Related to talk about
beekeeping, you may consider this thing. There is one main species and two subspecies of Honey Bee that are seen in the United Kingdom. The
European Honey Bee is the main species, whilst the Italian Bee and the European Dark Bee are the subspecies.
Honey Bees produce and store honey and make beeswax. The older female worker bees spend the rest of their life foraging outside for nectar, water and pollen. They have specially adapted pollen baskets on their rear legs to collect the pollen and an extra stomach to transport nectar. They also collect sticky plant resin that can be used to help build and repair the hive. They will then take the pollen and nectar back to the hive.
These female worker Honey Bees pollinate flowers in the garden, as the pollen sticks to the hairs on their body. This pollen is then transferred to the other flowers it visits and so on, so they are very beneficial to gardeners. If you have a hive in your garden, it is worth remembering that Honey Bees can become annoyed or aggravated by noisy garden equipment, including lawnmowers.
Honey bees stay active all through winter, so will need a source of pollen, nectar and water to be available, near the hive, throughout the seasons. This needs to be taken into account when choosing plants to attract Honey Bees.
- Allium - There is a large variety of Allium species. The main varieties have pink or purple rounded flower heads, although you can get white or yellow ones. They vary in height, depending on variety and tend to flower in late spring and summer.
- Heather - is an evergreen shrub that needs acid soil. It also needs full sun. It can flower from July through to September and comes in a variety of colors.
- Hawthorn - This can either be a shrub or tree. The blossoms are usually white or scarlet and appear between May and July.
- Dandelions - This is often considered a weed. It produces bright yellow flowers in spring and summer.
- Cotoneaster Horizontalis - This shrub is a semi-evergreen, small bush that grows up to 32 inches in height. It has white flowers that appear between May and June.
- Asters - Otherwise known as the Michaelmas Daisy flowers in late summer and autumn. It comes in a range of colours and a variety of heights. They are easy to grow and like being in full sun.
- Sunflowers - Sunflowers come in a variety of heights, depending on the variety. They come into flower between July and August and the seed head can then be left on the stalk for bird food.
- Hollyhocks - These can grow up to eight foot tall, as well as a variety of colours, again depending on the variety. They need full sun and can flower from early summer - June through to September.
- Larkspur - Otherwise known as Consolida, is a hardy annual that grows up to three foot tall. It has spikes of flowers up the stem, from May through to September, varying from white, pink, red, blue to violet.
- Foxgloves - These come in a variety of colours, from white, purple to pink. It flowers from July through to the end of August. It is a hardy plant.
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