One of the most beneficial things you can do for a garden is to attract bees to your greenhouse. Here, we provide a few tips and suggestions for attracting these marvelous creatures to your greenhouse.
Include a Wide Range of Plants in Your Greenhouse
Instead of only growing one plant group such as just vegetables or flowers, try adding plants from multiple groups. A wider variety of plants will attract a wider variety of pollinators. Having a variety of plants means you will have plants blooming at different times of the year, and giving a better chance of attracting these efficient and effective pollinators.
Some bee-specific plants we recommend would be flowering vegetables, basil, bee balm, rosemary, sage, lupine, currant, lavender, catmint, sunflower, chives, snapdragon, milkweed, California poppy, etc. Bees are also drawn to wildflowers and native plants.
Provide Water and Shade
Just like any other living thing, bees need water to survive and regulate their body temperature. Adding a source of fresh water will encourage the bees to come to your greenhouse and stay more often. Bees cannot swim so be sure to add a place for the bees to land and still be able to reach the water. Your water source could be as simple as a birdbath, or more extensive depending on your preference. Ponds also work great as a water source.
Bees also require shade, especially from the harsh afternoon sun. Too much sun can be draining and will expend too much energy. Enough shade in your greenhouse will help the bees to stay in your greenhouse more often, instead of needing to stay in their hive to rest and protect from the sun.
Leave Weeds in Your Garden
Not weeding as often will help your garden, and it’s less work for you. Weeds are native plants and bees will be drawn to them. Bees start coming out in the early spring when the weeds bloom and use the weeds as their main food source. Some weeds also provide flowers, like dandelions, that are used for pollination. You wouldn’t want to let your greenhouse get overpowered with weeds, but leaving a few here and there can be more helpful than harmful.
Avoid Using Any Pesticides
Once you have bees visiting your greenhouse the last thing you would want would be to cause them harm with pesticides meant for other insects. There are many other ways besides pesticides to get rid of pests or plant diseases that won’t harm pollinators or helpful insects. Pesticides have so many harsh chemicals that many bees can be killed on the spot, but they can also cause fertility issues that last through multiple generations. Pesticides have been found harmful to humans as well causing cancer and fertility issues so it’s best to stay away from them for your health, your plants, and the wildlife’s health.
There are more eco-friendly ways and alternatives to pesticides such as Neem Oil, homemade insecticidal soaps, peppermint oil, thyme and rosemary oil, vinegar, etc. Or you can use other insects such as ladybugs that remove the plant-harming insects naturally. Bees themselves have also been found to help control pests, so do what you can to attract more and more.
We hope these tips help attract bees to your greenhouse and garden, before long you will hopefully hear the delightful sounds of busy bees buzzing in and around your greenhouse![/vc_column_text]
