Chives, sage and runner beans are good, for bees and ourselves.
We have loads of them, they also love Thyme and I put several varieties around the pond and by the pathways. The Foxgloves were doing well, but the slugs decided they like them as well. Every year we've had a lot of Bees and we are now logging the varieties we get, I've got a chart with the different species of bees on, it's interesting for identifying each individual one.
@gr.letley - I read something in The Garden magazine the other day about cuckoo bees which look very similar to the bees whose nests they lay their eggs in. There were about 5 different varieties from what I remember. I'd never heard of them before - have you come across them?
Cotoneasters are absolute bee magnets in my garden, it doesn't matter which variety, but I like C.horizontalis best, as it is so easy to see all the bees. The birds love the berries too.
I've said it before, but wild rocket is one of the easiest plants to grow, and bees/hoverflies love it. Flowers for months, doesn't mind shade or severe winters. Seeds around readily, which can be a blessing or a curse, depending on your viewpoint.
We have ground nesting bees here too - they just appear, like the wasps, and are quite common. I've been watching the wood pigeons sitting on the cotoneasters along the road, eating the berries @Buttercupdays. They're usually wolfing down the pyracantha berries in my garden
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I agree about supporting wild bees. There are around 270 species of bees in the UK, 250 of which are solitary bees (that don't live in a social, hierarchical colony). Mason bees and leafcutters seem most easy to provide homes for. You can make boxes or buy some very good and bee-popular designs now. Bumblebee nesting boxes can also work well.
She writes for the RHS, the Guardian and Gardeners' World and has four good books on gardening for wildlife.
- George Pilkington helped form the BBCT and he has many videos on Youtube about his research and highly respected nesting box designs. He builds and sells mason bee nesting boxes and also bumble bee nesting boxes, having spent decades investigating the specifics of successful models. He works with Kew.
-Dave Goulson as helped formed the Trust. He is a profesor at Sussex Uni and has spent a lifetime in insect research. He has written many books on using land to support the biosphere. The book 'Garden Jungle' might be of great interest to you. He also has a You tube channel (like George P) with lots of discussion on support insects in the garden. He was some acres himself, which he was rewilded.
If you are interested in finding out more about British wild bees, those three are a good place to start. It's also very much worth noting that bees are just one subsection of important pollinators, though the others seem to get less attention. Wasps, hoverflies, flies, gnats and all the others are vital too. Plus the invertebrates and birds etc.
Great that you've made contact with the local beekeepers' association, hopefully they can advise you.
For honey bees .... and probably for all pollinators .... it is important to try and provide sources of pollen and nectar throughout the season. From snowdrops and aconites in early spring, to ivy flowers in late autumn. The peak season of mid-summer is the time when the bees are spoilt for choice .... but the shoulder seasons can be make or break for a hive. Trees are also important for honeybees. The nicest honey we get is from the flowers of the small leaved lime (Tilia cordata) .... the bees will work it from dawn to dusk in good weather.
Your garden sounds like a lovely wildlife haven. You might want to consider attracting even more pollinators by growing big swathes of the same flowers rather than a patchwork of different flowers. If honey bees find a big patch of, say, phacelia, they will return to the hive and perform a bee dance. This will communicate the distance and direction of the phacelia to the other foraging bees in the hive. Clever eh!
My go-to book for pollen and nectar sources is "The Bee Friendly Garden" Ted Hooper & Mike Taylor. Well worth seeking out.
Good luck with your garden.
Bee x
Gardener and beekeeper in beautiful Scottish Borders
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
@gr.letley I have a range of solitary bee boxes (some successful and some not) and two bumblebee colonies nesting and am happy to chat by private message if you want to talk further. Best wishes.
@gr.letley - I read something in The Garden magazine the other day about cuckoo bees which look very similar to the bees whose nests they lay their eggs in. There were about 5 different varieties from what I remember. I'd never heard of them before - have you come across them?
I was reading about them online, don't think we have any, but we do have a great variety and my favourite are the Brown-banded carder bee, they look like little teddy bears and they love our Centaurea Montana. We had one several weeks ago that was jet black all over, that could have been cuckoo bee. Our biggest problem is the Wax Moth, nightmare for all colonies. I've just had someone phone me from the beekeeping community in our area and they are coming to inspect the garden to see if it's suitable. But he did suggest I talk to the neighbours first, which could be a problem, the majority of them are from London and are anti wildlife, they won't even have a little hole in the fence to let our Hedgehogs through, so I don't think they will like a hive in the vicinity.
Posts
We have ground nesting bees here too - they just appear, like the wasps, and are quite common.
I've been watching the wood pigeons sitting on the cotoneasters along the road, eating the berries @Buttercupdays. They're usually wolfing down the pyracantha berries in my garden
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Great that you've made contact with the local beekeepers' association, hopefully they can advise you.
For honey bees .... and probably for all pollinators .... it is important to try and provide sources of pollen and nectar throughout the season. From snowdrops and aconites in early spring, to ivy flowers in late autumn. The peak season of mid-summer is the time when the bees are spoilt for choice .... but the shoulder seasons can be make or break for a hive.
Trees are also important for honeybees. The nicest honey we get is from the flowers of the small leaved lime (Tilia cordata) .... the bees will work it from dawn to dusk in good weather.
Your garden sounds like a lovely wildlife haven.
You might want to consider attracting even more pollinators by growing big swathes of the same flowers rather than a patchwork of different flowers. If honey bees find a big patch of, say, phacelia, they will return to the hive and perform a bee dance. This will communicate the distance and direction of the phacelia to the other foraging bees in the hive. Clever eh!
My go-to book for pollen and nectar sources is "The Bee Friendly Garden" Ted Hooper & Mike Taylor. Well worth seeking out.
Good luck with your garden.
Bee x
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
https://youtu.be/YDBXSsKXMGg