3 Bee-Friendly Gardening Tips

You can’t beat the sight of a busy honey bee hopping from plant to plant and flower to flower, gathering nectar and pollen. 

As you know of the almost 300 different bee species to be found across the British Isles, all are under threat predominantly due to habitat loss, people wanting smaller, easy maintenance gardens with fewer flowers but also predation by other species, both invasive and non-invasive 

While there still are bees out there, there are a few easy steps you can take to help preserve their populations and bring them into your garden for you to watch and enjoy.

There’s no prerequisite to be a panellist on Radio 4’s Gardener’s Question Time, you don’t need to be a member of the Royal Horticulturist Society or the National Trust and all that. Just a bit of common sense, a smidgeon of logic and you’re away on your journey into the world of insect natural history. 

Plant a diverse range of native flowers

Bees naturally make a beeline for nectar-rich flowers, but not all flowers are created equal. 

Do your research first, as some of the most beautiful flowers can be pollen and nectar free, while some of the scruffiest of plants can be rammed with pollen and nectar. There are thousands of plant species out there suitable for pollinators, so do your research and see what would look good in your planting scheme. 

Or you can just completely cheat and buy a wild flower pollen and nectar mix of seeds, which can look pretty awesome when in flower

Key times in a bee’s year for pollen and nectar sources are spring, often around June (the June Gap) and September time when the bees need to stock up on honey for their winter supplies.

Don’t forget da herbs: bees love them, they are easy to grow and thrive in pots, planters or flowerbeds. Plus you will also have the added benefit of gathering delicious fresh flavours to use in the kitchen, unless you have a male dog that likes to cock its leg on them. Thyme, chives, sage, mint, fennel, borage (starflower), wild marjoram or rosemary are good choices. 

Provide a clean water source

Honey bees need access to water. If you have a pond, you can add some floating plants such as lilies where the bees can land and you can watch them drink the pond water from the lily (great for photographs). 

Otherwise, a simple tray or bucket with a landing perch such as large stones or floating corks will do the job. Also you can put down a shallow tray of sugar water, with a ratio of one measure of sugar to one measure of water, add some lemon grass oil and watch the bees come in for a feed. 

Let a patch grow wild

Leaving a part of your lawn unmown or sowing wildflowers in a part of your garden will provide a natural low-maintenance habitat for bees. They are attracted to common flowers that we might consider weeds, such as dandelions and clover. Long grass also provides shelter for bees.