Benefit the bees to benefit your garden

bmaverick

Lots of clover here!  Unfortunately those that farm near us are using Monsanto seeds and that means Round Up gets sprayed and carried on the wind.   I am still seeing bees but getting less with each passing year.   About 40% of the farmers in our region plant non GMO crops.  They have an agreement with the Amish to not plant GMO corn every 4 years so the Amish can get a good corn crop in.  Along with those farmers who don't plant GMO.

MikeF

The past few years, I have been seeding our yard with clover instead of grass.    Its lower maintenance than grass, it looks and smells nice, and the bees love it.

 

M

 

 

Cherlynn

This year has brought the loss of so many beneficial things from bees to frogs.  When you totally lose so much so quickly it leaves a hole in you like you wouldn't believe.  In a 7 mile radius We lost so very much.  I kept waiting to hear my lovely Spring peeper frogs but they never sang out for me.  No bees or wasps.  Everything was gone.  I think the heat wave we had then the sudden rush back to winter including single digit temps.  That lasted a few weeks.  Then we rushed straight into 90 degree days.  The State Conservation Dept. Brought several things back to me, frogs, wasps, cute little bees so many other things.  But I have not forgotten how fast we lost everything.   I never want to feel this again.

peppypoblano

We don't mow often so that the "weeds" can flower.   Sadly, both of our neighbors spray both herbicide and insecticide on a seemingly continuous basis.

Cherlynn, how sad.  I can't imagine not hearing the sounds of nature talking or seeing it pass by.

sherryo

Could more of us partner with local beekeepers?  I imagine this works best if you have room where the bees can't become a nuisance.

We contacted our local beekeepers club and offered space in our back pasture for one of them to keep bees.

We're seeing a measurable increase in our garden crops,  and the beekeeper gets some rather secluded land to expand their hives.

Oh, she gives us some honey too

AmyWhitney

In the absence of honeybees (which are from Europe, not native to the U.S.), our native bees and flower-flies are the next level of pollinators. Flowers of native plants seem to support these the best, along with the small-flowered herbs like thyme, oregano, and basil.

I don't have a lot of honeybees in my yard, ever since the guy who used to keep an apple orchard a few miles away retired (and quit keeping his own bees on the property), but the other bees (like bumblebees) flower-flies, and wasps keep my garden productive. Flowers in my garden, and all of the clover and dandelions in the lawn, are there to keep the other pollinators healthy, happy, and coming back for more.

Glad to know I am not the only one with a mixed-plant kind of lawn, instead of all fescue or Bermuda grass! Here in suburbia, the pressure to have an all-grass lawn can be intense. Good ideas up above, for mowing high and planting more clover. Thank you!

Jens the Beekeeper

In addition to have some clover in the lawn it is a good idea to leave some edges of the property just grow as nature likes.

A lot of native bees and insects are specialised in certain plants and if we leave a place for nature we will have more pollinators and beneficial insects.

 

Another good tip is to strip mow the lawn whenever possible to not cut down all flowers at once.

Sharon Companion

We are going to tarp our front yard over the winter, this year.  In the spring we are going to plant a BEE AWARE garden with all wild flowers and a BEE AWARE sign.

bmaverick

Jens, Most of Europe has banned certain Ag chemicals and GMOs that kill off the bees.  Sadly, the USA and Canada have not.  Italy is a big leader against the modern day chemicals and GMOs.