[Penninehillbilly]

yesterday had a quick coffeebreak and sat on a log near a cotoneaster - it was alive with bees, mainly bufftails, some honey bees and a smaller more unusual one, must look it up, but it was such a lovely sight (and sound).

[Fleecewife]

It's amazing how they love cotoneaster, as the flowers are so small.  Here they go for other tiny insignificant flowers such as blueberry, gooseberry too.  They love the big obvious ones of course.  We don't get any honey bees here for some reason, so I have concentrated my flower garden on having flowers which will feed bumble bees. Different bumbles have different length tongues so like a variety of flower form to suit their tongues.

 I'm compiling a list of bumbles' favourite flowers for Rosemary and Dan to go with a wildlife bit on the TAS site.

Any contributions of the names of flowers the bumblebees love in your area will be welcome, with whereabouts you live.  I've just been looking round my garden on this lovely sunny morning and the place is hoaching with bumblebees.  I think I have most of the flowers they love, the ones which will grow here anyway, but it would help to make the list complete to have more ideas.
I joined the bumblebee conservation trust and will send off for an identification chart. I can only see bufftailed bumblebees and common carders here, but some look slightly different, such as a carder with a darker stripe so it will be good to see if it's different.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

Last year I saw a bumblebee which was massive, how do they get that big? and was it a queen?

[Bramblecot]

Probably a queen .
Last week we went on a farm visit where the Bumblebee Conservation Trust has been advising on bees as pollinators.  Very informative .  The farmer has planted acres of wildflower margins alongside the hedges (with varying success) but the most bees were found on a large area of naturally growing pink comfrey.  Nature knows best so plant more comfrey!
We have bumble bees in two of our bird boxes.  They are Tree bumble bees which have arrived from France (according to the BCT advisor).

[waterbuffalofarmer]

My mother and I planted a few comfrey bushes in our three gardens and the bees love them, also they like marshmallow bushes, feverfew and thyme. I am currently trying to make a wildflower and herb garden, I think it may work, although I will have to see.

[Penninehillbilly]

Fleecewife a list sounds a great idea, I'm always looking for something for them,
I have comfrey, supposedly for using in the garden or feeding goats, but now it gets left for the bees. they seem to like willowherb, but a neighbour has knocked a patch down (not on his land, and despite me asking him not to, I think it's spite because I pull it for the goats), yet they have LOADS of himalayan Balsam, which has now spread right down the valley, and while it is good for a short flowering period it is killing off longer lasting native herbage and making steep slopes unstable.
the smaller bee I saw looked to be mainly dark apart from one thin ginger ring near the front and a tiny bit on it's tail end.
I think the honey bees are from across the valley, I know he had some but lost them a few years ago, presume he's got some more. I don't normally see as many.
Maybe he'll give me some honey if I tell him I'm feeding his bees   

[Fleecewife]

I will be adding in the cotoneaster to my list PHB and even got a photo of a bumble on mine today, before we all got washed away in a massive downpour.

Comfrey is brilliant.  I have a large plot of the stuff, meant for compost, liquid feed and mulch, but also left for the bees to enjoy the flowers.  I try to remember to cut the flower stalks down in rotation so there are always some throughout the season for the bees.  It starts with a few plants in my polytunnel - not meant to be there but mulch has a tendency to grow - which provide an early sip for the bees.  I also leave some brassicas flowering in there once there is nothing much else to pick, so my polytunnel is buzzing with bees before the flowers are open outdoors.  They get a bit stroppy when I clear the lot, but I wait until the outside comfrey is flowering.

I did write out a fairly long list for my DiL but I can't find it now so am starting from scratch.  I'm sure Dan will put it on the site as soon as I actually compile it.  Most of my BB flowers are for the garden, so I'll be particularly pleased for some wildflower suggestion.....

[Steph Hen]

I think spring flowers are the most limiting to populations, white and red dead nettle are important, but mostly overlooked in studies as few people have looked at species queens feed on.
I am also passionate about shrubs and trees for bees as although they don't have the best quality pollen they take less management to establish and maintain, a far more realistic approach for many farmed areas than attempting to sew wild flower seed which is often a waste of money, time and land.

[Fleecewife]

Steph Hen

So far on my list of trees and shrubs I have:
Cotoneaster, honeysuckle, gooseberry, currants, blueberry, willow (the best), top fruit ie apples incl crab, pear, plum, cherry, Roses esp those with single flowers, buddleia.  I seem to have a mental blank for more although I'm sure there are loads, esp suitable for hedgerows and woodland edge.  What would you add?


So far on my list I have 44 garden plants, 15 wild flowers, 9 trees and shrubs, 7 herbs, various veggies, and 6 that bees don't like, mainly doubles, as they have no pollen or nectar.

[bloomer]

Looks like Fleecewife you will have the answer to my question then, I am probably moving this year to somewhere with space for bee's (still not big enough for stock) it is surrounded by mature woodland.


Do bee's do ok in woodland environments?


In particular there is a good amount of Elm around...

[Steph Hen]

I would add, Hawthorn, blackthorn, lime, horse chestnut, wild cherry, but will also have a think.

Mature woodland can provide a good forage environment depending on tree species. It is the preferred nesting habitat for some bumblebee species.
It can also be excellent for providing spring forage in canopy gaps, edges of paths, etc.

[Penninehillbilly]

Don't forget foxgloves, love to see them checking out those deep flowers, the buzz changes as they go in, had a plant sale at the local chapel recently, the foxgoves were being left, I added above the name -
Bees love -
foxglove,
they all sold after that, so it's good people are trying to do their bit 

[Fleecewife]

Definitely foxgloves PHB, I have them here, well away from livestock though as of course they're poisonous, but so elegant and so well-loved by bumblebees.

I apologise if I'm hijacking your thread - just tell me if I am and I'll move this to a new thread.

So far I have on all my lists the following:

HERBS: - Thyme esp creeping; marjoram and oregano; chives; lavender; monarda/bergamot- except here, mine ignore it;  rosemary; sage
  (I'm sure there are more herbs but these are the ones my bees flock to)


GARDEN FLOWERS: Cosmos; primula incl candelabra and primrose; phlox;aubretia; eryngium; foxglove; clematis; antirrhinum; forget me not; outdoor geranium; aquilegia; knapweed; crocus; echinops/globeflower; rudbeckia; mallow and lavatera; lupin; phacelia (also a green manure); limnanthes/poached egg plant; hollyhock; helichrysum; dahlia; delphinium; cornflower; eryngium; single flowered marigolds; acanthus (but it traps smaller worker bees as they are not heavy enough to open the flower); sunflower; tulips; allium; salvia; cirsum rivulare; sedum esp sedum spactabile; candytuft; delphinium; honesty; nasturtium; nicotiana; nigella; poppies various; scabious; verbena; verbascum.

WILD FLOWERS: Water avens; bluebell; foxglove; knapweed; primrose; dead nettle, white and purple; marshmallow; marsh marigold (single); cornflower; clover; thistle; elecampane; teasel; strawberry; oxeye daisy.

VEG: brassica flowers ie run to seed; onion and other allium flowers; broad beans; runner and French beans.

TREES and SHRUBS: cotoneaster; honeysuckle; gooseberry; currants; blueberry; willow (THE best for an early energy boost for queens); hawthorn and blackthorn; lime; horse chestnut; cherries, bird cherry, gean, but not double garden forms; roses esp single flowered; buddleia.

Flowers which are no use to bumblebees: most double flowers (often called 'plena'); begonia; aster; fuchsia; pelargonium; carnations; petunia.

What do you think, esp of the list of pollen- and nectar-free plants?

[Cheviot]

Hi,
I have a varigated bugle, and has been covered in bumbles and butterflies for almost a month now, and there are still more flowers coming out, it's great ground cover and dead easy to grow.
Regards
Sue

[Steph Hen]

Vetch and birds foot trefoil (unless I've just missed these!). Pollen from nitrogen fixing plants is preferred. If you can provide early forage, like dead nettles and willow, then some vetch and clovers (mowing strips of white clover infested lawn can keep it flowering for weeks) and maybe some phacelia (flowers for ages) the bumbles will be very happy.

Yellow rattle.