Mission Honey Bee Suite is dedicated to honey bees, beekeeping, wild bees, other pollinators, and pollination ecology. It is designed to be informative and fun, but also to remind readers that pollinators throughout the world are endangered. Although they may seem small and insignificant, pollinators are vital to anyone who eats.
Plants that Attract Pollinators Popular Garden Plants:
Basil (Ocimum)
Bee balm (Monardia)
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)
Borage (Borago)
Caltrop (Kallstroemia)
Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster)
English Lavendar (Lavandula)
Escallonia (Escallonia)
Globe thistle (Echinops)
Hyssop (Hyssopus)
Licorice Mint (Agastache)
Marjoram (Origanum)
Mexican sunflower (Tithonia)
Milkweed (Asclepias)
Rocky Mountain Bee Plant (Cleome)
Rosemary (Rosmarinus)
Russian Sage (Perovskia)
Sage (Salvia)
Wallflower (Erysimum)
Wild lilac (Ceanothus)
Zinnia (Zinnia)
Northwest Native Plants:
Aster (Aster)
California poppy (Eschscholzia)
Currant (Ribes)
Elder (Sambucus)
Fireweed (Epilobium)
Goldenrod (Solidago)
Joe-pye weed (Eupatorium)
Larkspur (Delphinium)
Lupine (Lupinus)
Madrone (Arbutus)
Mint (Mentha)
Oregon grape (Berberis)
Penstemon (Penstemon)
Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus)
Rhododendron (Rhododendron)
Saskatoon (Amalanchier)
Scorpion-weed (Phacelia)
Snowberry (Symphoricarpos)
Stonecrop (Sedum)
Sunflower (Helianthus)
Wild buckwheat (Eriogonum)
Willow (Salix)
Yarrow (Achillea)
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Flower fidelity makes honey bees special. While many pollinators flit from one plant species to another, honey bees doggedly pursue flowers of a certain species.
So when the new day dawns, Sue and Marianne, Betsy and Josephine grab their flight plans and wing out the front door. Sue is visiting dandelions, Marianne and Betsy [...]
I don’t know why this myth persists, but it does. Sometimes the person asks in a half-joking but tentative way, as if it might be true but they hope it’s not. Others are totally convinced it is true and want verification. Others are just curious because it’s something they heard somewhere.
This myth is [...]
The verb “to forage” means to hunt for food or to collect food. So bees that are foraging are collecting food and are referred to as foragers.
The noun “forage” refers to the food itself. Forage for bees comprises both pollen and nectar, but you could also include water since bees have to go [...]
Cross pollination—the moving of pollen from the flowers of one plant to the flowers of another—is usually accomplished by wind or animals. There are a few other vectors, including water and gravity, but wind and animals are the main ones. Many animals move pollen—including bats, birds, and butterflies—but bees of one species or another [...]
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Copyright Unless otherwise noted, all text and images used on HoneyBeeSuite.com are copyright Rusty Burlew 2010-2012 and may not be used without permission.
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