I got 4864 which is not great for a 'large garden' - i had to look it up on a conversion website having no idea of the size in metres. I use inverted commas as i was told a garden has to be over 2 acres to be large, i guess times have changed! My 10 recommendations for improvement id never considered growing any of them, but i will now, so its been very useful.
They like my phacelia best. I did try and get rid if it one year, but you cant do that when bees like it can you?
If I think about the things that the bees home in on in big numbers then it would be borage, phacelia, sedum, lime trees (they will work these until late evening if the temperature is reasonable - and the honey is superb!) and ivy ... which they get a great feed from to set them up for the winter.
I have to say though that when the oilseed rape is flowering in nearby fields, I don't see half so many bees in the garden. The same is true later in the season when the himalayan balsam is flowering on the riverbanks here.
Watery makes a really important point about planting in big clumps. The bees will go back to the hive and perform a waggle dance to let other bees know the location of a good source of nectar / pollen .. and before you know it there is a horde of bees enjoying themselves!
Bob is also right about the need to have a succession of plants across the year. Gorse is a great bee plant as there's usually some flowering somewhere.
We've been beekeeping for 10 years now ... and every year is different ... the weather plays a big part, and the bees are always teaching us things.
Very, very interesting bee, thank you. I would love to go on a bee keeping course at some point. I agree about the rapeseed fields in May, weigela and pyracantha go down well here too in early June. I've sown a few trays of borage, so will pick up some phacelia tanacetifolia seeds as well.
The only problem is that a small garden will struggle to have large clumps, all year round unless you are continually swapping many many pots with little space.
I've got lots of crocuses (when the pheasants leave them!) pulmonaria, hellebores, foxgloves and geraniums, phlox, various daisy flowers and scabious. Cotoneaster horizontalis is buzz central, sedums and a plant that wasn't on the list, Lamb's ears, Stachys Lanata. One of mine grows over the edge of a wall near where I park and I often sit in the car to watch and listen to the bees as they work the flowers. It flowered right into the autumn and even though it was looking a bit tatty by then, I left it, as there were still bees on the few remaining flowers
Sometimes bees come into the greenhouse and can't get out again. I've rescued some but others die. For a couple of years though, there has been big bumble that has come regularly to work my fuchsias and has learned the way in and out. I'm guessing it's not the same one all that time, so maybe the information has been passed on and is now bumble 'tradition'.
I have planted my annual seeds, so with luck there should be some cosmos, rudbeckia and petunia to keep the bees and me happy this summer
Nice plant Mark ..... not sure I could give it the conditions it needs.
Sounds like you are on the right road Ado Annie .... if every garden had just a few pollinator friendly plants it would make a huge different across the country.
Bee
Gardener and beekeeper in beautiful Scottish Borders
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
Bee witched I also cater for other types of bee (as well as hoverflies and butterflies) with plants like dianthus rainbow loveliness, harebells, musk mallow and a blue one who's name escapes me at this ungodly hour but is an absolute magnet for them so my garden is filled with sound all summer long.
1064 But I don't know the names of most of the plants in my garden. The bumblebees definitely love it though - we had >10 bumblebees in the garden at the same time last year. Sadly though we don't see many honeybees
I took this pic on a particularly busy day for the bumblebees, so I have some proof
Posts
I got 4864 which is not great for a 'large garden' - i had to look it up on a conversion website having no idea of the size in metres. I use inverted commas as i was told a garden has to be over 2 acres to be large, i guess times have changed! My 10 recommendations for improvement id never considered growing any of them, but i will now, so its been very useful.
They like my phacelia best. I did try and get rid if it one year, but you cant do that when bees like it can you?
Very, very interesting bee, thank you.
I would love to go on a bee keeping course at some point. I agree about the rapeseed fields in May, weigela and pyracantha go down well here too in early June. I've sown a few trays of borage, so will pick up some phacelia tanacetifolia seeds as well.
The only problem is that a small garden will struggle to have large clumps, all year round unless you are continually swapping many many pots with little space.
Last edited: 20 March 2017 11:27:47
3,554 for me. Must do better!
Has anyone ever grown phacelia campanularia?
I don't use chemicals in my garden
I've got lots of crocuses (when the pheasants leave them!) pulmonaria, hellebores, foxgloves and geraniums, phlox, various daisy flowers and scabious. Cotoneaster horizontalis is buzz central, sedums and a plant that wasn't on the list, Lamb's ears, Stachys Lanata. One of mine grows over the edge of a wall near where I park and I often sit in the car to watch and listen to the bees as they work the flowers. It flowered right into the autumn and even though it was looking a bit tatty by then, I left it, as there were still bees on the few remaining flowers
Sometimes bees come into the greenhouse and can't get out again. I've rescued some but others die. For a couple of years though, there has been big bumble that has come regularly to work my fuchsias and has learned the way in and out. I'm guessing it's not the same one all that time, so maybe the information has been passed on and is now bumble 'tradition'.
I have planted my annual seeds, so with luck there should be some cosmos, rudbeckia and petunia to keep the bees and me happy this summer
2,507 for me - must do better but as I'm only into year 2 of converting my garden into wildlife friendly I'll take that.
Nice plant Mark ..... not sure I could give it the conditions it needs.
Sounds like you are on the right road Ado Annie .... if every garden had just a few pollinator friendly plants it would make a huge different across the country.
Bee
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
Bee witched I also cater for other types of bee (as well as hoverflies and butterflies) with plants like dianthus rainbow loveliness, harebells, musk mallow and a blue one who's name escapes me at this ungodly hour but is an absolute magnet for them so my garden is filled with sound all summer long.
1064
But I don't know the names of most of the plants in my garden. The bumblebees definitely love it though - we had >10 bumblebees in the garden at the same time last year. Sadly though we don't see many honeybees 
I took this pic on a particularly busy day for the bumblebees, so I have some proof
Fabulous picture Garden Noob