GAWMLESS END
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Gawmless Bees
Bees assure the fertility of your fruit.
Our native bumblebees are becoming rarer, with fewer species remaining in existence than half a century ago. Planting to attract bees of all sorts at once helps preserve these busy be-furred clowns of the summer garden and ensures that fruit trees and bushes are properly pollinated to achieve a good crop.
- There are links more information about bees below.
- Several different varieties of bumblebee have been noted at Gawmless End - here are some we have been able to capture on camera.
Planting for Bees
Many trees and most wild flowers will attract bees, and you can grow old-fashioned 'cottage garden' plants amongst the fruit trees. Some will have "companion" properties - i.e. they confer some other benefit on the crop plant as well, such as repelling pest species. Plants such as comfrey can be planted as a crop in themselves, as a compost heap additive, or to be cut and strewn underneath fruit trees to nourish them as they rot down.Here are some bee-attracting plants which grow well here - click on the picture to enlarge it.
 Comfrey |
 White Geranium |
 Dame's Violet |
 Flowering Currant |
 Honesty |
 |
 Welsh Poppies |
 Aquilegia |
See also our Wild Flowers and Wildlife
pages.
Here are some useful websites where you can find out more about bees:
The Natural History Museum's Entomology site
Their bumblebee pages
A good site about BUMBLEBEES
Another good BUMBLEBEE site.