About Me

Improving Your Home Landscaping

Few things are more frustrating than a messy front yard. In addition to disrupting your curb appeal, overgrown, messy landscaping can also harbor pests and make it look like you don't care about your property. Fortunately, tidying up your yard doesn't have to be difficult. I have spent years learning more about landscaping, and this blog is all about how to become a landscaping enthusiast. Check out these articles about fun topics like planting flowers, perfecting pruned trees, and decorating your yard with whimsical additions. After you know more about landscaping, your yard might become the talk of the town.

Improving Your Home Landscaping

Creating A Great Environment For Bees

by Bill Kuhn

Bee populations were declining at a rapid rate recently. Luckily, with more and more people stepping up to help increase populations, bees are no longer in danger of becoming a thing of the past. That doesn't mean the work is done, though. Learn how you can contribute by utilizing local landscaping services next season. 

Climate

Bees can survive in just about any climate but the polar regions. However, bees work best in temperature between 57 degrees and 100 degrees. Different bees may be more accustomed to different climates. Research the bees that live in your environment. 

Where?

Bees require water, so planting your plants near a small pond work very well. If there is no natural water source nearby, you can place a water trough or leave a hose dripping. 

When?

Start growing your colony in the early spring when the season is just getting started. 

How many?

You want to have about 45,000 adult bees and plenty of babies. 

Why?

There are a number of reasons why bees are important members of our ecosystem and should be preserved:

  • Bees produce 50 or more pounds of honey per hive.It's enough for you to eat and sell if you choose. Honey was a 317.1 million dollar industry in 2013. 
  • Bees pollinate flowers and other plants up to four miles away. This is extremely valuable to farmers, gardeners, and people that love to eat vegetables and enjoy flowers and other plants. It's estimated that bees provide up to 19 billion dollars worth of pollination services a year. 
  • Bees act as food for a variety of different plants and animals. 

What type of bees?

There are over 25,000 species of bees. The American Golden Italian Honeybee is a popular choice because it produces a large amount of honey, and they can withstand the winter well. 

Food

Bees require flowers and other plants in order to survive. There are plenty of flowers and trees that you can plant to attract bees and keep them well fed. Remember to avoid any fertilizers or pesticides with chemicals that might harm the bees. 

Flowers:

  • Bee balm
  • Blackeyed Susan
  • Butterfly bush
  • Butterfly weed
  • Catmint
  • Cranesbills
  • Crocus
  • Fennel
  • Goldenrod
  • Joe-pye weed
  • Lavender
  • Purple coneflower
  • Roses
  • Snowdrops
  • Stonecrop

Trees:

  • American basswood
  • Crabapple
  • Locust
  • Redbud
  • Serviceberry
  • Sourwood
  • Southern Magnolia
  • Tulip Tree

Preservation

Bees feed off of the honey throughout the winter, so it's important to keep enough honey in the hive for the bees to survive. Furthermore, check on the hives regularly to ensure that the bees are healthy and producing honey. 

Contact a company like mckeesenvorinmentalservicesinc.net for more information and assistance. 

Share