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flowers for the girls
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Posted by scrappyjack pa 5 (My Page) on Wed, Jan 31, 07 at 17:29
| We are new at beekeeping, and so far we're doing fairly well with the "girls". Now that the seed catalogs are coming in, I was just wondering........what flowers do the bees REALLY like to work. This past year, Ive noticed them REALLY lovin' my mint.
Jackie
BTW: Stokes seed catalog has a bee symbol on their flowers that attract bees! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: flowers for the girls
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Yes mint is loved by bees...all varieties of mint! So are most of the cullinary herbs.....Sage, oregano, chives. Many many more.
Anice Hyssop is a nice herb which bees love, and it smells so nice too. More importantly, you will notice large yield increased in cucumbers and such......My pickleing cucumbers looked like full sized salad cuces. They were larger than any dill I have ever seen. However, planting for bees is just for fun. You will never provide much benefit to them unless you plan on planting 20 acres or so. You will see more bees in your yard though. |
RE: flowers for the girls
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| I think you can help the bees by planting flowering trees that have lots of flowers. It may take a decade or two for the trees to grow big enough to help the bees significantly, but if you plan ahead, this might be a good course of action. |
RE: flowers for the girls
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| Oh, I am planting just for fun! We really do enjoy watching our "girls" work. And I enjoy flower and household vegetable gardening. Its nice to stroll around the gardens after supper and see whats blooming and how the bees (the girls) are getting along. |
RE: flowers for the girls
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| sourwood is good for drawing the bees and it makes the best tasteing honey too |
RE: flowers for the girls
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| What is Sourwood? I have heard that it makes THE BEST honey, but I have no idea what it is. Is it zone 5 compatable? Does it have another name? Tree or shrub? |
RE: flowers for the girls
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| Oxydendron arboreum is more of a mid south native tree; probably not a suitable selection for your location. |
RE: flowers for the girls
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Good reference guide..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Nectar_Sources_for_Honey_Bees Ohio Guide..
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2168.html VA Guide..
http://www.ento.vt.edu/~fell/apiculture/HoneyPlants/flower.htm |
RE: flowers for the girls
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| While different zones predispose to different flowers, my guess for the most visited flower in my yard, would be borage. The nice part is - it reseeds well, and needs to be controlled somewhat. While I have an assortment of dwarf fruit trees - apricot, plum, apple, peach, almond, etc., they seem to prefer the borage, but will accommodate my other trees as well. Strangely enough, when the Camellia was in bloom recently, they seemed to congregate there - and I was wondering if it might have been for better pollen gathering - just my guess, as I wouldn't have taken it for an attractant - not much perfume anyway. I have citrus which produce massive blooms, and they will pollinate, but still the borage is their favorite. They also like the ice plant which has small red blossoms during off season gathering - called aptenia (mesembryanthemum), which grows abundantly here. Bejay |
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