# Do honey bees like Snow drops and snow flakes



## Shelleyanne (Jan 23, 2014)

I have a lovely garden of spring flowers, mainly daffodils, which I don't see my bees on. I am wanting to plant more bee friendly bulbs for spring and heard that snow flakes and snow drops are liked by bees. I recently got alot of plants of snow flakes(Leucojum) but havn't yet seen bees on it. So I thought I'd try some snowdrops(Galanthus) Do they like snow drops or snow flakes? Any experience anyone?


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## Chemguy (Nov 26, 2012)

I have not seen honeybees on my snowdrops, though I have only been keeping for a year. I don't tend to see honeybees in my flower garden at all, but I do see them in my herb and vegetable gardens. This summer they have enjoyed lavender, mint, oregano and basil. I also saw them on the cucumbers and beans in our vegetable garden, which surprised me. Perhaps it had something to do with the timing of our flow. I think that the preference of herbs over flowers is the size of the blooms; most kept flowers have larger blooms, while the herbs and vegetables have smaller florets that are more densely spaced.


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## spieker (Jun 26, 2009)

My bees love snow drops. However, they bloom only about a week or two.


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## ruthiesbees (Aug 27, 2013)

but they bloom when not much else is blooming, so they can be important. If you have room, I'd recommend a Mahonia shrub. December and January, my bees were all over it. If you are not warm enough for it to bloom then, it will be February.


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## GaryG74 (Apr 9, 2014)

Had bees on my snowdrops as soon as they bloomed (in February if I remember right). Most of the bees I saw on daffodils this past spring were on the older antique varieties like you see around old home places. Most of my antique varieties bloom early, starting in February right after the snowdrops. Witch hazel is an early bloomer also.


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## Shelleyanne (Jan 23, 2014)

I might try some of the older varieties of daffodils then with my snow drops.


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## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

Usually here Snowdrops come and go before bees are flying. On the rare occasions the two things happen at once, bees visit them. Hard to imagine a patch big enough to do much good. Crocus are usually the first thing mine get into.


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## Shelleyanne (Jan 23, 2014)

In New Zealand, the bees are flying all winter as long as the day is good so I think the snowdrops will be a good addidtion to my spring bulbs.


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## TWall (May 19, 2010)

Honeybees hit crocus pretty hard. Of all the spring bulbs crocus are utilized the most.

Tom


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