Preparing for bees...Getting my gardens ready. (Zone 7b)

[big brown horse]

My next adventure is going to be bees. I have an orchard (pear, cherry and apple), I have flowering trees, an herb garden and early spring bulbs planted already. I got a beekeeper's seed kit containing phacelia, catnip, lemon mint, purple coneflower, bachelor's button, coriander/cilantro, lemon balm and borage. Do these flowering plants and trees seem to be enough? I plan on planting my seeds in bunches making at least 100 square feet of bee gardens in total.

I read that they like easy to enter old fashioned flowers, so fluffy hybrids are not ideal. Oh and a water source.

(Zone 7b is a very mild zone year round and we are a tad on the wet side.)

Anything else I need to know before I bring my girls home? (Is now even an ideal time to get bees?? I'm guessing not until my garden is in full swing.)

Thank you!
-Sally

 

[lorihadams]

Do you have the bees already? If you are purchasing bees then you can get them in the spring. We were supposed to get ours in April but the weather delayed them and we didn't get them until May.

Basil is another good one to plant, spearmint and peppermint are good too. Lavendar is another one. I also have gladiolas and they love them! The flowers you have sound good....you can check with your county extension agency and they should be able to give you an idea of what would be good and maybe even get you in touch with a local group, which I highly recommend.

I use a rubber bowl....one from TSC, filled with gravel and water so they have something to drink out of and can stand on the gravel so they don't drown. You can put a few drops of bleach in it too and they will be okay. They tend to be like the chickens, they'll drink anything.

Quail and I both have bee threads going in the everything else section if you haven't already checked them out. We are in zone 7 here as well but our native plants are different. Check with the county extension office or a local club if you can find one and they should be able to let you know what is in bloom and when for your area. They'll love the orchards!

 

[big brown horse]

Do you have the bees already? If you are purchasing bees then you can get them in the spring. We were supposed to get ours in April but the weather delayed them and we didn't get them until May.

Basil is another good one to plant, spearmint and peppermint are good too. Lavendar is another one. I also have gladiolas and they love them! The flowers you have sound good....you can check with your county extension agency and they should be able to give you an idea of what would be good and maybe even get you in touch with a local group, which I highly recommend.

I use a rubber bowl....one from TSC, filled with gravel and water so they have something to drink out of and can stand on the gravel so they don't drown. You can put a few drops of bleach in it too and they will be okay. They tend to be like the chickens, they'll drink anything.

Quail and I both have bee threads going in the everything else section if you haven't already checked them out. We are in zone 7 here as well but our native plants are different. Check with the county extension office or a local club if you can find one and they should be able to let you know what is in bloom and when for your area. They'll love the orchards!

Thank you so much! I've already got my seeds started in a sunny window. (I love gladiolas! Wonder if they will like our climate...)

Bees in the spring. Yea!

I'll go read those other threads now.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

yay beez!!! we love ours and are about to do our honey harvest



beez will fly to find food if there isnt enough in your yard - they get a lot of trees of all kinds. but we feed when the pickings are slim.

you go girl!

 

[big brown horse]

yay beez!!! we love ours and are about to do our honey harvest



beez will fly to find food if there isnt enough in your yard - they get a lot of trees of all kinds. but we feed when the pickings are slim.

you go girl!

Ok, thanks! My neighbors down the way have flowery yards too.

 

[lorihadams]

They say they will go in about a 2 mile radius to find food/water so I wouldn't worry too much about it! I give mine a water bowl close by but they have 2 ponds to choose from too and I feed them once a week. I'm spoiling them.