Good bee plants for health and honey.

[beeatshellards]

my very light and floral in Spring, and gets stronger and darker as the season progresses , a complete mixed bag really

 

[Erichalfbee]

.

I have cultivated now Linaria vulgaris plants from different origin. I red that is really bad weed in central Europe. It blooms all summer long.

Toadflax............. I remember drifts and drifts of this as a child.
Seems to have gone the way of most butterflies here in the UK.

 

[beeatshellards]

we have fields of this round our way still thriving

 

[Erichalfbee]

beeatshellards

That's very reassuring. I might add that to my planned wildflower meadow.................when we eventually sell this house and move
What sort of soil do you have your way?

 

[Chris Luck]

Phacelia.

The species is one of the top plants for potential honey yield.

Chris

 

[madasafish]

Phacelia

My bees were all over it for nectar June to July. Wonderful smell as well..

 

[Chris Luck]

It has to be a complete management plan from February until October if you have the space and native trees play a pivotal role in this for me.

Hazels.
Goat and other willows.
Blackthorn.
Orchard fruits, (Apples, Cherries, Pears, Peaches, Plums, Apricots, Nectarines etc).
Horse Chestnut.
Lime.
Sweet Chestnut.
Oak to some extent.
Bramble, sort of shrubby?
Ivy.

Here many of the Orchard fruits are neglected in favour of OSR.

Next the flowers...one to be going on with - the best thistle for bees the creeping thistle.

Chris

 

[topbar]

Yes Chris that thistle is everywhere on the land and there is one thats twice the size and one thats nearly as big as my fist. I have a lot of osier willow and the bees really loved that when it was out early in the year. I have nearly all thats on your list except for apricots nectarines peaches Blackthorn and ivy. Trouble is a lot of what i have planted is not old enough to be flowering, it's a very young wood.
I really want to plant phacelia next year, haven't seen that before, and it's good for the soil my heavy ground needs that.

 

[topbar]

I know what plants bumble bees like because i have hundreds of them and they nest in the wood chip i have put on the land. But because i have no honey bees visiting i don't get to see for myself, that's why it's so good to talk to people that know.
Hopefully it will be a different story next year i will be watching my own honey bees. Thank you all for your help really good stuff.

 

[beeatshellards]

beeatshellards

That's very reassuring. I might add that to my planned wildflower meadow.................when we eventually sell this house and move
What sort of soil do you have your way?

dry crumbly and sandy soil where it grows

 

[Chris Luck]

Clay and limestone here and plenty of Yellow toadflax, great swathes of it this year, good for Bumbles.

 

[Beeline]

We're forgetting ye ole english hawthorn, as a tree or hedge. Also Alder (trees) one of the first sources of pollen available in the new year but I suppose it depends on location as the severe weather can disrupt that. Trees are a long term programme but I think it's said one large tree equates to one acre of wild flower meadow - someone may have the correct ratio.

On top of those mentioned above I have an escallonia which has flowered continually since May and is always covered in bees and bubblebees in the early morning. The Buddleja Globosa is very attractive to bees due to its short stem flower but I also found my standard white Buddleja (not the other colours in my garden) covered in bees every day. Snowberry is another popular plant either as a hedge or small bush.

Chinese Bee Tree seeds are available on fleabay - posted in from eastern europe.

Good luck.

BL

 

[BBG]

Need some more plants and wondering what people think is the best type of heather for the bees. Plus any plants that are believed to make a really nice tasting honey. Or ones that bees really love.
Plus ideas on plants that could help against varoa mite, like lavender, i have heard the mite doesn't like it. This may or may not be true.
Anything you have found to work well or have heard of could be of use to me.
Your ideas and knowledge are needed once again.

With that much land to play with - excellent!

Go to this firm, very helpful and can get other seed in larger quantities too - ask them

Go for Sainfoin (used to be 100s of 000s of acres in UK) meadow grass mix but ask for mostly sainfoin or all sainfoin if you only wish it for the bees.

They do Phacelia, borage, Trifolium Incarnatum (fresh well-fed rabbit meat for ever).

http://tinyurl.com/443mmrh

Try to get hyssop too and I see a heap of other recommendations here

Lucerne is a 'fun' crop as if you are lucky you may see it tapping bees on the head as they forage for nectar and fertilise it. Bees do not like this and 'learn' to avoid the tap by coming in at an angle....

I take it you are putting your bees at centre of acreage.

 

[Chris Luck]

Honey bees won't even look at Lucerne, (Alfalfa), here and there are huge fields full of it, and I admit it has always surprised me. Sainfoine, (literally "Healthy Hay"), is the same, doesn't get a look from Honey bees...

...well not here anyway.

Chris

 

[rwestoll]

Don't forget the snowdrops and crocus for the early spring. Try Crocus Thomassianus Ruby Giant, they will naturalise in grass if they like you. But bees love all varieties and gives them a real kick start if there are lots of them.
Don't plant the snowdrops from bulbs - plant 'in the green' next March.

Also Cyclamen hederafolium (autumn flowering) and Cyclamen coum (Spring flowering) are good for dry shady spots under trees. Forget daffodils though, bees don't seem to like them at all.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Forget daffodils though, bees don't seem to like them at all.

Yes, it's a pity. We have gazillions of them here.
I have seen bumbles on them.

 

[Woeski]

Phacelia is completely ignored in preference to the borage. Even the **** and the Russian sage are feeling neglected.
I left some leeks in the ground last year and have massive seed heads that have lasted for two months. These are visited by just about everything (including the ants that have a 5ft vertical march up and down).
But the borage is definately the favourite this summer.
The Phacelia had honeybees early on (May) and the vivid purple pollen sacks were a joy to see. But they are covered by hoverflies and bumbles now.
Honeybees seem to be very fussy and once they have found their favourite they will stay there and not wander until the source starts to dry up.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I hear buckwheat is good and seeds are cheap and you have a harvest if you fancy some hand winnowing

 

[Chris Luck]

I find that they appear to use buckwheat more for pollen, strange but true given the tiny little clustered florets, but it certainly is insect friendly, a large number of other species use it.

Chris

 

[Robbie & Jans Bees]

I have planted lots of wild flower meadow's you will need to strip off the topsoil for best results with wildflowers it stops the plants like doc's,nettles and so on allowing your wild flowers to take a good hold. A cornfield anual mix and some periniel seed will get you started this is this best time of year to sow the seed as well good luck.


Robbie