The Benefits of Bees

Pollination is one of Nature's Miracles. It is the beginning of all seed-making, the first step in the reproduction of all flowering plants. Bees benefit all gardens by pollinating.Flowers assist the pollinator in finding the special spot where their reward is stored - usually pollenor nectar. They often have bee lines, or dots, or colour variations, or modified stamens (penstemon) which direct the
pollinator, and at the same time deposit some pollen on him, or brush the pistil against the pollen already on his body. The benefits to the pollinators in this story is they are provided with protein rich pollen and sweet, sugary nectar. Honeybees work very hard and may live only a few weeks. Many overwinter in the hive though. Solitary bees form a colony during the season but only the queen overwinters. The rest die in the fall.

Some Fun Facts About Bees

The queen mates once with a dozen or so drones (males) and stores all the sperm she will need for her entire life.

Plants that Attract Bees

SHRUBS

Adenostoma fasciculatum CHAMISE
Ceanothus WILD LILAC
Eriogonum fasciculatum CALIFORNIA BUCKWHEAT

MISCELLANEOUS
Sweet Clover (white and yellow varieties)
Goldenrod & Buckwheat (depends on location and nectar flow)
Wild Asters (esp. good in Fall)
Turnip & Mustard Greens, wild or cultivated varieties - when in flower
Salvia mellifera BLACK SAGE
Salvia sonomensis CREEPING SAGE

PERENNIALS

Eriogonum species BUCKWHEATS

Bee Keeping Links