Support bees with blue and yellow.......

[caty]

The shortage of bees is a big concern. We can help them out by planting blue and yellow flowers. These colors attract them and will help raise their number. So, when you go to pick out your summer flowers for your flower bed, go for the blue and yellow.

http://lifeonthebalcony.com/bees-favorite-colors-are-blue-and-yellow/

[Heidi]

1. Recommended.

:kick:

[Gman2]

2. Im on the job. Blue is my gig.

[sarge43]

3. Some flowers that will attract honey bees

Purple Ozark Beardtongue (Penstemon cobaca v. purpurea) Zone 5-9

Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) Zone 5-10

Chinese Mt. Stonecrop (Sedum middendorffianum) Zones 4-8

European Cutleaf Sage (Salvia ) 'Blue' Zones 4-8

Catmint Walker's Low Catmint, Zones 4-9

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) Zones 8-11

Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurcum) Zones 3-9

Hyssop (Hyssopus officialis) Zones 4-9

Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) Zones 4-9

Bee Balm (Monarda) Zones 3-8

Butterfly Bush (Buddleia alternifolia) Zones 5-10

Blue Mist Spirea (Caryopteris clandonensis Zones 5-9

Honey bees love any flowering herb like thyme, mint, oregano. They also adore rugosa roses.
They're fond of tomatoes, any squash, peppers. Studies have shown that visiting honey bees can increase crop production by 40%.

If you're not into a golf course lawn, dandelions and white clover are another favorite.

Honey bees: They take little and give much in return.

[Lochloosa]

8. Sounds like my wife's backyard.

[sarge43]

13. If there are honey bees in your local area, they'll be visiting. n/t

[zbiker]

16. lets not forget that

honey bees love flowering fruit trees as well, in fact my bees are sniffing around my choke cherry trees today waiting impatiently for the blooms to appear.
if you have the space please consider an apple,apricot, or even a honey locust tree. gives them more to work without taking up valuable lawn space versus a flower bed al thou that is a great idea as well.
remember, we all need shade too :)

[sarge43]

18. I keep forgetting the trees

We've planted five linden and locust trees for our girls. I'm going try finding some space for a couple of apple trees.

[Javaman]

33. yes, they dig my lemon tree. :)nt

[HCE SuiGeneris]

4. Beeutiful idea!

Highly recommended for our pollinating pals.

[csziggy]

5. Our wild honey bees are having a good time with the blackberry flowers

And the azaleas. I need to go later this week and buy salvias (non-culinary sage) since both the bees and the hummingbirds love them.

I am hoping our wildflower field re-seeded last year - if it did, we will have about a half acre of all sorts of native flowers that the bees and hummers go wild over.

[Lochloosa]

11. Try salvia divinorum. You'll love it

:evilgrin:



http://www.sagewisdom.org/

[csziggy]

15. Pretty - but what I do is go to the local native plants nursery

Which I have been buying from since they started 25 years ago. I get whatever they have in stock that strikes my fancy.

I was going to go last week but my spare money went to buying a water trough which will become a garden pond. Found it on Craigslist for less than half the regular price, not counting shipping. And shipping would be about half what I paid since it is hard to get an eight foot diameter trough shipped, even if it is plastic. I'd been planning on settling for a six foot diameter one, but when this one showed up, I jumped on it!

Now to get Mr. csziggy to dig the hole. As if that is going to happen. Actually, I will spend the summer moving it around until I am sure I have just the right spot, then next winter sometime I may have to hire a backhoe - which will cost more than the trough. I've been telling the boys who have horses out here I will use it for a swimming pool this summer! It is only two feet deep, though - not really deep enough for a pool, except to just sit in it.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

6. Also help them by not using pesticides! Don't use lawn chemicals!!

Just wanted to add that.

Sometime this spring or summer, I plan to tear off some grass and plant wild flower seeds.

[sarge43]

7. +1

Researchers are beginning to zero in on 'cides as one of the principal causes of CCD. There are other causes, but whatever else they're doing 'cides aren't good for our friends.

We have a quarter acre in wild flowers now. We have a bunch of "thank you" notes from bees, butterflies, hummers and many others. Some work getting a patch started, but once it's established, it takes care of itself. Just mow down after fall frost or after final flowering -- stops the natural progression back to bushes and trees.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

9. every time I see a Chem Lawn truck I want to go ballistic!

Luckily out in the boondocks, there's not much of that (well, but there's a lot of agriculture, and they're not organic farms :( )

There's a big honeybee hive in one of the walls that I'm going to have to have taken care of. I found the local bee-people and will have the wall cut open and then the hive taken out safely. If I had the pesticide sprayer come (I'd NEVER do that, btw), not only would that kill all the bees, but the poisoned honey would remain. Bees would be attracted to the honey and so, the poison would CONTINUE to kill. The bee-guy explained that to me.

[sarge43]

12. That's exactly right.

Not only bees would be attracted, other insects and maybe mammals, even birds, if they could get to it. Have you talked to local bee-people about pulling out the comb? Without the girls to keep it air conditioned, the wax could melt and then you have a mess, albeit a sweet mess.

Here's hoping they find the queen and reestablish the hive.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

27. Oh, they've got a hive in there.

When the bee-guy comes, he's gonna rip out some of the wall ( sigh.......oh well, I just couldn't kill the little sweeties, so.... just have to remember, I'm creating good karma here! :) And lucky for me, my hun is a skilled contractor and fixer of all things, so I'll pay him to do it, cuz that's a LOT of work and time away from doing other work)

Anyway, then the bee-guy will remove the entire hive. Would be pretty cool to keep a bit of honeycomb from it!
(heeeeyyyy, remind me to charge up my camera and take pics of the festivities!)

[sarge43]

29. Yes, you're a Friend of the Bees and pictures would be great.

Just stay out of the Zone of Total Destruction. A hive that perceives Her Majesty and the kids are in danger goes to Defcon One and no prisoners mode.

A bear got into our hives once. We managed to save the hives, but let's say the girls expressed absolutely no gratitude for our efforts -- about fifty stings between the two of us.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

31. Ruh roh!!

We had a bear a couple years ago who knocked over a big drum of used veg grease (I was running my deisel car on a grease kit)....we had big greasy paw prints up the walk right to the "Wipe Your Paws" mat at the front door! HAAAAAAA :rofl:

the beeeeez are usually gentle -- the ones that have been getting into the house, I give 'em a ride on my finger and we go back outside. I can't get all of them though, makes me awful sad to see them die in here. They started waking up while it was still too cold to put them outside, so there was nothing I could do.

But, I'll be saving more, as well as the babeez, so that's a good thought

[sarge43]

32. Bears: Gotta love 'em. Nature's slobs.

Don't feel too sad. The bees we see outside are at the end of their lives. Foraging is the final duty assignment of a worker bee. A worker goes through all the hive duties during her lifetime. She starts as a nurse, taking care of the eggs and larva, moves to lady in waiting for the queen, then does all the scut work in hive, from air conditioning to comb building, guard duty, clean up crew, etc. And she does all the jobs in a specific order. Average worker life span: 6 weeks to two months.

At the height of honey flow (lots of plants producing nectar), a forager has at best two to three days of life left. She'll work herself to death.

Most honey bees are gentle. Unless they feel threaten, they're not interested in committing suicide.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

39. awwww!

goddammit, I get teary eyed too dammed easy....... :)


When I see the bizzybeez doin' their pollinating, I always say "Heyyy look! She's wearin' her PollenPants (tm) !!!" :D
Yeah, I'm a big fan of anthropomorphization

[sarge43]

40. Pollen Pants, like that. Pollen Bloomers?

Well, don't feel too badly for her. She served her people and kingdom all her days; she lived a noble, useful life. How's that for anthropomorphization?

[BlancheSplanchnik]

26. :)

yep, that's what I want to do! Vermont Wildflowers (if that's the right name-- they're online) has a bunch of different seed mixes. I want to get a little Woodland mix, some Damp mix (the slope where I want to start is always damp to some extent from runoff) and some hummer/flutterby mix (I'm sure the beez will like that)

[sarge43]

28. That's where we got our seeds.

My only suggestion is don't go with a mix with a large amount of lupine seed. First, lupine is very invasive; it'll take over a patch and you'll find it everywhere in a few years. Second, our honey bees don't seem to care for it. I think because the blossom is too deep and small and they can't get to the stamens. Honey bees have short tongues, so a flower has to be open for them to harvest it.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

30. ohh far out!! THANKS for the info, sarge!

I never woould have known that.

Great, now I've got some knowledge!! :D

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. Breaking: Bee shortage linked to blue and yellow paints in fake flowers.

[vanboggie]

14. Monsanto GMO crops

Looking to be a possible/probable reason for the demise of the honey bee. Damned corporations.

[donco6]

17. They're all over my hyacinths today.

Good to see them. Hello spring!

[sarge43]

19. They're gathering pollen.

Her Majesty started laying eggs the beginning of March, so lots of hungry kids to feed.

[donco6]

20. Cool. We're kinda in a new area of town, so I've always wondered where they live.

I wonder if I could follow them? How far do they go?

[sarge43]

23. First, are they honey bees?

All bees gather pollen and nectar; honey bees are the only ones that gather and store massive amounts so efficiently.

Yeah, you can track a forager. That's how back before the Langstroth hive keepers would get replacement hives -- follow a feral forager to her hive, take it and reestablish in a skep back at the farm or monastery/convent. Feral hives are very rare now, although there is some evidence they're coming back.

You'd be better off to check with neighbors if someone is keeping bees in your area. A forager normally works up to a mile and half from her hive; they've been known to go as far as five miles. With max cargo she flies back to the hive between 6 to 9 mph and in a straight line, hence "bee line". Tracking them is a trick.

[donco6]

24. Interesting. I had no idea.

I need to read up on this. I think it would be a fun project to see if I could find out how this all works. I didn't even know that not all bees are honey bees. Duh.

[sarge43]

25. Honey bees have a high "Wow" factor

The more you learn, the more fascinating they become.

For starters, I'd recommend Beekeeping for Dummies. Yes, I know Dummy books - meh, but it's a good place to begin. You can get the terms, the life cycle, hive setup and management squared away, then move on to more detailed info.

Check out bee keeping associations/clubs in your area and, if any, attend meetings. Visitors and friends of bees are always welcome and they love talking up their girls.

FWIW

[zbiker]

34. yep, we love to

talk about our girls :), don't forget that there are several really good forums one can learn from not only in the u.s. but from europe as well. google barefoot beekeeper and check out this site as well
http://www.beesource.com/forums/index.php

both cover multiple ways to keep bees from traditional to the use of top bar hives. just lurking can be a learning experience

[marybourg]

21. Unless you live in L.A. or Phoenix or other cities where killer bees

have become established, or are in the path of them. Then you'd do best not to attract them. I had to disassemble my beautiful rock pool and waterfall because they colonized it and wouldn't let me out in my own yard. More recently:

http://www.kpho.com/news/22884822/detail.html

edited to repair link.

[Wilms]

22. bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! n/t

[1776Forever]

35. Just planted some blue moon hydrangeas! Yippee!

[eppur_se_muova]

36. Try to stick to natives, and avoid invasive exotics ... check out "Bringing Nature Home"

http://bringingnaturehome.net/native-gardening/herbaceous-plants

http://www.powells.com/biblio/9780881929928?&PID=34364

http://www.powells.com/biblio/2-9781889538747-0

[mopinko]

38. yeah, was gonna say

the favorite in my garden is the purple cone flowers. although they do also love the black eyed susans.

[amborin]

37. k and r