How to Attract Honey Bees to My Gardens

Bees can be a nuisance when you find them flying around your face, but honey bees are non-aggressive bees that help your garden. Bee keepers keep honey bees for the home production of honey. Honey bees are nature's pollinators. They help increase the production of food crops and many different flowers in the flower garden. Honey bees are also a natural predator of many garden pests, such as lady bugs and soldier bugs. Does this Spark an idea?

Instructions

1

Create a natural habitat for bees by leaving a small brush pile at the edge of your property or by leaving a rotting stump or hollow log. Honey bees construct homes in these locations for the winter.

2

Plant a wide variety of flowers to attract honey bees. They prefer single petal blossoms such as black -eyed Susan's and poppies. Single petal varieties produce more pollen and nectar than double petal blossoms. Honeybees forage around in the flowers and collect pollen on their legs. The bees fly to another flower and the pollen rubs off and pollinates the new flower. Pollination results in seed creation and new plants to attract more bees.

3

Choose blue, purple or yellow flowers, such as zinnias and asters, to plant in your garden. Bees prefer these flowers because the colors that the bees can see are green, blue, purple, yellow and black.

4

Add a wide variety of flowers to your garden. Plant both fall and spring blooming flowers to provide bees with nectar year round. Spring flowers include larkspur and zinnias. Fall blooming flowers include daisies, sunflowers and pansies.

5

Plant wildflowers and flowers native to your area. Wildflowers and native flowers provide honeybees with the most natural pollen and nectar that is available. These flowers were growing before people began planting gardens so they evolved with the honeybees in your area. Check with your local county extension office to locate flowers native to your area.

6

Avoid the use of pesticides. Pesticides can kill honey bees.

7

Purchase old honeycomb frames or ask a local beekeeper if he has any he can give you. Place the frames near your flowers to attract bees. Honey bees love the honeycomb as a snack.