buzzzzzzzzzz new adventure

[Nepen]

wow wow wow. Amazing! Thanks Addy for sharing. it's so exciting. I'm sitting here all excited to see all the work. I dont think we will have bee at our new house but I'm sure will plants lots of flowers for the bees.. any recommendation?

 

[addy1]

I live on the plant for bee/birds/ butterflies/ beneficial insects sites. Most of the bee friendly plants at home depot, lowes have been treated with insecticides and actually kill the bees.

I have replaced some, well a lot of grass areas with bee friendly seeds, wild flowers.

I also buy nectar/pollen friendly seeds. Most every plant I have has come from seeds.

http://www.americanmeadows.com/wildflower-seeds/wildflower-mix/honey-bee-wildflower-seed-mix

http://gardening.about.com/od/attractingwildlife/a/Bee_Plants.htm

List of bee plants
http://gardening.about.com/od/attractingwildlife/a/Bee_Plants_2.htm

Do some searches there is a ton of info out there.

I was pleased to see that a lot of my bog plants are great for the bees.

 

[Nepen]

Thanks Addy. I'm growing my flowers from seeds now too. I just saw your post about Goldenrod that it's great for bees so I just wonder what else you found that you like. I'm sure I'll spend lots of time looking at the site you posted!!
Thanks again.

 

[addy1]

Goldenrod is a great fall nectar and pollen flower, it does crystallize when the bees make it into honey. I let the mint go crazy in parts of my yard, from the end of august to late october the mint was still blooming, bees all over it.
I seeded our yard with a lot of white dutch clover, one acre of clover will make 100 lbs of honey. Also dandelions, one of the first flowers in the spring that give the bees a lot of nectar and pollen. I kill none of them.

Bee balm, sun flowers, anise hyssop ( I just put in 20 plants) tick seed, (bees all over it)

 

[addy1]

A maryland email to bee keepers

The Smart on Pesticides Campaign is gearing up for a very active 2015.
Our food supply is being threatened by alarming rates of honeybee deaths- one out of every three bites of food we eat is dependent on out honeybees. Maryland beekeepers are losing about 30% of their beehives yearly and are concerned that at this rate the bees could be gone 5 years from now! A class of pesticides - neonicotinoids (neonics) - have been confirmed to contribute to their demise.

 

[tbendl]

Most of the bee friendly plants at home depot, lowes have been treated with insecticides and actually kill the bees.

Does this eventually go away? I have plants that have been out there for 2 years now and the bees are always there visiting. I'd hate to think I'm killing them.

 

[addy1]

It is just the baby plants, the nursery grows plants with systemic insecticides so they are pretty when they hit the market. The systemic insecticide is not forever, at least yet.

 

[tbendl]

Oh YAY then. I am working on a potting table so I can start growing a lot of flowers from seed so it shouldn't be a problem moving forward. I just didn't want to be a buzz kill(er).. lol

 

[addy1]

I read that home depot is working on getting plants without the insecticide, but not lowes. I have not checked in a while to see if they did. It all depends on what nursery they get the plants from.

 

[tbendl]

I bought a ton of plants from them when I did the fence line 2 years ago. I try and buy from local nursery's now and I'd really like to grow my own it's just Lowe's is right on my way home and it lures me in... It's like a siren song... Look what you can build and grow and create....
I would join a program but then I think about steps... and I could build steps...
See what I mean.

 

[HARO]

I'd really like to grow my own
.

Be careful who you tell that to! I don't think Mississippi has legalized that yet.
John

 

[addy1]

A ton of my plants are from lowes nearly dead racks, before bees............... They have been in the ground for years now so the junk is gone. The other problem is they have made hybrids of a lot of the plants, taken away the pollen, the nectar the bees need. I bought lavender, the bees love lavender, they will not touch the two plants I put in. That is when I started reading about why.

 

[tbendl]

Be careful who you tell that to! I don't think Mississippi has legalized that yet.

That's what a neighbors yard is for right??
I will be more careful this summer and spring when buying plants. Thanks Addy!

 

[addy1]

That's what a neighbors yard is for right??
I will be more careful this summer and spring when buying plants. Thanks Addy!

Ask them if they don't know ask for the name of the grower and call them.
Even if the tag says good for bees, it might not be.

 

[Nepen]

I seeded our yard with a lot of white dutch clover, one acre of clover will make 100 lbs of honey. )

Hmm.. clover... Do you know if oxalis count too?