This one?
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27803
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rainbowgardener
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jal_ut
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Corn, tomatoes, peppers, beans and peas do not need an insect pollinator. Squash and cucumbers do. The thing that attracts bees is flowers, lots of flowers. You are more likely to get bees in your squash patch if you have 50 plants than if you only have one.
The individual honey bee seems to be species loyal. In other words, today a bee will work dandelions, tomorrow she may work clover, and one day she will work the squash. It is unlikely an individual bee will work more than one species per day. Of course there are over 100,000 honey bees in a colony so you will have some bees working anything that blooms and provides what the bee needs; nectar and pollen.
The individual honey bee seems to be species loyal. In other words, today a bee will work dandelions, tomorrow she may work clover, and one day she will work the squash. It is unlikely an individual bee will work more than one species per day. Of course there are over 100,000 honey bees in a colony so you will have some bees working anything that blooms and provides what the bee needs; nectar and pollen.
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jal_ut
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On your original question about honey attracting bees. Yes, it will. It will also attract wasps and ants. Honey bees will rob any kind of honey or sugar they can find. A strong colony will even, at times, rob out a weak colony. This usually happens in the fall when the natural nectar sources dry up. Once your offering of honey is cleaned up the bees will look elsewhere for what they want.
If you really want to feed the bees, mix a gallon of water with a gallon of sugar and put it in a bucket and float a whole lot of small wood chips on the surface. You need enough to cover the surface so the bees won't drown. Now set it in your garden and put some bright plastic flowers by it to be the thing the bees will notice first. Just sit back and see what you attract. If any Honey bees find it, they will bring their friends.
Honey is too expensive to use for this purpose. Sugar 50/50 water works fine.
If you really want to feed the bees, mix a gallon of water with a gallon of sugar and put it in a bucket and float a whole lot of small wood chips on the surface. You need enough to cover the surface so the bees won't drown. Now set it in your garden and put some bright plastic flowers by it to be the thing the bees will notice first. Just sit back and see what you attract. If any Honey bees find it, they will bring their friends.
Honey is too expensive to use for this purpose. Sugar 50/50 water works fine.
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jal_ut
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Do a Google search for "bees attracted to flowers"
Lets not forget the solitary bees. Do a search for "solitary bee houses".
You can attract the solitary bees by providing nesting sites. (houses) A house for a leaf cutter bee is simply a 2x4 with many holes drilled in it, and hung up under the eaves of a shed.
Lets not forget the solitary bees. Do a search for "solitary bee houses".
You can attract the solitary bees by providing nesting sites. (houses) A house for a leaf cutter bee is simply a 2x4 with many holes drilled in it, and hung up under the eaves of a shed.
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Gary350
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Honey will attract lots of wasps. I put honey water in a humming bird feeder once there were about 50 wasps buzzing round all the time. There were so many wasps buzzing around on the patio we were afraid to be on the patio. I had to dump the honey water out.
Check in your area to see if you can find someone to help you get your own bee hive. My neighbor found someone to teach him about bees. He ordered a queen bee in the mail for his empty hive. Last summer he had 1 bee hive and several quarts of honey. This year the hive made another queen so he now has 2 bee hives. Every year the hives make a new queen and half the bees leave with the new queen. Looks like 2 hives will turn into 4 hives next summer. I have a lot of honey bees buzzing around in my garden this is the most bees I have seen in 40 years. There use to be lots of bees but not anymore.
Check in your area to see if you can find someone to help you get your own bee hive. My neighbor found someone to teach him about bees. He ordered a queen bee in the mail for his empty hive. Last summer he had 1 bee hive and several quarts of honey. This year the hive made another queen so he now has 2 bee hives. Every year the hives make a new queen and half the bees leave with the new queen. Looks like 2 hives will turn into 4 hives next summer. I have a lot of honey bees buzzing around in my garden this is the most bees I have seen in 40 years. There use to be lots of bees but not anymore.
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jal_ut
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Yes, you could get into beekeeping, but I suggest you do a lot of reading before you make the jump. I keep bees and have for many years. I find it a satisfying and fascinating hobby and my garden plants do not want for pollinators.
I made a short web page on hiving package bees a while back. Here is a link to the page if you are interested.
[url=https://donce.lofthouse.com/jamaica/Package%20Bees/packagebees.htm]Hiving Package Bees[/url]
I made a short web page on hiving package bees a while back. Here is a link to the page if you are interested.
[url=https://donce.lofthouse.com/jamaica/Package%20Bees/packagebees.htm]Hiving Package Bees[/url]
like a few people said, plant borage next year. and from then on it will plant itself. bees LOVE borage.
and like jal-ut said. solitary bees are often better pollinators than honey bees. we have at least 15 orchard mason bee "apartments" all through our garden. on a daily basis I see more native bees than honey bees, and we have quite a bit of honey bees. there are over 1200 native bees in north america. plant flowers of all sizes, shapes and colors to attract as many species as possible.
and like jal-ut said. solitary bees are often better pollinators than honey bees. we have at least 15 orchard mason bee "apartments" all through our garden. on a daily basis I see more native bees than honey bees, and we have quite a bit of honey bees. there are over 1200 native bees in north america. plant flowers of all sizes, shapes and colors to attract as many species as possible.
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jal_ut
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Lots of variables. Per colony, I have gotten as much as 120 lbs. from a strong colony and as little as 0.How much honey do you get from your hives?
It depends a lot on the season, what type of forage plants are available and the strength and health of the colony.
If I had to pick a number for an average, it would be around 40 to 50 lbs. per strong colony.
I am going to rob my bees Thursday this week. Want to come help?