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.

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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)

Hive five: equipment to improve summer ventilation

Summer is coming to a close even though it was nearly a “non-summer” here on the Pacific Northwest coast. The corn hasn’t tasseled; the peaches look like walnuts. Nevertheless, my bees are healthy and I had a good honey harvest–much better than expected. My honey was capped and my hives are dry inside. What [...]

What size hardware cloth is best for beehives?

If you are building or repairing your own bee “furniture” you will find there are many sizes of hardware cloth available. Usually, the ones you need are the hardest to find.

Here in the States, hardware cloth is numbered according to how many squares fit in a linear inch. So #5 has five squares [...]

Measuring the bone pile: death in the hive

Yesterday I pulled the screened bottom board out of my top bar hive and dumped it. What seemed like an incredible number of moldy bees mixed with pollen and comb dropped heavily to the ground. It made a wet thud, like a saturated mop hitting the deck.

Cleaning the unappetizing stew of deadlings off [...]

Bees benefit from an energy conservation professional

Late on the second evening of the recent cold snap I checked the outside temperature. It was 15° F, and I was very glad I had taken the nucs into the garden shed where it was about 44°. My husband asked me if the nucs had enough ventilation, and I said, yes, each nuc [...]

Ventilation in a hot & humid climate

Yesterday a reader from Florida asked for specific instructions on how to keep a hive well ventilated in a hot and humid climate. This is a good question. Although colonies can usually survive hot and humid conditions, they will produce more honey and be less stressed if they don’t have to spend all their [...]

Little mites signal that big mites will follow

This photograph was sent in by a reader. The white surface is known as a sticky board, white board, or Varroa drawer. It’s the board that goes under a screened bottom and is used to monitor mite drop from the hive.

The two leggy little tan critters near the bottom are immature Varroa mites. [...]