Bee friendly Gardens. Help the Honey Bees Awesome pictures of our busy Bumble and Worker Friends.
78Beautiful Bees in All Varieties
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Bees need Bee Friendly Gardens
The first thing to say about Bee gardens is not to attract bees if you are allergic to their sting. Some people, my mother included have a dangerous reaction to Bee stings and should keep an antidote available at all times. That said, however, a garden designed to encourage bees is doing nearly everyone a favor. Poor bees are having a hard time of it, Insecticides, poisonous herbicides and mulching are having very adverse effect on bees. Mulching covers up the bare earth and makes it very difficult for the great number of solitary ground dwelling bees to find a place to nest.
Colony collapse Disorder is a recent plague to hit bees and no one knows what causes it. Any thing one can do to encourage bees is good. We can help in our own back yards with a little bit of planning. This means banning all chemicals and mulches. Leaving dead wood around with worm holes in it will give homes to the many varieties of carpenter bee. Other solitary bees may be enticed with bee homes made of clusters of thin pipes that can be used as homes,These may be ordered commercially. There are pheromone sprays that can be used to entice bees if you have produce that needs pollinating.
In order to encourage bees naturally into the garden it may be necessary to leave weeds like dandelions in the ground till they have flowered. Clumps of bee friendly flowers should be planted close together. My Canadian Red Bud tree is alive with bees early in the season. Later honeysuckle and lantana take over. This year I grew Artichokes and I allowed some of them to flower quite by accident. Not only was I rewarded with wonderful, big, blue, thistle like blooms but to my amazement the bees love them. It was standing room only! Bees of all description, from the massive black bumble bees to tiny wild bees flocked to the blossoms. It was a sight to behold.
Here is a list of plants recommended for North American Gardens http://nature.berkeley.edu/urbanbeegardens/gbt.html . Many plants recommended for bees attract butterflies and hummingbirds too. In Wales, my overgrown privet hedge groans with the sound of bees in midsummer. It is also covered with Red Admiral Butterflies and is a delight to see. Plan your garden so that you have as many native plants s possible as they will do best for your area. Visit local parks and nursery gardens to give you ideas for suitable plants for bees.
The ultimate bee garden would contain hive if this could be arranged with local bee keeper. This would not be wise if you have young children or horses. Bees are not aggressive unless disturbed but it is best not to tempt fate! Bees are very attracted to the scent of horses and my local bee keeper refused to put a hive in the garden because of horses in the next field.You must be the judge of what will work best for you.
Sad Situation for Bees
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Very informative hub. Thank you.
Thanks gramarye for stopping by and commenting. Bees are important to our very survival.
Hi hello hello Glad you enjoyed the hub. Thanks for the visit.
beautifully done hub thanks
A WONDERFUL COMPASSIONATE ARTICLE! I love the pictures. Bees are amazing creatures. I will certainly take your advice and try to help them. I'm going to bookmark this page because I am in between moves and do not have a garden as of yet. Thank you so much for caring. We need more people like you.
Hi thevoice thanks for stopping by and commenting. I appreciate your visit.
Hi lisa, thanks for the comment and the kind words.
Very nice hub, Did you see mine on the 'blessed bee' ?
Goodness, bees are getting extinct all over the world !
Bees are in a sad way not only sad but bad as we need the bee. It turns my stomach when I visit plant nurseries and see all the poisons stacked up to kill things on OUR planet. People don't think it through do they? Thanks for the visit,
thank you for taking the time to write a great hub to help bring awareness to the extinction of bees. Adding a link to mine. Good job!
Hi Duchess OBlunt thanks for dropping by. Just off to check out your hub.
Great hub. I love honey so therefore have great respect for the bees that work so hard to produce that golden nectar.
Thanks for the visit Jamie. Lets hope you have a good summer to warm them up after your bad winter.
I did not know that there were such a thing as "solitary bees". Interesting.
I never throw anything chemical in my vegetable garden, and always love to see bees working hard all the time. Especially bumblebees make me laugh anytime I see and hear one. I hope that a grain of salt appears in the head of those who think humanity can go on destroying nature, because no bees no life. Rated clearly up.
Hi Alexander, I have stopped mulching my garden since I did the research for this hub, Our area has so many different bees too including a huge black bumble bee that I see on the honeysuckle later in the year. Thanks for the visit.
Hi hypnodude, sometimes I despair at human behaviour. I try to create my own environment and enjoy that. My garden is a haven for wildlife except snails. They are so destructive I collect them up and put them in the local park! Selfish I know but you could go mad thinking about the nasties in life. Thanks for coming by.
Saw a program today and apparently there are bees who spend their time overheating themselves by muscle movements, to create heat for the young. While they are working, other bees bring them honey to sustain them!
Am I not a mine of information? What would you do without me I wonder?
I will never know, will I? Thanks for the informative comment Dimitiris.
Wow this is amazing. You are so right, we must do our part in saving the honey bee. Beautiful photos.
Thanks for the kind comments DustinsMom. They are so precious and necessary for our presence on this planet.
Interesting and surprising info. One would think that with all the beautiful English Gardens that Britain would be thriving with bees. Never dreamed that a praying mantis was the enemy of bees. Thanks for sharing your insight. Thumbs up!
Thanks for visiting MG. Bees are having problems world wide. So sad. My Bee garden in California is buzzing with activity though.
Gypsy - it is with great saddness we witness the demise of the honey bee. Although it seems that I've seen a few more this year than last year. I would love a bee hive in my yard, but my suburban area probably is not the best place. The neighbors would have a fit!
This year has seen a definite upturn in Bee population in my garden. A cause to celebrate. It still isn't like my early years in Britain when the clovers were dense with foraging bees. Here's hoping! Thanks for dropping by Dolores.
I have heard they are becoming extinct in America too, killed out by another type and I do seldom see one but that luckily many people have their own. I truly believe bee stings are the cure for MS and help with arthritis. I have had a personal experience years ago being stung by hornets no less! I was stung all over my body and healed of horrible pain so bad in my ankles I could hardly walk. I don't thing MS research is taking it serious enough. Through the honey bee I have read many claimed to be cured of MS and return to work and some claim to have them for that very reason to administer stings to themselves, my best friend died from MS and we had been out of touch and I would have encouraged her to try it but I have not really researched that. I may do that, great hub.Thanks for following.
Well I haven't heard about that before.I had heard about curing arthritis but not MS. Interesting concept. Thanks for telling me about it. Sorry about your friend.
I learned so much about bees when a swarm flew into our yard, and we had a beekeeper come to get them. Thanks for your article to heighten awareness of the plight of the helpful honeybee. We do need them!
What a beautiful garden with honeybees, butterflies, and hummingbirds!
Thank you for your sweet comment. Yes, I am truly blessed with all the beautiful winged visitors. We have several ponds so we get dragonflies and damsels too. My favorite garden rogue lives with us too, the amazing praying Mantis, Grow the right plants and they will come!
Great hub, informative with nice photos. I get a kick out of how a lot of people react when bees are around them. I have worked right in the middle of many bees and never get stung. I think they're very cool! Peace!! Tom
I love bees too. My friend has just started bee keeping and she says she has two hives, one passive, one aggressive. She tells me that next year she will change the queen in the aggressive hive and hopefully get a friendly brood. I learnt that bees are attracted to the scent of horse sweat so I gave up the idea as I kept horses. Now I admire from afar. I hope they make a recovery, don't you?
I sure do, I've noticed a lot more this year than in the past couple so I hope that's a good thing.
Your pictures on this hub are really beautiful. I love all bees but in UK, most especially Bumble Bees and do all I can to encourage them we grow verbena bonariensis and sedum which give plenty of nectar late in the season before winter sets in.
Hi Alison, good idea to plant late flowering plants for our tiny friends, may I add this to my hub? I love bumble bees. When I lived in England, my lawn was mainly white clover and it was buzzing with them. I have not noticed this in California but the flowers get plenty of visits. I was amazed by the popularity of the Artichoke flowers. Thanks for the visit.
This is very beautiful as are all your hubs. I'll be linking this one up very soon. God bless!
Thank you for your kind comment Micky. I am glad you like my hubs.
I love bees and all they do. Honey is good too.
Thanks for coming by and commenting tritrain. Bees are wonderful aren't they? I love honey too.
I really enjoyed reading your Hub on bees and the pictures were really great! I planted Rose of Sharon bushes a few years ago and the bees just love them!
Thanks for the nice comment. It is so good to see the bees working.
My grandfather's hobby was bee keeping; he was also a doctor. We ate honey with everything when I stayed and he prescribed honey for almost every ailment too. He had the best honey in the world. I loved my grandfather and his memory is inseparable from bees and honey. Great Hub, thank you.
Please help stop the spread of the asian wild bee it is an invasive pest in Australia and the government is pulling funding on the eradication project.
Hi Sembj Not enough people know abut the medicinal properties of Honey. You were lucky to have such a wonderful Grandfather. I use honey as much as possible. Hopefully honeybees will come back in strength. Thanks for coming by..
Incredible photos. Fantastic hub. l´ve also been concerned about the plight of the honeybee and often wear my T- shirt with a big bee on it and the words. ¨Give bees a chance¨.
Well done Dim. Thanks for dropping by and the kind comment.
beautiful. Its just that i forgot long before how actually a garden looks like, as i have been working over nights, for days together. However you just made my day.
Thanks
Awesome pictures and an important message. I was amazed recently by a swarm of bees that surrounded one of my trees in bloom. Lovely sound and hardworking creatures.
Hi thebluearatus, glad you liked my hub. This year i have noticed lots more bees visiting. No one favorite is still the blue artichoke flowers but the Indian pepper tree which flowered for the first time this year is covered with bees. Good news for us all!
Hi a great hub and very well presented.
I vote up here.
Take care
Eiddwen.
Thanks for the visit and the vote Eiddwen. Glad you enjoyed the visit. What does your name mean?
Thanks kdupree, it is amazing how many different varieties of bee there are.
I loved this hub, fabulous pictures and useful information.
I made a real effort to plant more bee friendly flowers this year and it seems to have worked, there has definitely been more visitors!
That is great Movie Master. You will be rewarded with their visits. It seems to make the garden more alive. I have been astounded by the number of bees visiting this year. My English lavender has been mobbed by tiny banded bumble bees! All the more wonderful as the plants were buried under snow banks for nine months this year.
Great informative article about bees with many amazing pictures. Voted up, useful, beautiful, awesome and interesting.
Gee Happyboomernurse! Thanks for the accolade!
Beautiful pictures of bees and a great article. Bumble bees are becoming increasingly rare in the UK, so it would be great if people would sow at least a little corner of their gardens with wild flower and plant seeds
Hi CM,it is not difficult to plant flowers to attract bees. Lavender, honeysuckle, lantana and the giant artichoke are the favourites in my garden. The bees cluster on the artichoke in amazing numbers but you have to forgo eating the buds! This year the lavender growing a 6500 in the Sierras was visited by so many small bumblebees that it looked as if the flowers had a strange disease! Thanks for the visit.
Gypsy Willow: A fabuloso hub! Bees are one of my favorite insects, but in particular the bumblebee is my favorite insect. I loved the photos and the meaning that you have brought to pollinators. Well done!
I love bees. I love to watch them on my flowers and I love to listen to their buzzing. Your pictures were wonderful. I really liked the picture of the burrowing bee coming up out of the ground. And I would have never known that the thin waisted Indian bee was a bee at all. It looks very similar to a yellow jacket. Great hub!
I have always been fascinated by bees. They are amazing creatures, and after reading your thoughtful article, even more amazing than I already knew. I had no idea, though that some of our human habits like mulching were causing problems for the bees -- very interesting.
Hi davenmidtown, so glad you enjoyed reading about our favourite insects. Thanks for dropping by.
professional photo...and nice hub :D
you are quite welcome... I have shared this hub across my followers and I think a great many of them will enjoy it too.
ear homesteadbound, it is amazing how many different kinds of bees live amongst us. I have seen more than usual this yea, hopefully they are making a comeback. Thanks for the visit
Hi ktrapp, thanks for the visit. So many people use mulch these days, I did until I read about the plight of the bees. They need all the help they can get.
Hi Matheus, thanks for liking the photographs. It is so easy these days to take good pics with a modern digital camera. Bees make wonderful subjects too.
I enjoyed your article and the photographs are awesome. I surely had never thought of going out of my way to attract bees. But you presented an interesting concept. Thank you for this pleasure.
The pleasure is mine James. They are fascinating and industrious creatures. I was amazed by the popularity of the artichoke flowers. Glad you enjoyed the visit. Happy new year to you and yours
I loved your bee hub and the photos are beautiful. You did a smashing job with the camera work. Lovely images.
Thanks Mark for the kind comment. Bees are a fascinating subject and I love to watch them.
Knowing that honey bees have been declining in number for some years, I don't even kill any that find their way indoors. I just shoo them out the door.
Beautiful photos.
Voted up and SHARED.
Thanks L.L. we certainly need them. Recently read an article about a place in China that has NO honey bees left and the fruit trees have to be pollinated by hand. Just imagine!
Thank you so much for putting together such a nice & informative site to help educate folks about the importance of not using harmful chemicals. My husband & I started beekeeping last spring in Eugene Oregon. We are learning so much, & enjoy our busy worker girls daily. Last October, we were deeply hurt when we saw the city spraying chemicals on blackberries in the park near our home next to a newly designed salmon restoration area. We decided to start HealthyBees = HealthyGardens this spring. We are starting a Host a Hive program, where we create "spray free" blocks in Eugene, & then after educating people about the bees needs, we will place a new beehive in that neighborhood. We encourage folks to check out our educational website, which is still being designed. We have Bee Friendly & "No Spraying please" lawn signs & stickers for sale that help support our host a hive program. We agree how important it is to create healthy gardens for our honeybees. They need our help to keep their home clean, & our environment healthy!
Thanks- Jen & Doug Hornaday www.healthybeeshealthygardens.com
Hi Jen and Doug, thanks for your enlightened comment. I wish more people were so informed. Garden poisons should be stamped with a warning just like cigarette packets. So sad to see the poisons stacked up at garden centers. Thanks for reading my humble tribute to one of Man's best friends.
gramarye 2 years ago
Great hub. I loved the pictures and believe in helping the bees along.