Floral Charity for Bees!

As I enter my second year of urban beekeeping, I hope you will all take some time and space in your gardens and neighbourhoods to plant up some bee forage, which will help out all the native pollinators as well as honeybees!

Although dandelions are the single best plant for pollinators (abundant, long bloom season, yummy to bees), I find the neighbours are more enthusiastic about these bee banquet plants:

Catmint (unlike catnip, this is a tough and beautiful plant)
Borage
Sunflowers
Cosmos
Calendula
Bachelor's Buttons
Bronze Fennel
Anise Hyssop (Agastache)
Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium)
Bluebeard (Caryopteris)
Clovers (you can grow them in a pot if worried about spread)


Feedthebees.com has a great list of bee forage plants.

May I also suggest a little guerrilla gardening? There are always empty lots and unused easements around that can use a shake of dandelion seed or a "donation" of a bucket of soil and some bee forage plants of your choice.

FWIW, the most delicious local honey I had last year was from the Downtown East Side! Hives for Humanity had bees in a community garden and the honey was dark, herbal, sultry and rich. Amazing stuff!

Thanks for the time on my personal soapbox, I do love the bees.

 

Thanks for the link to Hives for Humanity which I am going to forward on as it is an amazing concept.
I would add asparagus to the list of plants bees like. It thrives in various spots in my garden as a volunteer and while I harvest some of it the bees get their share of the flower pollen which they seem to love. Don't know what kind they are but they are fairly small and are black and orange.
One day I hope to have a hive or two of my own.
Margaret

 

Margaret, you must come beekeeping with me one day!