Many people enjoy gardening and maintaining flower beds. The flowers add color to your home and yard, and the outdoor activity is invigorating to many. However, most people are not pleased when they look into their garden area or flower beds and see it swarming with dangerous Africanized honey bees.
While bees are nature’s way of pollinating plants, excessive amounts of bees in any area that is not a specific hive can be dangerous. A swarm of bees can harm someone even if they are not allergic to the stings, and for those who are allergic, one simple sting can be deadly to you or your pets.
To even out the balance between necessary pollination and keeping your flower beds and gardens nearly bee free, gardeners need to be creative with their planting.
Choose Plants Wisely – Some Are More Attractive To Bees
Wildflower gardens have become very popular. These gardens are meant to be beautiful and attract butterflies. Many people love to spread them out over large areas as a way to add beauty to an area that otherwise has a hard time growing other flowers. These wonderful plants do everything they claim to do. They will grow quickly, add lots of color to your yard, and attract butterflies. They will also attract bees.
Bees love wildflowers because most of them have a lot of nectar. Bees can return often to the same flowers to get their fill and return to their hive with food. Bees also love large areas of the same type of flower. It makes them feel “comfortable” in a large patch of the same type of plants. This s why you will see many bees in fields , groves and orchards.
Another bee attractant is shallow water sources. Not many people realize that when they place a bird bath in their flower garden, they are also creating a place for bees to stop for a drink.
Bees are also attracted to vegetable flowers or that of fruit and berries. If you are going to grow these types of plants, it is best to spread them out some to make it less convenient for too many bees to gather. However, you do not want to get rid of all the bees around these plants because they will not produce fruit or berries without being pollinated.
Are There Plants That Are Less Likely To Attract Bees?
Bees are attracted to all plants. Nectar in the flowers is what provides them food and helps with pollination. All plants need bees to perform this service.
However, planting methods and choosing flowers that do not have strong odors will help you cut down on the amount of bees that enter into your yard. It is also very important that you mix your flower beds and vegetable gardens up so that bees do not develop a comfort zone.
To keep bees from being attracted to your garden area you should also keep weeds under control. Clover, milk weed, dandelion, and goldenrod grow wild everywhere, and bees love their nectar.
If bees are taking over your yard and you cannot control them by changing your plants and planting methods, you should seek professional bee removal. Bee removal can be very dangerous and should only be attempted by someone with experience.