sunflowers

[jallen]

are thay worth planting for bees got more them a few packets as well as lavender

 

[tonybloke]

are thay worth planting for bees got more them a few packets as well as lavender

how much room have you got?
sunflowers do produce both nectar and pollen, on a field scale they're great for bees

 

[Heather]

I had some in my garden (grandchildren venture) - never saw a bee on them- most disappointed

 

[jallen]

might off had the pollen less type

 

[freethorpe bees]

I grow alot of sunflowers, tend to get alot of bumbles but not so many honeys.

 

[Finman]

.
Sunflower has quite low protein pollen. it has some 10% grude ptotein.

 

[peteinwilts]

a couple of years ago I planted a few hundred sunflowers of different varieties

They attracted bumbles, butterflys and wasps but never saw a honey bee on them... they were far more interested in the clover and mint

 

[Gillybee]

sunflower seeds are often coated in something that kills the honeybee but I can't remember the chemical, someone on the forum will know?

 

[buzz lightyear]

had mine on several acres of the stuff a few years ago. Came back lighter than they went. I think our summer is too cold to secreate necter, some types are better than others. I have heard the tall types are better, but dont know. I wouldn't bother, for bees at least.

Buzz

 

[Hombre]

Bees love lavender, but from seed I suspect that you will have a wait and be disappointed when the bees forage in your neighbour's garden rather than your own.

 

[Gardenbees]

I'm afraid my honeybee/sunflower experience last year was as unproductive as everyone else's: there were far more interesting things as far as the bees were concerned (principally the borage patch, which half the colony stayed glued to until dark every evening!). In all, I only saw a honey bee on the sunflowers once. It's not that they hate them, it's just that other plants are a lot more interesting, it seems.

Other insects, esp. hoverflies, did very well on the sunflowers, as did the birds who spent all winter dismantling them (and showering my path with empty sunflower seed husks). So they're well worth it, even if not for honey bees.