Bee Friendly Plants

 Afternoon All!

 I have often found myself searching for bee friendly plants for our garden. This is mainly due to the fact that we have bees in our garden. The bees are looked after by a local beekeeper that places a hive in your land and then gives you honey in exchange.

 Ever since the bees have arrived here I have done what I can to make sure that they have the required nectar and pollen to help sustain them, and to help them produce good quality honey.

 Near where we live there are a lot of fields filled with rapeseed (oilseed rape). These fields are good sources of food for the bees, but are short lived, and quite a distance away from the hive.

 I did a lot of research and started to plant based on what can provide nectar and pollen for as much of the year as possible.

Snowdrops & Cylamen provide good winter forrage for bees and other pollinators.

 The above image is a section of our garden that provides a fantastic food source for those bees that are willing to venture out during the cold late winter (February-March). Snowdrops and Cyclamen are both loved by pollinators due to them being a good early source of food.

 I have also found that bees particularly like Crocus plants as well. They are a great source of pollen.

Crocus provide a rich source of pollent to early foraging bees.

 Having done a lot of research into what plants are prefered by bees, I decided to create a table that shows the flowering period of some of their favorite plant varieties. I tried to include a wide range of plants that would provide pollen and nectar throughout as much of the year as possible.

 Using a range of plants & flowers from the chart below will support bees and other pollinators throughout the whole year.

 Two of the clear favorite plants we have in our garden for bees are Atlas Poppies (also known as Moroccan Poppies) and Buddleja Globosa. The poppies are hugely rich in pollen, and the Globosa is packed with nectar.