The dwindling honeybee population is an alarming development for many gardeners, who depend on honeybees for pollination and enjoy their presence as a sign of a successful garden. Many people are wondering what they can do to help honeybees, which continue to be affected by Colony Collapse Disorder. Colony Collapse Disorder is a mystery problem that has been killing whole hives. The following simple things will help gardeners provide a supportive environment for honeybees.
Providing Food
The most important element gardeners can provide to create a supportive environment for honeybees is food. Honeybees especially enjoy pollen- and nectar-rich flowers growing in clusters, because these flowers provide a lot of food for little expended energy, often allowing the honeybee to simply crawl from bloom to bloom.
Some of their favorite types of clustered flowers include:
- Umbel flowers: Flowers that look like an inverted umbrella, such as dill, parsley, bronze fennel, and bishop’s weed (Ammi majus).
- Spike flowers: Flowers such as lavender, veronica, hardy salvia (Salvia nemerosa and its cultivars and hybrids), horehound, basil, oregano, and anise hyssop.
- Grouped flowers: Flowers that have a grouping of several blooms on a single stalk, such as cleome, agastache, rosemary, and Russian sage.
- Daisy-type flowers: Flowers with petals arranged around a large central disc, such as sunflower, aster, zinnia, gazania, coreopsis, black-eyed Susan, and many types of daisies.
- Enclosed flowers: Flowers that have a space for pollinators to crawl inside, such as snapdragon and the flower of the scarlet runner bean.
Providing Water
Gardeners can also help honeybees to thrive by providing a water source. Honeybees need shallow water so that they will not drown when they try to drink. One of the best ways to provide this is to have a running fountain with water that splashes regularly onto a surface near the fountain, such as rocks placed beside the fountain. Another good way to do this more cheaply and in less space is to provide water in a shallow bowl or incurved rock that has pebbles or something else in the basin that the honeybees will be able to land on.
Providing Shelter
An easy addition to any garden is a place that honeybees can temporarily hide from the elements. Strong winds and storms can stress or kill honeybees that are caught without shelter if the weather abruptly becomes inclement while they are out feeding or otherwise working. A strong, very sturdy, bushy plant or shrub is a good way to provide this. Look for something that you think will be able to withstand winds and storms better than the average plant or shrub. A large, mature basil bush with many stalks or a stand of ornamental grass can mean the difference between safety and injury for a honeybee.
Providing Basking Spots
A final thing that gardeners can provide for honeybees is a basking spot for sunbathing. Honeybees are more sensitive to cold temperatures than many other bees and, like butterflies, they enjoy warming up in a sunny spot. A rock in the open or a tall plant with large leaves is a good first step in providing a sunny spot for honeybees to warm themselves up before gathering food.
Simple Steps to Help the Honeybee
Providing food, water, temporary shelter, and sunning spots for honeybees are all important things that any gardener can do to help improve the strength of the honeybee population while scientists work to solve the mystery of Colony Collapse Disorder.
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