# Plant to support bumble bees?



## moussy (4 mo ago)

I had forgotten about the xerces society. I'll add the link to the article as it contains plant lists for all regions.



https://xerces.org/sites/default/files/2018-05/12-028_01_XercesSoc_Conserving-Bumble-Bees-Guidelines_web.pdf


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## Kuro (Jun 18, 2015)

Honey bees have shorter tongues than bumble bees, so flowers which nectary is located very deep inside tend to attract bumbles rather than honey bees (e.g. red clover _Trifolium pratense_). But there probably are many factors other than the tongue length; for example, I seldom find bumble bees on Canada thistle.

Anyway, the following plants tend to attract bumble bees more often than honey bees in my neighborhood.

[In alphabetical order. Some of them may not grow in your area]

bee balm, black locust, bleeding-heart, bugleweed, butterfly bush, chokeberry, columbine, crocosmia, dame’s rocket, delphinium, fava bean, foxglove, heath/heather, hedge nettle, lavender, lemon balm, lithodora, lupine, rhododendron, salvia, sea holly, sweet pea, tomato, valerian, wild rose.


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## GregB (Dec 26, 2017)

moussy said:


> zone 5 Southeast WI


If truly concerned for the bumble bees - focus on the plants that support the lone bumble bee queens in early spring.
This is the most critical time in the life cycle of these bees as the queen alone has to pull it off as she starts a colony.

Here in Southcentral WI, my most valuable bumble bee perennial plants are *Canadian Haskap and Black Currants (compact shrubs).*
These I grow for the berries, but the bushes provide excellent forage for early spring bumble bees - so it works both ways.
Another great early forage is *Creeping Charlie* (noxious perennial weed that bumble bees greatly appreciate).
Also the *fruit trees* of any kind - which can be very compact and ornamental at the same time.
These plants above work great in April/May.

In June, my *Privet *hedges are loaded with bumble bees too.
And the *Raspberry *patch.
And the *White Clover* lawn.

These are less than popular (and hardly documented), but otherwise excellent forage perennials - compact enough for a raised bed.
Later in the season, there are plenty of choices and those are better documented.


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## GregB (Dec 26, 2017)

moussy said:


> I am putting 2 hives on my property this spring and am worried about adding too much forage competition for the bumble bees and other native pollinators.


Your two hives on the property will hardly compete with your local (to your property) pollinators.
It is a non-issue.


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## G3farms (Jun 13, 2009)

bumbles will also pull nectar from honey suckle, they will bite a hole at the base of the bloom and suck out the nectar, have seen it plenty of times.


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## AR1 (Feb 5, 2017)

Bee balm is a good one. Blooms for a long season, and not just bumbles, but also a wide variety of moths and butterflies and hummingbirds love it. Honey bees only occasionally visit. I have seen several different varieties of bumbles at the same time, huge black ones, tiny ones, yellow ones.

Melons and pumpkins and squash. Bumbles love these, and they bloom for a long season. Honeybees also visit frequently, but so what?

Only a short bloom season, but bumbles love Hasta flowers. Hummingbirds too.

Sunflowers. Get the ones with multiple smaller flowers and they bloom right up to the frost.


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## Wil-7 (Sep 4, 2021)

GregB said:


> If truly concerned for the bumble bees - focus on the plants that support the lone bumble bee queens in early spring.
> This is the most critical time in the life cycle of these bees as the queen alone has to pull it off as she starts a colony.
> 
> Here in Southcentral WI, my most valuable bumble bee perennial plants are *Canadian Haskap and Black Currants (compact shrubs).*
> ...


I'll have to keep my eyes open now. I have Creeping Charlie taking over my yard. So now, I see it as a good thing.


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## Outdoor N8 (Aug 7, 2015)

I have a large, ground level, bed (3'x15') of Blue Plumbago at my house, the honey bees will work it in the morning and various kinds of Bumbus work it all afternoon.
As Kuro already pointed out, Apis and Bumbus have different proboscis lengths, they don't compete as much as people want you to believe. Two years ago, a Bumble queen selected my queen raising yard for her nest site, and that colony became quite large.


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## Snarge (May 4, 2015)

moussy said:


> I have some mildly invasive, decorative grasses with zero-pollinator benefit on the south side of my house in a 3-4' deep x 18'bed. I plan to take them out this coming spring and would like to plant 1-2 perennial species (zone 5 Southeast WI) that support the native bee population.


Hi moussy 

I would design it this way to attract bumble bees, butterflies and sphinx moths. These plants are all drought tolerant and would enjoy being south-facing.

• Anchor the bed with some 2 x 2 dwarf butterfly bushes. They have huge panicles of flowers (pink or purple or white) for months, from July through September. Bumble bees adore them and they actually have a slight honey fragrance.

• Staggered between the above you could dot some sedums. There are many varieties, one of the classics being Autumn Joy. These will come into full bloom after the butterfly bushes and will be absolutely covered with different pollinators.

• As winter wears on it’s nice to see some early bulbs rear their stunning heads; these may include crocus and snowdrops. (I have ordered many types of snowdrops from Carolyn’s Shade Garden online, and crocus will often appear in small pots in Walmart garden centers in early spring.)

• For fun you could seed a few lemon queen sunflower seeds towards the back of the bed after it warms up. These flower heads can be so large and will accommodate dozens of pollinators~all at the same time.

• There are some smaller varieties of catmint, too, that could be low-growers around the front, and side edges, that bumbles love.

Send pictures next year!


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