Depending on where you live, you may be able to keep a hive, or simply support wild honey bee populations, by planting nectar-and-pollen filled flowers. Of course, one of the best ways to insure that bees will survive in your garden is to grow your flowers and lawn completely pesticide-free. Though the the exact causes of Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD, remains unknown, many experts suspect that use of pesticides plays a large part. The ubiquitous, mono-cultured green lawn may be another factor, as there is nothing for a honey bee to eat in the common urban yard.
Summer
Finding flowers that bees can eat in summer is easy. Bluebeard, cosmos, skyflower, sea holly, and sunflowers attract honey bees. Hardy ageratum, coneflower, milkweed, marigold, dahlia, hyacinth, geranium and crocus are other possibilities. Honey bees will also feed from the plants of many fruits and vegetables you may already be growing on your property, such as squash and zucchini, apples, berries, and watermelon. Spices such as chive, oregano, rosemary, and sage also provide food for bees.
Fall
Choosing plants that bloom until the late fall is invaluable for helping honey bees get through the long winters. Goldenrod is one of the most important food for honeybees, blooming through late fall, chock-full of nectar and pollen. Other plants that feed honey bees until October may include zinnia, echium, aster, comfry, lavender, Anise hyssop and lesser calamint.
Winter
Usually, bees retreat to the hive to huddle for warmth and live off their honey reserves in the cold months of winter. However, if you live in a warmer climate, you may be able to feed honey bees through the winter months. Pussy willow is an especially prized winter food for honey bees. You may also plant winter aconite, honeysuckle, butterfly bush, white snakeroot, and witch hazel.
Spring
Choosing plants that bloom in the early spring is helpful as bees will be living on the end of their reserves, and may begin to emerge from the hive quite desperate for food. Plants that bloom in early spring and provide food for bees include pride-of-Madeira, manzanita, wisteria, California lilac, primrose, hackberry, wallflower, borage, columbine, hazelnut and clover. Alder is perhaps the earliest bloomer, sometimes emerging as early as February. The common dandelion is one of the most nutritious early bloomers for bees: unfortunately, most people weed them out to the detriment of honey bees. As you move into middle and late spring, bees will come for tansies, California poppies, lilacs, and toadflax.
Sarah Goodwin-Nguyen - Goodwin-Nguyen is the author of Key West: A Comprehensive Guide to Florida's Southernmost City (Parkscape Press, 2008) as well as an ebook ...
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