Bees are a big interest for me. I want to promote health and populations for both wild bees and honeybees. To do that, I observe what they are foraging at a particular time, and try to increase those plants the next year
Last month, the alliums were out in force. Bees really love alliums - chives, shallots, onion flowers, ornamental alliums. They are done now, except for garlic chives which are just beginning to bloom. Honeybees really love those.
I had some patches of cilantro blooming last month. Those were constantly covered with honeybees, bumblebees, and tiny native bees that I don't know the species. The cilantro is now going to seed, which I will save for a much bigger patch next year.
I saved seeds from the chives. I will plant a large flat of them, and add them to a wildflower patch. That way I get a bee promoting plant in large amounts, for free. I have also done the same with garlic chives, borage, and phacalia.
Currently, my big patch of borage is done. I will dry the stalks so the seeds fall off to plant next year. Borage is annual.
There are several volunteer patches of borage around my place. Those are still blooming. Bumblebees really love borage and are foraging it relentlessly.
Oregano is just coming into it's own, as far as blooming. Both the bumblebees and honeybees are all over the oregano patches.
Tonight, I watched bees foraging in yard. The main plants the foraged were:
Oregano - heavily foraged, bumblebees and honeybees.
Borage - heavily foraged, bumblebees and honeybees.
California Poppy - heavily foraged, bumblebees.
French Marigolds - there are always some bumblebees on those. I have some patches that I grew from seeds. Easy to save and plant.
Penstemon - I bought small plants last spring because I read bees forage these. Bumblebees only. I wonder if the blossom is too deep for honeybees.
Squash - this is the year of the squash in my yard - summer squash, zucchini, winter squash, pumpkins. There are lots of honeybees on the flowers, but no bumblebees.
I don't have any trees in bloom now. A sourwood is about to bloom soon.
I read that bees forage nasturtiums, so planted a big patch of those. My bees did not read that book, and have ignored them. They also ignore daylilies and geraniums. I did see a honeybee on an oriental lily, but the little creature looked confused, rather than enthusiastic.
In the past, I grew Agastache, which was another bee favorite, but the plants died and my seedlings will need another year to come into bloom.
I hope this info is useful. I would love to hear other observations about what bees are foraging now.
Great topic Daniel. My agastache are blooming now, but they have also died. Maybe a short-lived plant. Are you growing leeks? They are blooming now, and they have huge flowers. Plus they are shockingly easy to grow and one of the healthiest things you can eat. Did I mention that they are milder than other alliums? These must be some of the reasons those French people find them so sensual......
They are going dormant as we speak, but they come back every year about Thanksgiving until say, now. If you want some, hit me up at the scion exchange FPF after reminding me.
JohNS
PDX OR
John, thanks for the info. Maybe agastache is really biennial? My seedlings are growing nicely but it won't be until next year that they bloom.
I haven't tried leeks. I have a tall allium that was sold as ornamental. I have a suspicion it is really elephant garlic, which I read is a type of leek.
At the moment, not much for the bees. Oregano continues to provide nectar. Borage is still blooming, but less. I planted buckwheat seeds last week on 4 garden beds that needed cleaning up. I don't know how it that will do in the heat. If they do grow, and bloom in a month, that will give more bee forage. I read buckwheat goes from seedling to bloom in about a month.
Jafar, I have a history with Tansy Ragwort. Way, way, back when, I was a research microbiologist and was recruited to Oregon to work on bacterial ways to detoxify the plant's pyrrolizidine alkaloids that cause potentially fatal livestock and human liver disease and other problems. I since moved on, but owe a debt of gratitude to the noxious toxic invasive weed for being responsible for my introduction to the Pacific Northwest.
I wonder about, is whether the pollen or nectar from Tansy ragwort might be toxic to bees or humans, due to pyrrolizidine alkaloids. It would not be the first toxic plant substance that goes into bee forage - examples are systemic insecticides - maybe the bumblebeepocalypse that happened a year or two ago at a suburban portland Target store - my memory is flawed - and also pollen or nectar from rhododendron, pieris, kalmia, and opium poppy. People have died from eating honey that contained tutu toxin in New Zealand. So, the question for me is, could there be pyrrolizidine alkaloids in honey after bees forage tansy ragwort? It's been found for echium flowers. here too.
I pulled out my nice oleander because I read it is toxic to bees.
It turns out that honey made from Tansy ragwort is bitter and is contaminated with pyrolizidine alkaloids. I don't know if that is enough to have an effect on people or bees who consume the honey and pollen. Do bees even have a liver? If so, would it be immune to the pyrrolizidine alkaloid? I have yet to learn about those issues.
This was probably too pedantic. It's something that I think about but don't really have answers for.
I do see some Tansy ragwort blooming in my area. I better get to it and pull it out.
Oh, today I saw bees foraging dandelions here, too. Also the pollen on my sweetcorn tassels. Also still foraging marigolds, but that can't be enough to make a difference. There is still some Borage and Oregano in bloom, and they are all over those. None on the Queen Anne's lace, which is blooming like crazy.
I'll have to try winter savory and fennel. I don't have those in my yard.
At the moment, there isn't a lot for bees. I have some big bunches of Chinese Chives that they like a lot. Blooming right next to wild carrot, the honeybees ignore the wild carrot and forage the chives actively.
I have some patches of French marigolds. The bumblebees really forage those. I'm saving seeds so I can plant bigger patches next year. One plant yields probably a few hundred seeds, so it's very economical and easy.
There is still borage and oregano - those are constantly active with bees. I should also save those seeds. It might be more complicated. Borage self seeds actively in my yard, so maybe I can just lay the dead plants where I want seeds to grow and seeds will fall off.
Bumblebees on French marigolds.
Honeybees on Chinese Chives, ignoring Wild Carrot. Hoverflies and tiny wild bees and tiny wasps do like the Wild Carrot.
This spring I started Joe Pye Weed, Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), and agastache, but none bloomed so far this year. As perennials, they need an extra year before they bloom.
I've planted 5 raised beds with buckwheat. I don't know if that will bloom early enough to benefit bees before frost. If not, it's just for green manure to enrich the beds, which is OK. So far the buckwheat plants do not like the hot dry weather, so I have to water it almost every day.
Noticed this afternoon - the first of the sedums has started to bloom. Honeybees love the sedums. This is a purple leaf variety. The normal ones are not quite blooming yet.
Daniel-
Hit me up for winter savory also. It's such a great plant! Easy to grow, flowers in an unusual time of year (now!), makes food more delicious, adds to your antioxidants for your health, has a strong flavor so drives off some pests, adds to diversity of yard, low growing so doesn't interfere with fruit trees, etc. Let me know if you're coming this way or at one of the HOS events.
John S
PDX OR
I attribute my excellent fruit set to a "late" flowering black locust tree that came with the house. Black locust is late flowering for any tree but having help of one like mine for an extra week in July has seemed to fill a certain need for mason bees and other solitary pollinators that end life cycles at that point in summer. The tree is very healthy growing above my leach area. I have even seen bumble bees avoid dandelions and search out flowers from the grass that have been downed from the tree by a wind. I have seen several late versions of black locust around but not very many.
John, I will have to hit you up for the savory. That's an herb I have not tried, either for growing or eating. Diversity is my goal, and that will add to the diversity.
Quokka, is that the culinary mustard, as in for greens? I have not grown those much. I have some seeds starting now, but I suspect it is too late for them to bloom.
In my yard now, the big clump - type - sedums are beginning to bloom. Honeybees are foraging those actively. Sedums are a good, almost no-maintenance perennial. They are very easy to propagate by division, and can be propagated by cuttings for more no-cost plants. My plan is for some larger beds of sedum next year, since they bloom at a time when a lot of other plants are not.
Honeybees browsing sedum flowers, 8.23.15. Battleground, WA.
I planted several beds of buckwheat on Jul 23rd. Now in heavy bloom, exactly one month later. Actively foraged now by honeybees. I planted more buckwheat seeds today, among the stalks of sweetcorn that are now gardeners, done bearing.
Buckwheat is indeterminate, so they should continue blooming until the plants are killed by frost. Buckwheat is popular among permaculture gardeners, because it makes for a good soil conditioner. The soil is just turned with the buckwheat plants still in place. They break down rapidly. If the season is long enough, seed can be collected to make buckwheat pancakes or other foods. I have not done that, so I don't know if it will work out planting here and now. Buckwheat crowds out weeds, so if there is a garden bed that is fallow for the season, planting buckwheat can decrease the weed burden and improve the soil. Buckwheat is not at all dry/heat tolerant, and is shallow rooted. So I needed to water the patches at least every other day. With expectations for cooler fall, there should be less need for watering.
Honeybee browsing buckwheat flowers, 8.23.15. Battleground, WA.
Honeybees browsing oregano flowers. 8.23.15. Battleground, WA
My goal with sharing this information is to help build a database of bee forage information that others can use for promoting pollinator and honeybee health and productivity. The photos are via a point-and-shoot camera, so the quality isn't that great.
I thought I would add observations for this year, 2016, regarding bee foraging. I forgot to add, beneficial insects that parisitize the bad guys, may also forage a lot of wildflowers and other flowering plants, especially native, so having lots of these flowers can be beneficial in other ways. They really seem to like the composites with zillions of tiny flowers within umbels and flower heads.
These are "The Good" so far this year. Most are a lot like last year.
Borage. I took last year's borage plants out when they were drying up, and used them for mulch in places where I wanted to have borage this year. That worked, and I have lots of lush volunteer borage in those spots. Borage is annual, so needs to resow itself or be re-sown. It is still a bee favorite. Not eaten by deer or rabbits, OK with dryness.
Oregano. Still a much sought flower by bees. I split last year's oregano plants and spread them around, including under some of my fruit trees. Not eaten by deer or rabbits, dry tolerant.
Buddleia Blue Chip. This is a very compact Buddleia, compared to the tree-sized varieties I've seen elsewhere. Grows about 4 feet tall, very bushy and covered with flowers. Bees don't care for my other varieties, but they forage this one. Super dry tolerant, deer and rabbits don't eat it, nice thick-growing shrub, fragrant.
White Dutch Clover. I don't use herbicides, and one of the results is my lawn is mixed with a lot of clover, as well as dandelions, which honeybees and other bees forage actively.
Milkweed Asclepius syriaca. I grew some from seeds last year. Perrenial, I grew some last year from seeds. They need a year to bloom. Very fragrant, and there were always bees on the flowers. Deer and rabbits don't eat it.
Chinese chives and anything in the onion / leek / chive alliance. In my experience, Chinese chives are the best bloomers among these. The flowers last longer and are more prolific than reguilar chives. Downside is some people think of the as invasive. That has not been my experince, but they are very rugged and quite pretty. Bees love allium flowers in general. Onions that go to bloom do not produce much onion, but bees love those flowers too. Dry tolerant, deer and rabbits don't eat them.
Catnip. Easy to grow from seed. I planted them around to encourage cats to hang out by my fruit trees and vegetable garden, because other predators have been reduced in number or killed off. If cats eat voles, moles, and baby rabbits, that's fine with me. The catnip seeds that I planted this spring, grew to big rangy plants and when they bloomed, honeybees were all over them. More than spearmint and peppermint. Somewhat dry tolerant but responds to water. Deer and rabbits don't eat them but I've had cats completely destroy some of my plants. Which is sort of the point, but they need to get big enough to bloom if you are going to feed bees.
Bee friend. Phacelia. Annual, self-reseeds if given the chance. The bees were all over it. I didn't plant more this year but they came up all over the place from last year's plants. Kind of weedy but nice in an area where there is room. I might plant a big patch next year to prep another new garden bed. Ditto for borage. Die off before thedry season. Deer and rabbits don't eat it.
Lavender. Once again, popular with my honeybees. Super dry tolerant, small shrub. Deer and rabbits don't eat it.
Not frequented by honeybees.
American Linden "Redmond". Disappointing result but still a beautiful tree. I planted this tree 4 years ago, mail order bare root. Full bloom this year but never saw bees on the flowers. Deer eat the lower leaves but have not climbed the tree, unlike an aspen that they got to the leaves 8 feet high. Get by without added water after a few years.
Little Leaf / European Linden. "Greenspire". Four years ago I found 4 of these on deep discount at end of season, at Home Depot. $8 for trees marked down from $40. I cut off the encircling roots, spread the remaining roots, kept them well watered and fertilized for the first 3 years. This year they too were covered with flowers, but not bees. That is despite the published info stating that bees love lindens. Also beautiful tree, but I like American Linden better. Deer don't eat them. Get by without added water after a few years.
Sourwood. This was also based on researching what trees are frequented by bees. This tree is still kind of puny, looks a little like something in a Dr. Seuss book, and bees did not frequent the flowers. Not sure about deer and water issues.
The ugly.
I planted lemon balm because it is described as an excellent bee attractor and forage plant. In my garden, bees don't forage it. I have a big patch, and have never seen a bee on it. 10 feet away, they are all over the borage, catnip, milkweed, and oregano. Lemon balm is invasive, so if it doesn't feed bees, I don't have much use for it.
Jury is still out.
I have not seen them on marigolds or cosmos yet this year. I planted rows of these with my vegetables, just for the novelty. Maybe when other sources are more scarce, the bees will go for those.
I didn't have room this year for buckwheat, but might plant some soon. Last year I was annoyed that deer ate all of it, but for a while the honeybees foraged the flowers.
I also tried Joe Pye Weed last year from seeds, but only got one to grow. Also a perrenial, and is about to bloom again now. Might be interesting.
Bees do not seem attracted to geraniums, daylilies, lilies. Bees like pumkin and squash flowers, but I don't think there are enough on even a good size garden patch to make a difference to the bees.
oregano works good but mint works better the honey bees are going crazy it almost looks like the hive is in the middle of it there are so many bees , I have an area about 10 ft sq with mint and gourds "mint is hard to control its spread " and you want to keep it under control and I have enough of a jungle !
Jafar, will the honey from overripe grapes result in wine flavored honey?
I've been noting bees on some of the Echinacea (cone flowers) and Rudbeckia (Black eyed Susan). This is the first time I've grown those, so I don't know how they will do overwinter.
This week I replanted some of the Asclepias syriaca milkweed that I started from seeds in 2015 for honeybee forage. The honeybees liked it this summer. Photos are from July. Milkweeds are kiond of rangy, but the fragrance is very sweet and they have a tropical rubber tree plant appearance.
I had cilantro/coriander in my garden last year that went to seed. This year I have a lot of volunteer cilantro that is in bloom right now. I have never seen such a variety of different sizes and types of bees on one type of flower as with this cilantro. It is fascinating to watch.
That's great to know about the cilantro. Hopefully that will happen to us.
Rudbeckia/Lazy susans will definitely overwinter here. Normally, you have to give some away after awhile. Like asters and goldenrods, they are great flowers to give the pollinators something to eat when your fruit trees are done blooming. Also, your yard looks good and your spouse/SO will tolerate your excessive fruit trees a little better.
JohN S
PDX OR
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