Bees are an important aspect of our ecosystems. We know that we need to improve the conditions for bees, which in turn improves the conditions for survival of people. In Saskatchewan, many of our crops depend on bees for pollination and we also produce approximately 25 percent of Canada’s honey.
Pollination is needed for plants to reproduce, and so many plants depend on bees or other insects as pollinators. When a bee collects nectar and pollen from the flower of a plant, some pollen from the stamens—the male reproductive organ of the flower—sticks to the hairs of her body. Bees are drawn to plants with open or flat tubular flowers with lots of pollen and nectar. The scent of the flower, the bright colours also help to bring the bees in. Flowers visited more often by bees will produce larger and more uniform fruit. There are other pollinators in nature including wind, birds, other animals and sometimes water, but bees and also other insects are the most valuable pollinators.
Every individual can contribute to the preservation of bees and other pollinators. If you are a beekeeper, you are particularly concerned to ensure you can keep your bees healthy and productive from the very earliest spring until you close down the hives in fall. In order for bees to be the most productive, a very diverse environment is necessary. A diverse environment contains trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals so there is always cover on the ground and there is always something growing. This is the environment that will give you the longest season for honey production.
Some plants are magnets for bees such as summer flowering annuals like borage, bee balm, heliotrope, sweet clover and lavender. Perennials such as our native prairie crocus, chives, joe pye weed and salvia also fit the bill. Be sure to include one or two spring flowering fruits in your garden: raspberry, cherry, apple, chokecherry, plum and Saskatoon’s are delicious as far as bees are concerned.
Bees need to feed in early spring too. It may surprise you that early-blooming willow is a major food source for bees. There are also those pesky dandelions that grace our lawns just as the grass is greening up. We’re not suggesting that you grow a crop of them, but at least they are good for something. Bees just love them and this is another reason to keep herbicides off your lawn. Late summer blooming sunflowers, chrysanthemums and asters complete the season to keep bees fed until fall. Almost any flowering plant you grow in your garden will benefit bees.
Hanbidge is the Lead Horticulturist with Orchid Horticulture. Find us at www.orchidhort.com; by email at [email protected] on facebook @orchidhort and on instagram at #orchidhort.
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