A Medicinal Garden for Your Bees

I made some new friends this past month and we talked a LOT about honey bees and the fact that we have to feed them.  I prefer to feed them what they naturally want....Nectar & Pollen....from a flower!!

In these discussions with my new friends, we talked about medicine for our bees.  I'm not talking about "treatments" or additives to sugar syrup.  I'm talking about herbs!!

Have you ever let basil go to flower?  Have you ever seen Rosemary flower?  If you have, you have probably also seen many pollinators either gathering the pollen or gulping down the nectar. 

So for this months blog, I'm talking HERBS!!!  They are medicinal for us humans and they are also medicinal for our bees and pollinators. 

Everyone Can and Should Grow Herbs. 

They can be in a garden bed or in a container.  The herbs that we all know and that are easy to grow are Parsley, Rosemary, Thyme, Basil and Oregano.  Mostly us humans consume the leaves, but the pollinators love when you let the herb go to flower.  So plant double.  Some for you and some for the pollinators. 

HERE ARE SOME THAT YOU MIGHT NOT THINK TO PLANT....BUT THE POLLINATORS LOVE!!

Chamomile

Nettle

Lemon Balm (Melissa)

Lemon Balm Flower

Yarrow - As you can see, many colors

Peppermint

Peppermint Flower

Comfrey

Holy Basil

Borage

Of course you can grow the usual herbs like Parsley, Rosemary, Thyme, Basil and Oregano, just let some flower for the pollinators!!  Maybe add a new one every now and then.