Top 10 Plants to Attract Specialist Bees to Your Garden

TAG: Wildlife Gardening by Christina

Buzzworthy Blooms: Top 10 Plants to Attract Specialist Bees to Your Garden

Want to make your garden a haven for bees? While many bees happily forage on a variety of flowers, some are specialists, relying on specific plants for survival.  These specialist bees are often rare and particularly vulnerable, so supporting them is crucial.  By planting the right flowers, you can create a buzzing ecosystem right in your back garden!

Here are ten fantastic plants to attract specialist bees and boost biodiversity in your garden:

1.  Bellflowers (Campanula species):

These charming flowers are a magnet for the gold-tailed melitta (also known as the bellflower blunthorn bee) and the small scissor bee.  Native bellflowers like Campanula rotundifolia (common harebell), C.  glomerata (clustered bellflowers), C.  trachelium (nettle-leaved bellflower) are particularly favoured, though they'll also visit non-native varieties.

  • Bellflower Blunthorn Bee: Look for a medium-sized bee with a dark body, yellow-orange leg hairs, and a distinct orange tip on its abdomen.

    • 2.  Yellow Loosestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris):

    The aptly named yellow-loosestrife bee depends on this plant for both pollen and floral oils, which females use to waterproof their nests.  Plant some yellow loosestrife, and these medium-sized dark bees with swollen back legs (especially prominent in females) might just pay you a visit.

    3.  Willows (Salix species):

    Willow catkins are a vital early source of nectar and pollen, attracting several specialist bees, including Clarke's mining bee, the small and large sallow mining bees, the northern mining bee, and the early colletes.  Goat willow (Salix caprea) and grey willow (Salix cinerea) are excellent choices.

  • Clarke's Mining Bee: Females are slightly larger than honeybees with a furry reddish-orange thorax.  Males are less distinctive, with a less densely haired orange thorax.

    • 4.  Lamb's Ear (Stachys byzantina):

    This nectar-rich plant is a favourite of many bees, especially the striking wool-carder bee.  Females use the plant's soft leaf fibres to line their nests, while males fiercely defend territories containing lamb's ear.

  • Wool-Carder Bee: This relatively large, robust bee has a dark body with clear lines of yellow spots down its abdomen.

    • 5.  Ivy (Hedera species):

    Ivy provides a late-season feast for the ivy bee, which times its emergence to coincide with ivy's flowering.  This honeybee-sized bee with an orange thorax and yellow and black stripes is typically active in autumn.

    6.  Scabiouses (Knautia, Scabiosa, and Succisa species):

    The small and large scabious mining bees are specialists on these flowers.  Field scabious (Knautia arvensis), small scabious (Scabiosa columbaria), and devil's-bit scabious (Succisa pratensis) are all excellent options. 

  • Small Scabious Mining Bee: This relatively small bee has a black thorax.  Females often have a dull reddish abdomen.

    • 7.  Magnonette (Reseda species):

    Mignonettes are particularly attractive to yellow-face bees, which have a unique way of carrying pollen.  The large yellow-face bee (also known as the mignonette yellow-face bee) is strongly associated with base rocket and yellow mignonette.

  • Mignonette Yellow-Face Bee: This fairly small black bee (larger than other yellow-face bees) has a pale yellow face (males) and black legs (both sexes).

    • 8.  Dandelions and Relatives (Taraxacum officinale agg.  and others):

    Don't be too quick to weed out these "common" flowers! Dandelions and their relatives (like cat's ear, hawkbit, and hawkweed) are valuable food sources for various bees, including the pantaloon bee, small and large shaggy bees, and the hawksbeard mining bee.

  • Large Shaggy Bee: This medium-sized, shiny black bee has sparse body hairs and distinctive yellow pollen brushes on the female's legs.

    • 9.  Buttercups (Ranunculus species):

    While not as popular with bees as some other flowers, buttercups are the preferred food of the large scissor bee (or sleepy carpenter bee).  This long, thin bee with a dark body and pale abdominal bands can often be found resting in the centre of buttercups.

  • Large Scissor Bee: The female has a distinctive box-shaped head.

    • 10.  White Bryony (Bryonia dioica):

    This native climber attracts the bryony mining bee, a specialist that only collects pollen from Bryonia species.  This honeybee-sized bee has a dull orange-brown thorax and an abdomen with two reddish bands.

    By incorporating these plants into your garden, you'll not only create a beautiful and vibrant space but also play a vital role in supporting specialist bee populations and the overall health of your local ecosystem.

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