Gardening for Bees

Some tips and recommended plants to "garden for bees" by Richard Rickitt as discussed in Richard's new book "Bee Keeping for Gardeners" and his upcoming Master Class at Jekka's, "Beekeeping for Beginners" on the 20th September 2024

Gardening for Bees - General rules

Richard's top 6 tips or general rules for gardening for bees are:

Try to provide something with nectar and pollen all year round - particularly spring and autumn.
Avoid hybrid or double flowers which are harder for bees to access and can have less pollen and nectar.
Large groups or drifts of the same flower are better than scatterings of different flowers.
Different shaped flowers will attract bees with different length tongues.
If in doubt go for blue and purple flowers - bees' favourite colours. Red is less visible to them.
Do not spray open flowers with pesticides or herbicides. Better still, garden organically.

Below is a tiny selection of recommendations and we have highlighted in green those that are herbs. For over 500 plants for different situations as well as much more about honey bees, bumblebees and solitary bees, please consider reading Richard's new book.

Spring essentials

Early spring is the toughest time for bees, and when they are most likley to starve. If you do one thing, fill your garden with early-flowering bulbs - they are relatively cheap and easy to grow, plant a handful every year – even if you have only tubs or window boxes!

Snowdrops & crocuses
Winter aconites
Daphnes
Siberian squil
Stinking hellebore
Mahonia
Sweet box
Winter-flowering clematis

Bees on Cardoon

Summer superstars

The choice of flowers for summer is vast. Anything that flowers in June is helpful as there is often a lull between spring and summer flowers known as the June gap, when bees can starve. Late summer flowers are also important. My favourite summer plants suitable for bees of all types are:

Asters (Michelmas daisies)
Anchusa
Buddleia
Borage
Calendula
Cosmos
Dahlias (single)
Echinacea (coneflowers, rudbeckia)
Echiums/viper's bugloss
Eupatorium
Fuchsia
Forget-me-not
Foxglove
Gaillardia
Helleniums
Hyssop
Lambs ears
Lavender (intemedia Gros bleu especially good)
Lungwort
Meadow foam (poached egg plant)
Nepeta - catmint
Phacelia (can be used as a green manure)
Rock rose
Rudbekia
Sages
Sedums (stonecrop)
Sunflowers
Veronica
Virginia creeper/Boston ivy

Bees on Buddleia

Herbs

Flowering herbs are tremendously attractive to bees – think of that delicious, dark honey you've had on hoiliday in the Mediterranean. Herbs need to flower to be useful to bees, so allow them to do so – perhaps cutting different parts back to encourage new growth for you to harvest and letting other parts flower.

Borage
Chives (all alliums)
Fennel
Lemon balm
Marjoram
Mints
Oregano
Rosemary
Sage
Thyme

Jekka's has a wealth of information on herbs for bees, including Jekka's Guide to Pollinating Herbs as well as Jean Vernon's (aka Jeanie Bee) guide to planting herbs for bees & pollinators. We have included some of these favourite herbs in Jekka's seed collections, in particular: Birds & Bees, Biodiversity and Wild Herbs. Also, in our "For the Garden" range we sell a number of bee homes, including, the Bee Barn, the Bee Nester and Eco Nesting Tubes that can be found in Jekka’s Pollinating Gardeners Gift Box.

Bees on Buddleia

Trees and shrubs

A tree in flower is like a meadow in the sky and can provide far more food for bees than if the space it takes up were planted with ordinary flowers. Shrubs too provide more than their fair share of food for the space they occupy. If you have a hedge, try to make sure it will flower and contains a number of native species like willow, hawthorne and hazel.

Acers (maples & sycamore)
Apple (including crab apples)
Ceanothus (Californian lilac)
Cherries
Cotoneaster
Eucryphia
False acacia
Goat willow (Salix caprea)
Golden rain tree (Koelreuteria paniculata)
Hawthorne
Judas tree
Korean bee tree (Tetradium danielli)
Limes
Stawberry tree (Arbutus)
Mountain ash (rowan)
Plums (including wild varieties, damsons, etc)

Bees on Rosenkuppel Oregano

The vegetable plot

Some vegetables produce flowers that need to be pollinated in order to produce delicious things for you to eat. More flowers in your garden will encourage more bees - and you'll get better crops. But don't forget that many vegetables flower after they have produced the crop you want. Leaving veg to 'go over' helps support the local bee population, so please let at least some of them flower before you dig them up.

Flowers for pollination

Artichokes (Jerusalem and globe)
Beans (especially red-flowered runnners and broad beans)
Squashes, courgettes and pumpkins
Tomatoes
Aubergines

Leave to go over

Alliums (onions, leeks, garlic)
Asparagus
Cabbages, kale and broccoli
Carrots and parsnips
Rocket (bees love this)

Bees on Small Scabious, Cornflower and Welsh Onion

Weeds

Many of the plants that grow in and around our gardens unbidden by us provide some of the most valuable flowers for bees. The royal couple of wild flowers are the dandelion and the bramble. Dandelions flower in early spring when bees really need some help – please don't cut them when in flower, and encourage your council to leave verges well alone. Brambles flower from May until September and are a staple for bees, butterflies, hoverflies and wasps (they are important too!).

Dandelions
Brambles
Germander speedwell
Green alkanet
Ground ivy
Himalayan balsam (invasive and shouldn't be planted)

Bees on Winter Savory

Lawns

Primped and preened, traditional lawns are lifeless – and take a lot of work. Low-growing wild flowers can turn a lawn into a haven for bees and butterflies. Just think how good it would be if just some of the UK's 2 million acres of lawn became wildflower meadows. Best of all, it saves you work – you don't have to mow as often. If you set the blade high, many of these flowers will learn to stay short and produce many more flowers. If you want a bit of order, mow a path or two through the lawn just to show the wilderness is intentional. Alternatively, have just a patch or two of wilderness. Many of these flowers will appear on their own, but you can buy and sow seeds as well. Plug plants are easier to establish.

Bird's foot trefoil
Clover (red and white)
Common knapweed
Common spotted orchid
Cowslips and primroses
Creeping buttercup
Dovesfoot geranium
Dandelions
Lady's bedstraw
Rough hawkbit
Selfheal
Wild/creeping thyme

Bees on Cornflower

Wildflower meadows

If you have a field, orchard, or a good-sized lawn you can grow a native wildflower meadow that will look glorious from early to mid-summer. They take a bit or work to get going, so it's worth getting a book on the subject. This won't just be for bees, all manner of insects, birds and invertebrates will benefit.

Agrimony
Betony
Birds-foot-trefoil
Burnet-saxifrage
Cat’s-ear
Common Knapweed
Common Spotted Orchid
Corn Cockle
Corn Marigold
Cornflower
Devil’s-bit Scabious
Field Scabious
Grass Vetchling
Greater Knapweed
Lady’s Bedstraw
Meadow Buttercup
Meadow Cranesbill
Meadow Vetchling
Meadowsweet
Musk Mallow
Oxeye Daisy

Bees on Small Scabious

And finally ...ivy!

Wonderful ivy – probably the best single thing you can provide for bees and butterflies. And you don't even have to grow it – just avoid chopping it down! Old ivy with thick stems will produce masses of flowers that provide nectar and pollen that will see many pollinators through the winter months. In almost all cases ivy doesn't cause the damage people think it does. So do a bit of research, let it grow, and stand in the autumn sun and watch (and listen) with wonder as the insects appreciate all the hard work you haven't done!

Richard's Master Class

Do you know how many eyes a bee has (it’s not two!), or which part of its body it uses to taste with (not it’s tongue!)? Or how many hundreds of miles of flying it takes to make one teaspoon of honey for your toast?

If the answer is no, then come along to Richard's Master Class "Beekeeping for Beginners" on the 20th September 2024.

Richard's Master Class "Beekeeping for Beginners"