The Garden is one of the favorable habitats for all kinds of bees. The bees see the garden as a safe zone where they can build up the nest and store their food. On the other hand, bees bring to the garden some benefits as well.
Is attracting the bees and creating a bee-friendly garden difficult? Is growing pollen-rich flowers a good ideal? This article will help you with the question. Now, it’s time to go through the topic.
Why you Need Bees
Bees? Yes, bees! The ones that produce honey! You most probably do not know, but they are beneficial and necessary for the garden. Why is this exactly the case? They are important because of pollination, as it has been mentioned above. This is especially true if you have sterile plants. Bees will make it possible for you to establish a better ecosystem and a habitat that is friendlier, not only for plants, but also for bees, and even for butterflies.
What Does Sterile Mean?
Now, let us go back to the question that was asked when we opened this article. If you are wondering what does sterile means, there is one simple way of explaining it – they refer to plants that do not produce seed. These plants reproduce not through planting seeds, but through pollination. The latter is exactly the reason why you will need to have more bees in your garden. The propagation of sterile plants will be possible only if you have bees.
How to make a bee-friendly garden?
Now that you know what does sterile means, the next thing that you are most probably concerned about is how to effectively grow such plants in the garden. As noted above, you need bees. But how can you attract bees? There is no magic formula. There is no product that you can just put in the garden and miraculously attract bees. It is a process and there are steps that are involved, including those that we will briefly discuss in this post.
The first thing that you have to do is to think about the plants that you need. Focus on planting plants that are beneficial for bees. In this case, you might want to consider native plants, such as wildflowers. Heirloom plants will also prove to be an excellent choice when thinking of what to plant in the garden. Also, think twice before you pull out what you think is weed. The likes of dandelions and buttercups can actually be useful as they can also attract bees. Plant as many varieties and colors as possible. This is not only going to make the garden look more beautiful, but will also help to create a habitat for bees.
Also, it will help if you know the top three things that bees will love, which will provide you with a better idea on how to create the perfect garden:
- Food: This is the reason why you should plant flowering plants in the garden. The more plants there are, the more food the bees will have. The nectar will provide the sugar needed by the bees while the pollen will provide fats and proteins.
- Fresh Water: It is also important to make sure that bees will have access to freshwater, which will be essential for their health.
- Shelter: Wind, rain, and cold, among other external environmental factors, can have an impact on bees. This is important to have a place in the garden as well that they can consider their home.
It will also be helpful if you will avoid the use of pesticides. Be resourceful enough to come up with novel solutions to the most common pests that you can see in the garden. There are also some active ingredients that should be avoided in commercially available plant care products. For instance, you should stay away from those with imidacloprid.
Lastly, you should also plant flowers in clusters. This might seem like a very basic point, but this is one thing that most people fail to do. As much as possible, if there is enough space, the clump should have a diameter of at least four feet. Within the clump, make sure to include beneficial flowers with different colors and shapes.
By now, we hope that it is now clearer for you how you can attract more bees in the garden, especially if you have sterile plants, or simply put, plants without seeds and would rely on pollination from bees.
Tips for a bee-friendly garden
#1 Choose the flower seed
The bees will love rich nectar and pollen flowers. These types of flowers are a nutrient meal for the bees. Let’s search on Google and find the flowers that can attract bees.
#2 Don’t let the bee hungry
You should grow flowers that can bloom all the time of the year. They will produce a stable source of food for the bees. Moreover, if you can, planting herbs and fruit trees will diversify the source of food.
#3 Add some hydration station
Bees need clean sources of water. An ideal watering station can be a shallow drip tray. Place some pieces of rocks in the bowl. This helps the bees land easier.
#4 Give bees some more food
After the winter, the bees need a great amount of food. However, your garden may not have enough flowers. In this case, You can feed the bees some sugar syrup. Put the food into a bee sugar shack. It will be easier for the bees to eat.
Final thoughts
A bee-friendly garden may be better than a natural garden. The lawn and tree will grow healthier. The blossoming garden will attract you with colorful flowers. Let’s follow our suggestions. Then you can discover the true beauty of nature.