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Do you plant such things as to

montanajoemontanajoe Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 57,892 ******
edited April 2019 in General Discussion
promote honey bee population??

Comments

  • Ditch-RunnerDitch-Runner Member Posts: 24,450 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    my wife plants flowers and bushes to attract and feed birds and the bees :D
    she normally gets carried away planting countless flowers each spring we also have about a acre we let go wild, lots of milk weed and some wild flowers
  • lt496lt496 Member Posts: 116
    edited November -1
    We always plant flowers and stuff around the property/garden to promote bees and to increase pollination of our fruit trees and garden plants.
    "Freedom is not for the timid" III% BFYTW
  • montanajoemontanajoe Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 57,892 ******
    edited November -1
    Thumbs up,well done.
  • HessianHessian Member Posts: 248
    edited April 2019
    Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) Almost a weed or invasive species. Way past easy to grow as long as it is watered regularly. The hard part is keeping it under control, I pull up at least half. Bee's love the stuff and it flowers after midsummer up until the first frost. It keeps the Bees going in the late summer when many other flowers are finished or over with.

    I plant a lot of Bee-friendly flowers and plants, dual-purpose, good for the Bees and tasty for people. Goose Berries, Raspberries, BlackBerries and even English Ivy ( https://phys.org/news/2013-04-honey-ivy-gardeners-foe-bees.html ).

    A lot f my gardening is pulling and cutting the overflow.

    Lemon Thyme is another good one, edible and a perennial, way easy to grow. Basil is always a hit with the Bees.
  • montanajoemontanajoe Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 57,892 ******
    edited November -1
    Thanks for the extra effort.
  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 50,947 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Yep, most of our property is planted with native or xeric adapted plants that are hosts to pollinators and butterfly larvae. We grow Datura to move the sphinx moth larvae to from our tomatos. We also have nesting blocks with holes for orchard and leaf cutting bees, and a structure for over wintering invertebrates.
  • mag00mag00 Member Posts: 4,719 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Here in the desert, not much planting going on. I do try to cultivate the blooming vegetation and plants that produce some sort of sustenance for my wild critters.
  • remingtonoaksremingtonoaks Member Posts: 26,251 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Well I have several apple trees and cherry trees. They seem to like them

    But then again, I didn't plant them for the bees, I planted them for myself, the Bee just help pollinate them.
  • mrmike08075mrmike08075 Member Posts: 10,998 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    We have a pair of crab apple trees and a pair of cherry trees in the back yard that put on a prolific floral display each spring - we lost the oldest mature crab apple last year to a combination of age and storm damage...

    We have a good sized patch of clover in one corner.

    When we took over the property there were tons of rose bushes in a row that had grown wild and out of control - had been neglected and untended for about 20 years and were choked off and just a non productive mess.

    We cleaned them up and heavily trimmed and pruned them back removing anything completely dead and they remnants have come back with a vengeance and put on a terrific display of blossoms and flowers but we did have to get rid of about 60% of the footprint.

    We do have tulips and some perennials that border the Ivy beds.

    There is a range of illumination from direct exposure to heavy shade that allows for many disparate environments and mini ecosystems.

    We do plant and tend to tomatoes and eggplants and summer squash that require active tending and attention but the balance of the yard is weekly maintenance aside from spring and fall cleanup and prep.

    I like to think it's a net positive and that we do our part.

    Mike
  • bpostbpost Member Posts: 32,664 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I don't plant with bees in mind but the apple trees, peach trees and a natural weed lawn with all nature of flowering plants coupled with ZERO Sevin used creates a good dinner plate for pollinators and does not kill them off.
  • jwb267jwb267 Member Posts: 19,666 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I plant flowers along with beer/soda cans placed on a piece of rebar for wasps to build their nests
  • Quick&DeadQuick&Dead Member Posts: 1,466 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Just lilacs and tulips.

    Plenty of farmers fields around with clover, alfalfa, sunflowers, and a variety of grains.
    The government has no rights. Only the people have rights which empowers the government.
    We have enough gun laws, what we need is IDIOT control.
    Blood makes you related. Loyalty makes you family.

    I thought getting old would take longer. :shock:
  • HessianHessian Member Posts: 248
    edited November -1
    IMO if you want to help the Bee and related wild Bees or even Wasps you plant with the thought in mind to have something they like blooming in spring, summer and fall. Spring is usually boom time for the Bees, there can be dry periods for flowers. Some flowers they ignore.
    Garden Vetch (vicia) is a winner, perennial. A little hard to get started but once started it is pretty much idiot proof. Drought doesn't really affect it unless it is really drastic. Black-Carpenter-Bee.jpg
  • KenK/84BravoKenK/84Bravo Member Posts: 12,055 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    bpost wrote:
    I don't plant with bees in mind but the apple trees, peach trees and a natural weed lawn with all nature of flowering plants coupled with ZERO Sevin used creates a good dinner plate for pollinators and does not kill them off.



    Agreed, same here.

    (But) With Nectarines added as well.


    Not into Harsh Chemicals all over my yard in order to eradicate "Stuff."
  • mogley98mogley98 Member Posts: 18,297 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    No but I'm working on a stinger less hybrid bee :)
    Why don't we go to school and work on the weekends and take the week off!
  • mogley98mogley98 Member Posts: 18,297 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    mogley98 wrote:
    No but I'm working on a stinger less hybrid bee :), using seedless grapes and seedless watermelon plants to encourage stingerless bee growth
    Why don't we go to school and work on the weekends and take the week off!
  • JunkballerJunkballer Member Posts: 9,147 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I get pissed when I see people selling or buying bee traps :evil: .......no bees = no food plants for humans, I love my vegetables and fruits ;)

    "Never do wrong to make a friend----or to keep one".....Robert E. Lee

  • mrmike08075mrmike08075 Member Posts: 10,998 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    No matter how much I try and how inviting an environment I create and maintain I cannot seem to get my hornets or wasps to produce any honey...

    Mike
  • jwb267jwb267 Member Posts: 19,666 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Wasps eat a wide range of invertebrates including spiders, caterpillars, ants, bees, and flies. It has also been suggested that wasps may prey on nestling birds. Wasps also collect honeydew. Honeydew is produced by a native scale insect.
    In early summer wasps, like bees, pollinate plants and flowers as they feed on nectar. ... So, wasps do serve a purpose and despite being a problem at certain times of the year, they are a beneficial insect. So in the natural world, wasps although irritating to humans, have their role to play
  • HessianHessian Member Posts: 248
    edited November -1
    Where I live, maybe a mile from the woods and/or agriculture, HoneyBees are few and far between. I've noticed over the years the numbers have steadily decreased. There is a variety of Wild Bees, Bumble Bees, tiny Wasps, Hornets, and even Flies that visit the flowers on my fruit trees. Without them, I think manual pollination would be the only alternative. Certain Bees prefer certain flowers, one variety of Bumblebee visits my Gooseberry bushes and few other flowers.

    I even make housing for the tiny wasps.

    I've read some articles and some of what they have to say is interesting. All flowers aren't Bee friendly, some even damage the Bees. https://www.buzzaboutbees.net/Plants-Toxic-for-Bees.html
  • buddybbuddyb Member Posts: 5,234 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I just put a 3 pound package of honeybees in a hive last week.
  • castingcasting Member Posts: 110
    edited November -1
    I had fennel growing a few years back. Fennel attracts every flying insect in the kingdom. Every. I've since pulled it all up. It's a perrenial and sends a deep root which interfered with other plants I was growing.
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