ASK AN EXPERT How can I attract more bees?
WE attract bees into our yards like we welcome our friends: by offering a drink, food, or even shelter. Putting water out in a bird bath or bowl will meet an essential need for bees, and adding rocks for bees to stand on can prevent drownings.
Having just one plant with lots of colourful, fragrant, and nectar-full flowers will draw bees to your yard. Like us humans, bees need carbohydrates and proteins to stay healthy, and they get these nutrients from nectar and pollen found in flowers.
Australia-wide, the ‘big five’ for attracting bees are gum trees, bottlebrushes, grevilleas, banksias, and melaleucas/ paperbarks. Other North Queensland plants that bees love include native crepe myrtle, golden penda, barringtonias, syzigiums, and some flowering palms. Pawpaw, passionfruit, and pumpkin flowers also attract bees, as do cats whiskers, geisha girl and daisies.
If you want your garden to provide important food sources locally for bees, you can consult a guide like Habitat by A.B. Bishop, so that you provide attractive flowering plants throughout the year.
Try growing seeds dropped by flowering street trees, or try local nurseries. You can also encourage your lawn to flower for bees by holding off on mowing. Avoid spraying chemicals on your lawn and plants that are deadly to bees.
Bees often travel up to 3km to look for food and water, so they could have travelled quite a distance to check out your yard. If you want to encourage native bees to live in your yard, leave some bare ground, or leaf litter, dead wood or trees, as some native bee species naturally nest in these sites.
There are about 2000 bee species in Australia. Invite them over by meeting their needs. Happy bee watching!