Bumblebees need somewhere to nest, forage, mate and hibernate. One area may do for all of these things, but it will be different parts and features of that area.
Plant
flowers preferred by bees.
Click here to be taken to an extensive
list of flowers visited by north American bees
and European bumblebees
Early flowers.
When the queens emerge in the spring flowers such as spring flowering heathers,
crocuses, primroses, aubrieta, comfrey, poppies any flowering currants and
vetches and peas are very useful. They will also gather pollen from hazels and
willow catkins and early flowering fruit trees. A dense patch of heather will
serve as a shelter in times when the weather changes suddenly. In my garden we
let the heather flop over a low wall. The stone absorbs heat during the day and
gives it out at night, so in the morning that patch is always full of slow
moving queens with just enough energy to climb up the stems to drink their
breakfast from the flowers.
Summer flowers. In
general most cottage garden type of flowers are useful to bumblebees such as
Indian balsam, Phacalia, viper's bugloss, geraniums, aquilegia, lupins,
campanulas, as well as brambles, raspberry, strawberry and other soft fruits,
and many herbs such as the different varieties of thyme and borage.
Old-fashioned roses provide a good source of pollen, you can hear them
gathering pollen from some flowers as they sonicate the anthers to dislodge the
pollen. This is a higher sounding buzz than usual. Many flowers
especially bred for showy displays do not have nectar, for example some
nasturtiums are nectar-free, normally these provide a large amount of nectar
per flower and so are very useful. And double-flowered varieties may or may not
produce nectar, but the extra petals often make it too difficult to reach.
Foxgloves are used by the longer tongued bees not only for nectar but also as a
place to shelter during sudden showers, but some of the more showy ones have
flowers that do not open properly. |
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Late flowers.
Lavenders and salvias are useful later in the year, actually most of the herbs
used by cooks are used by bumblebees. Honeysuckle is also very valuable as it
provides a rich supply of nectar.
You can feed bumblebees
and many other insects even if all you have is a windowbox. I am currently
stuck in the centre of Paris (I get very little sympathy, but I'd really much
rather be at home with a dog and a garden), and a couple of windowboxes are all
I have. From spring onwards I've had bumblebees, hoverflies and moths, so I
must be doing something right. And many of the images, including that above, were taken of bumblebees on my windowbox. |
| Supplement nectar during the early days.
You can
supplement the supply of nectar during the first few weeks of queen emergence
by putting out a mixture of 30% sugar and 70% water, the proportions do not
have to be exact. This need only be done if there has been a frost or strong
wind that has damaged the flowers. Put a small amount of the mixture onto a
small container, e.g. the top of a lemonade bottle or the cap of a pen and put
this amongst the flowers. This works very well in a patch of heather, and will
be appreciated by the queens. During cold days you may find what appears to be
an injured queen, that is a bee that is not dead but doesn't fly away. She has
probably got too cold and does not have enough energy to build up heat. If you
take the bee indoors and provide the sugar and water mixture the bee will soon
recover and be on her way, though it is best to keep her inside if it is
snowing or raining outside.
Do not spray insecticide.
Insecticide is
indiscriminate and kills all insects as well as spiders and many other useful
invertebrates, don't use it if you can help it. Never kill ladybirds or
lacewings as they are aphid eating machines. Most gardeners know what the
adults of these insects look like, but it is the larva that eat the most. They
are not as pretty as the adults, but they have only one purpose in life, and
that is to eat as many aphids as they can. If you really feel that you must
spray then do so when it is almost dark so you will kill as few bees as
possible, and use an insecticide that is specific to the pest, e.g. one that
kills aphids only. |
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If you are a bird lover
you may wish to forgo spraying for two very simple reasons.
1. Many
garden birds eat insects. Even those cute little blue tits that entertain you
with their acrobatics around the bird table feed their young largely on
insects. Most insecticides contain nerve poisons. The same poisons that work on
the insects will damage bird nerves the same way if enough of the poison is
eaten. They will also damage human nerves too, think of Gulf War Syndrome. All
animal nerves (humans are animals too remember) work the same way, it's just
that bigger animals need to eat, breathe or absorb more poison to produce the
immediate effect seen in tiny insects. So even if you don't like insects, think
of the birds, your dog, hedgehogs, frogs. And if that is not enough think of
yourself and all your own little neurotransmitters firing off around your body.
How many of them are you willing to disrupt or destroy?
2. If there are no
insects in your garden you won't attract insect eating birds.
Nests have their own page.
Hibernation sites
Generally these are not south
facing as they would warm up too quickly in the spring causing the queen to
emerge before there was sufficient flowers in bloom supplying nectar and
pollen. So hibernation sites tend to be in cooler places. Under tree roots and
at the base of walls and hedges seem to be the most popular places. The main
thing is dryness, so damp areas are out. Also the substrate must be loose enough for the queen to dig into.
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