I pray that no-one would consider planting Himalayan Balsam rather than Willow Herb for the benefit of their bees- it spreads like wildfire, kills out all the native plants and is also responbible for increased erosion of river banks- and it's really hard to get rid of.
Rather than plastering the countryside with invasive weeds, I used a really wonderful mix from Kings - It is called Butterfly and Bumblebee mix and is composed of Borage, Phacelia, Bird's Foot trefoil and Red Clover. It was a revelation - I could not believe the number of insects it attracted. Honey Bees however seem to find the long anthers on the Phacelia flowers quite an obstacle. A few were proficient at getting through them to collect nectar, whilst others simply collected dark blue pollen. Bumblebees seemed to be able to cope better. However the Borage was v. popular with the girls. Unfortunately the weather got so bad in Cumbria last summer that the clover and BFT was a bit of a disappointment.
Kings sell the mix in acre packs for £36.00 (4.5 kg), They also do Grass free pollen mixes which have Alsike, Birds Foot Trefoil, Black Medick, Common Vetch, Fenugreek, Lucerne, Phacelia, Red and White Campion, Red Clover, Sanfoin and sweet clover for £62.00/acre (10kg seed) You can also throw in 1kg of Cornfield Annuals- Poppy,Corn Cockle, Corn Chamomile, Corn Marigold, Cornflower ansd scentless Mayweed for £58.00/kg which does 1000 sq meters. They do other pollen mixtures but most have a high proportion of grasses.
I know the cost is quite high, but you are dealing with large areas and if people wanted to club together to buy a bit for their patch it is a hell of a lot cheaper than buying seeds in the Garden Centre.
I promise I have no connections with Kings, you can see what they do at
http://www.kingscrops.co.uk or telephone 0800 587 9797
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