BLOOMS FOR BEES

QMy husband and I would like to make our garden more bee-friendly ahead of the winter months – which plants would be most beneficial? Cathy Levenson, Cheshire

ABees are invaluable to our planet’s ecosystems, but due to loss of habitat, climate change, pesticides and disease, in the past 20 years honeybee colonies have fallen by half. By inviting bees into your garden, you’ll be providing an important refuge, as well as a site for nesting and hibernation.

Grow a range of plants with a continuous succession of pollen and nectar-rich flowers year-round – those that flower early and late in the season are very valuable. Bees tend to favour blue, purple, violet and white flowers, grown in large clumps in a sunny, sheltered spot.

Bumblebee queens emerge from hibernation in mid-March, and flowers such as pulmonaria, crocus and primrose species are ideal for them to feast on. There’s often an early summer gap in flowers – bridge it with digitalis, roses and hardy geraniums.

New queens need to build energy for hibernation in late summer and autumn, so provide them with buddleja, sedum and aster species. In milder regions and urban areas, winter-flowering mahonia, hellebores and Erica carnea can provide food.

Don’t forget trees – five would provide a similar amount of pollen and nectar as an acre of meadow. Choose winter and early spring-flowering cherries, willow and common alder.

Look out for plants with the Royal Horticultural Society Plants for Pollinators symbol. A full list can be found at rhs.org.uk.

Finally, an insect house will offer a nesting site for solitary bees and insects, and try to provide a bowl of water filled with pebbles, glass beads or marbles so bees can drink without risk of drowning.