fact is , the bees are in danger ( 30 40% of hives are wiped out in Europe), not in the city where the hives are doing rather well and where we harvest honey an excellent but in the countryside, because of the insecticides used extensively for pest plants cultured parasites (as Varroa) and the scarcity of plant species for their survival. Their pollination action is nevertheless vital to agriculture and thus our livelihood. Faced with this catastrophe, it is heartening that a modest garden allows these valuable aids to survive the winter. My garden is free of pesticides and insecticides for many years and the presence of bees (but bumblebees and hoverflies in summer) is a little reward.
last two or three days, mild weather and sunny woke the bees and they begin foraging frantically flowering plants in the garden. Those plants whose flowers bloom between November and April are all very easy to grow in most regions of France and their flowers, scented or not, are rich in pollen. After watching, here are the ones who are most visited by bees in the winter. This confirms that life gradually revived in the garden and the sunny days are not so far away now.
The Christmas rose, even flourished, and Oriental hellebores that are at their peak in March.
The winter honeysuckle, which begins to bloom (its sweet, powerful fragrance is noticeable even for us on several meters per round) seems their preferred source of nectar. A real pleasure to see so many activated.
The Bodnant viburnum
The heather Winter
Curiously, though they despise the flowers scented of jasmine chimonanthe and those of winter. I acknowledge that I have planted all these plants first for their beauty and to brighten the garden in winter but now I am glad that it favors the presence of bees , but a small gesture to reach of all gardeners.
© My Planet Garden, 02/2011
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