Almost a third of all the food grown in the world depends on pollination by bees. Bees visit your garden to collect nectar and pollen, and in turn pollinate your plants. Here are a few ways to attract these insects to your garden.
Start by planting flowers that are native to your area. Planting flowers itself will be a good way to attract bee to your garden, planting ones that are native to where you live will prove better as he local bees in your area will prefer these over other varieties. While planting, plant a mix of local and exotic varieties, not only will this attract bees, it will also give a unique aesthetic to your garden.
While planting flowers, make sure you have some single-petaled flowers planted somewhere in your garden as well. Single-petaled flowered are known to attract a higher amount of bees, as they are richer in pollen as compared to other plants.
Another factor that you can consider while planting flowers is to plant ones that are blue, purple, pink, white or yellow in colour. These colours attract more bees than orange or red flowers. So plant a separate flower bed containing flowers of only these colours.
An important factor in all this is to make sure that your garden has flowers throughout the year. If your blooms are concentrated to a single time of the year, you will have bees only for that much time.
Along with flowering plants, it is also a good idea to have some fruit and vegetable plants. Fruit bearing plants such as blackberries, cantaloupes, strawberries and watermelons are great at attracting bees. Along with fruits and vegetables, try planting some herbs as well. Not only will it be a treat to your kitchen it will also attract many bees. Cilantro, mint, rosemary, sage and thyme are all great.
Along with choosing the right plants, it is also very important to provide the bees a place to live. Have open spaces in your garden where bees can rest. Have an area that is not pruned or mowed. This will provide a very ‘natural’ habitat for your bees. It will also be a good idea to leave mud patches exposed for bees that live underground. Creating bee-baths for them to breed in will go a long way.
You must be logged in to post a comment.