# Herbs and Mints



## dragonfly (Jun 18, 2002)

What I have observed over the past 6 years is that honeybees prefer herbs and mints to anything else I have growing in the property. I've spent so much money on seeds for bee forage plants that it's ridiculous, but the mints and herbs seem to fill the bill. Anyone else have this experience?


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## MapMan (May 24, 2007)

dragonfly said:


> Anyone else have this experience?


I tend to let them have the wild peppermint (_Mentha piperita_) down near the stream edge since if I don't contain the mint by submerging just a pot of it into my garden, very soon it takes over the whole garden bed! The bees will climb all over the peppermint very soon -- it is late in blooming this year -- there is a lot of it bordering the trout stream.

MM


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## sds888 (May 26, 2008)

I am not sure whether you can consider lavender a herb but they are sold in the herb section in the store. I have planted some of it over the years and the bees were really hitting it.


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## berkshire bee (Jan 28, 2007)

I only have a few lavender plants and they seem to get more visits from the bumble bees, but I do see honey bees on them. They do seem to like thyme and other mint family plants.
If you want to plant something inexpensive, try a large patch of buckwheat. It's fairly tall and has nice white flowers and is very attractive to the honeybees. Nectar flow is in the morning. You can plant it a couple of times during the growing season.


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## BeeAware (Mar 24, 2007)

Mine love the mountain mint and catnip plants. They also work the sage in my wife's herb garden.


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## dragonfly (Jun 18, 2002)

Let's see... here, the bees like to work the lavendar, thyme, wild mint, borage (they absolutely love borage), Texas sage and regular sage, oregano, lemon balm, basil, garlic and onion flowers, catnip, and not an herb or a mint- wild milkweed flowers.


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## Hambone (Mar 17, 2008)

I live in town. And spread out humming bird mix that I got at Wal Mart. Bees worked it for about 2 weeks 3 weeks ago. But only would work one particular flower. And these were not my bees. Mine are 10 miles out in the country. These were darker in color. Must have been a feral hive. They were working them hard though. I will pull the container out and research all the flower mixes in it and let you know what flower it was.

What part of Texas do you live in Dragon?


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## berkshire bee (Jan 28, 2007)

I feel pretty lucky that all of the following grow wild either in the yard or along the other side of our street which has a river and no houses: dandelions, willow, maple, basswood, creeping charlie, sweet white clover, wild thyme, sumac, milkweed, japanese knotweed, goldenrod, crabapple. I also attract lots of bees to the buckwheat mentioned above and collards, which I've been pushing beekeepers to grow. Collards are great healthy greens steamed, in soups, and stuffed like cabbage. Second year plants are tall and look pretty scattered throughout the garden, produce yellow flowers and seed pods which you can save for planting the following year.


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

WooHoo! I'mma gonna plant me an Herb Garden!

Since the bees like the mints and other herbs so well, I'm wondering if bees that have a good supply of those to work for nectar and pollen might have less problems with varroa? ... Just a stray thought that passed thru my mind.


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## dragonfly (Jun 18, 2002)

Derek1 said:


> What part of Texas do you live in Dragon?



The nearest town is Weatherford. Just a smidgen to the west of you.


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## dragonfly (Jun 18, 2002)

RayMarler said:


> Since the bees like the mints and other herbs so well, I'm wondering if bees that have a good supply of those to work for nectar and pollen might have less problems with varroa? ... Just a stray thought that passed thru my mind.


If you had an adequate supply of thyme, mint, or flowers that have lemon extract of some kind, maybe. But I think it would take lots and lots of it to affect anything. Maybe I'm wrong.


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## Hambone (Mar 17, 2008)

dragonfly said:


> The nearest town is Weatherford. Just a smidgen to the west of you.



I go thru there alot, on my way to my deer lease in Strawn.


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

dragonfly said:


> If you had an adequate supply of thyme, mint, or flowers that have lemon extract of some kind, maybe. But I think it would take lots and lots of it to affect anything. Maybe I'm wrong.


Yes, I agree with you Dragonfly, it was just one of those random thoughts that passed thru my mind.


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## dragonfly (Jun 18, 2002)

RayMarler said:


> it was just one of those random thoughts that passed thru my mind.


Better watch that. It can be dangerous


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## dragonfly (Jun 18, 2002)

Derek1 said:


> I go thru there alot, on my way to my deer lease in Strawn.


DH was just out in Strawn a couple of weeks ago as a guest on a huge hunting ranch. It's gorgeous out there.


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