Honey Bee Plants?

Question

We have one honey bee hive & are planning to set up another near it.  My son put in a retaining wall on a slope near our hive & as soon as we can get soil to fill in I want to plant it with plants the bees will love.  I'm elderly so it'd be helpful if the plants are easy care.  Light is mostly sun with some shade from a fence for a bit of the day.  BTW.. our vegetables & berries have at least tripled in production since we got our hive!  We love our bees & want to give them the best we can.  Bee plant suggestions, please?

Naomie Moore aka baileyanddaisey, Castaic CA · Answer

Here are some great suggestions for you!

https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/tips_lists/bee-friendly-plants.html

In my yard, they go for the bee balm, lemon balm, pineapple sage and geraniums. I grow a lot of onions and garlic and I let some of them go to seed and they love those too.

Jcraw · Answer

https://www.oregonlive.com/expo/erry-2018/05/427bc00a688157/25_plants_guaranteed_to_attrac.html

http://www.pollinator.org/PDFs/Guides/PacificLowlandrx9FINAL.pdf

These sites are Oregon specific. Thank you for helping.

Mogie · Answer

Agastache comes in various forms and colors and is attractive to many bees and butterflies. You can plant an entire garden of just Agastache using purples, oranges, reds, and pinks. These perennials flower over many weeks and are unappealing to deer and rabbits. My favorites include the hybrid “Blue Fortune” which is especially attractive to native bees and “New Mexico Hummingbird Mint” which draws butterflies and bumble bees as well as hummingbirds.

Perovskia, or Russian Sage, is a real pollinator-pleaser. Some of the varieties such as “Blue Spire” become absolutely coated with bees of all descriptions. It has dark blue flowers on spikes that reach about 4 feet high. Deer and rabbits walk right by, while the bees hang on in ecstasy.

Oregano was a surprise to me. I originally planted it for the leaves, but I’ve found that whenever I need a picture of a wild bee I’m sure to find one—or many—hanging out on the oregano plants. Oregano comes in many varieties and the small flowers range from pink to white.

Ceanothus, or California lilac, is a fragrant and colorful evergreen shrub. The first time I ever really noticed one was in front of a public building in Tacoma. I walked by and saw that it was covered—I mean absolutely infested—with honey bees. I cut a twig and took it to a local nursery for identification. These shrubs are very drought tolerant and the flowers are the color of blue that honey bees love. Ceanothus is also freely visited by other species including bumble bees and sweat bees.

Goldenrod is an especially good bee plant because it blooms very late in the year when bees are having a hard time finding forage. The bright yellow flowers attract many species of bee, especially bumble bees. Since goldenrod is tall it makes an excellent plant for the back of a garden or along a wall or fence. This past fall I often saw seven or eight bumble bees on one inflorescence. Goldenrod is another plant that requires little care and little water.

Goldshadow · Answer

Thank you so much! I appreciate all the help I can get from people willing to help with this project.

We're very new to bee keeping so we want to learn all we can about doing the best job we can.

Jcraw · Answer

Amen to that

1401470 · Answer

Herbs especially basil are wonderful attractions for honey bees.

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