Spring is here; will you help Honeybees thrive this year?
After a long winter’s rest, honeybees are awakening and looking for nectar and pollen rich crops and flowers to feast upon. Choosing bee-friendly blooms will provide critical sustenance for the bees today and assure future generations will grace our gardens and farm fields.
Sugar Water Before Flowers Bloom
Because honeybees activate as soon as warm weather arrives, it is helpful to provide a sugar water mixture to sustain the bees until the spring flowers bloom. Mix two parts water to one part sugar, stir until the sugar dissolves. Put sugar water mixture into a shallow container like a drainage saucer for a large terracotta pot. Play small pebbles in the saucer to allow the bees a place to land while they drink.
What Flowers to Plant?
Choose plants that produce an abundant supply of nectar and pollen. The nectar provides the bees with life-giving energy. The pollen is collected and taken back to the hive as a food source for the young bees. Choose perennial varieties to plant to make your future Spring planting quicker and see earlier blooms on your plants.
Nectar-Rich Flowers
Sun-loving nectar-rich blooms to consider planting are sunflowers, dahlias, lavender, coneflowers, black-eyed Susan's, daffodils, roses, cosmos, zinnias and peonies.
Bee friendly shade-loving plants include hellebores ,foxgloves, bee balm, and hydrangeas.
Pollen-Rich Flowers
To provide protein young bees need to grow, the foraging bees must locate pollen-rich blooms to carry back to their hive. Good pollen-rich blooms for your garden are borage, marjoram, and oregano.
Consider making an easy planting schedule for your garden. Choose a variety of flowers that will provide blooms from early Spring through Autumn. This gives the bees months of nectar and pollen sources to choose from.
If you have a large area you can devote to wildflowers, consider a perennial wildflower garden that will return each year without the planting requirement of a more formal flower garden. Choose non-GMO seeds to assure honeybee health.
Remember to support your local beekeepers. These guys and gals are dedicated to their craft of beekeeping. You will find them with their honey and beeswax products at local farmers markets or search for local honey sources online.
Our friends at 4RBEES are doing their part to support beekeepers with a program that donates their amazing PureWave Cell to beekeepers to use on their hives to strengthen the health of their bees. We salute their efforts.
And finally, if you want to experience the power of the PureWave Cell for yourself, here is the link to take advantage of a 20% discount. https://4rbees.com//discount/FMBEES