I know that they're going to go to whatever they prefer, but I also look for plants that are appealing to bees because hey, I have bees. Every year I put a few new perennials in and I was wondering what you all like to put in, if you do.
Do you plant for your bees?
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white clover, buckwheat, yellow clover , golden rod , i let some of my cole crops flower as well, and of course my fruits , nuts, and veggies but their for me
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I quit spraying the back yard....does that count?
I only have a 1 acre yard with 7 hives on it, and I try to plant new things every year for the bees. I planted about 1/5 acre just in yellow and white sweet clover. I sowed white dutch clover over my whole lawn last year, wow, do I ever have the lawn clover now! Some of the other plants I put in are: swamp milkweed(in my low lying areas), orange butterfly weed, goldenrods, asters, bonesets, common milkweed(spreads like wildfire), ironweed, joe pye weed, borage(a must), anise hyssop, and this year bought four russian sage plants that the honeybees just love, will get more of these next year for sure. My bees go to all these plants in great numbers, I actually sit and watch them fill up with nectar and head right back to their hives in my yard.
All great bee plants, keep it up!:thumbsup:
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white clover,yellow clover,bucwheat,goldenrod,aster,i let some of my colecrops flower,i also have fruit , nuts and berries, but their for me
jmgi
anything special for doin the dutch clover in the yard. The soil here is terrible. Grass don't get it. I have some clover but when it gets hot,,it dies back. It seems like it comes back. In my lawn,,,,if it is green it is good.
Appreciate it
Rick
anything special for doin the dutch clover in the yard. The soil here is terrible. Grass don't get it. I have some clover but when it gets hot,,it dies back. It seems like it comes back. In my lawn,,,,if it is green it is good.
Appreciate it
Rick
Hi Rick,
All I do is put the dutch clover seed in a hand crank spreader and walk around the yard, that's it. The clover seed won't germinate until it gets wet and stays wet long enough to establish a root system, fall is probably the best time to sow it. I sowed mine early in the spring and the seed just sat there all summer because it was too dry to germinate I think. It must have established itself during the fall, because you wouldn't believe how much clover I have this year! I don't cut it for quite awhile when its blooming so the bees have a chance to work it real good, my neighbors keep their lawns cut like a golf course so I guess you could say my lawn stands out. The clover does stays green longer than grass during a drought though, but even it will eventually burn up too, but it will come back later in the summer-early fall for a short bloom time once good rains come again. John
All I do is put the dutch clover seed in a hand crank spreader and walk around the yard, that's it. The clover seed won't germinate until it gets wet and stays wet long enough to establish a root system, fall is probably the best time to sow it. I sowed mine early in the spring and the seed just sat there all summer because it was too dry to germinate I think. It must have established itself during the fall, because you wouldn't believe how much clover I have this year! I don't cut it for quite awhile when its blooming so the bees have a chance to work it real good, my neighbors keep their lawns cut like a golf course so I guess you could say my lawn stands out. The clover does stays green longer than grass during a drought though, but even it will eventually burn up too, but it will come back later in the summer-early fall for a short bloom time once good rains come again. John
Boy, I have half of my big garden in buckwheat and haven't seen a single bee on it. That's okay, I don't like buckwheat honey, but still. I didn't put it in for them, but the guy who was supposed to till it in didn't come in time and now it's gone crazy. Meh, I can till it next year. But still, I feel like I'm being balked. :no:
Good thing they are a fast growing tree, you might just get to see honey from them someday. They can be a great bee tree if the conditions work out right while they are blooming, unfortunately they are very unpredictable year to year. Fortunately for my bees, the black locust bloom has been perfect the last couple seasons and they were able to store up a good bit of delicious honey from it. JohnThis spring planted 200 seedlings of black locust, and they are growing:shhhh:
Got a lot of sage around here if you want it. Sage makes great honey. So does russian olive.
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I have half of my big garden in buckwheat and haven't seen a single bee on it.
I put out some buckwheat in my garden this year. Buckwheat only produces nectar in the mornings. By noon, the bees are done working it. if it is a really overcast day, I have seen bees keep working it until about 2 pm.
Go look at your buckwheat at 10 am. It will likely be buzzing loudly from all the bees.
I put out some buckwheat in my garden this year. Buckwheat only produces nectar in the mornings. By noon, the bees are done working it. if it is a really overcast day, I have seen bees keep working it until about 2 pm.
Go look at your buckwheat at 10 am. It will likely be buzzing loudly from all the bees.
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Borage, Echium, Lemon Balm, White clover, Goldenrod...
Adam
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