please see our "Bee Friendly Flower List" or research them online. (Please pay attention to specific varieties as many other varieties of the same-named plants do not provide the same nutrition due to varietal changes, variations in hybrids, etc.)
2 weeks of their life. Help make their lives a little easier by giving them a nice source of both nectar and pollen.
When planting new trees, shrubs and flowers, consider planting something that will benefit honeybees and pollinators. Did you know that many of the flowers we plant do not actually produce any usable nectar or pollen for honeybees despite being very pretty and popular. Those tulips, carnations, and geraniums are like the garnish on the side of your plate at a fancy restaurant to the bees. It might look nice, but you’re probably not going to eat it….
Consider taking a portion of your yard and creating a Pollinator Garden. In fact, make it an edible pollinator garden (perhaps a mint and herb garden?). Plant edible items that you can benefit from the pollination that the bees are doing while visiting your plants. Consider incorporating herbs, mints, chives, blueberries, raspberries, giant sunflowers, and others into your landscape and enjoy both the taste and the beauty. Imagine how much we could benefit our pollinators (both honeybees and native pollinators) if everyone dedicated just a 10’x10’ portion of their yard to this? Imagine how much more it would be if it could be 20’x20’?? (Working Tea - Picture to the Right)
Better yet, plant a whole variety of trees and flowers that will provide them with nectar and pollen throughout much of the year. As mentioned previously, the bees often run out of nectar sources for much of the summer and fall in our area.
Please see our "Bee Friendly Flower List" or research them online. (Please pay attention to specific varieties as many other varieties of the same-named plants do not provide the same nutrition due to varietal changes, variations in hybrids, etc.)