Plants For Beekeepers
Bees are the most important pollinators of food crops in the world. Native bees, such as bumble bees, carder and mountain bees are most effective, while the honeybee is a source not only of pollination, but of honey, wax and a wide range of medicinal and cosmetic products.
It’s not surprising that so many people who love gardens and flowers love bees. Many, like ourselves, are beekeepers.
(Here is a picture of the day our bees arrived unnannounced in the garden, and deigned to enter the hive we prepared for them. The Queen is the one in the middle, slightly to the left.)
And many “plants with purpose” are specially attractive to bees. Grow some of the plants on this list, whether you want to enjoy the soothing buzz of bees in your garden, give a boost to native bumblebees, or add to the diet of your own honeybees!
| Common Name |
Latin Name |
Type |
| Bee Balm |
Monarda didyma |
Tall perennial from North America, with spires of flowers usually in shades of red and pink. Related and equally useful are Horsemint (M. fistulosa) and Yellow Horsemint (M. punctata) |
| Catmints |
Nepeta spp |
Perennials; the true catmint beloved of cats is N. cataria. Bees also love the Blue Catmint (N. mussinii) and the tall, shrubby, lemony N. govananii |
| Comfrey |
Symphytum officinale |
Invasive perennial, with attractive, edible foliage and bell-like pink or cream flowers, a must for bumblebees |
| Cone Flower |
Echinacea |
Splendid prairie perennial, with showy, daisy-like purple flowers on tall stems, also medicinal |
| Globe Thistle |
Echinops ritro |
The round metallic thistle-like flowers of this tall perennial are a magnet for all species of bees |
Hemp Agrimony |
Eupatorium cannabinum |
Fluffy mauve flowerheads; a tall perennial. Even taller and equally attractive to bees is Jo-pye weed (E. purpureum) |
| Hyssop |
Hyssopus officinalis |
A small shrub, bearing spikes of intense blue flowers, also available in pink or white - bees seem to really like the blue |
| Jacob’s Ladder |
Polemonium caeruleum |
Early perennial l, blue and white flowered varieties |
| Lavender |
Lavandula |
All varieties of this popular shrub bring bees murmering contentedly into the garden |
| Lemon Balm |
Melissa officinalis |
Perennial. Melissa is Latin for honey, and it is said that lemon balm rubbed on the hive will keep bees together and content, reducing the swarming impulse. |
| Lungwort |
Pulmonaria officinalis |
Very early flowering, with tubular blue and pink flowers, perfect for early hive foragers or queen bumbles waking after hibernation. Perennial |
| Marjoram |
Oreganum vulgare |
Perennial aromatic with pink or white flowers, bearing nectar over a long period in summer and autumn |
| Meadowsweet |
Filipendula ulmaria |
Perennial, bearing white flowers in early summer. A useful honey plant for that sometimes difficult season |
| Mints |
Mentha spp. |
Gloriously invasive perennials, all of which are the best news a beekeeper, or a bee, can have. |
| Orpine |
Sedum telephiem |
This rarely grown native perennial is closely related to the ice-plant. Shaggy pink flowerheads |
| Rosemary |
Rosmarinus officinalis |
Shrub, eventually becoming covered with purple-blue flowers immensely useful for bees of all species |
| Sage |
Salvia officinalis |
Shrubby perennial, with showy spires of flowers. All perennial Salvias are good for bees, inc. S. apiana (obviously) and S. sclarea (clary Sage), but not the red bedding sorts |
| Thyme |
Thymus spp. |
Thymes are small, usually spreading, sometimes bushy shrubs. Bees love all of them, but especially the highly floriferous T. serpyllum cultivars such as Bressingham Pink or Russettings. |
| Also recommended: Agastache, Allium schoenopraesum, Centranthus ruber, Dipsacus, Geranium pratense, Lythrum salicaria, Perovskia, Stachys officinalis, Verbena, Valeriana. |
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