"clarissa" expounded:

Hi to all gardeners Does anyone have any suggestions on how to entice bees
to increase their numbers? What flowers do they particularly like? Do
those little bee houses actually work? I no longer use insecticides -
except on rare occasions when a prized plant is about to succumb - and then
only such specific things as bacillus thuringensis for caterpillers and
spray only that particular spot where the nasties are. Could even this small
amount of spray be too much for the bees? I even dug up all the roses that
seemed to have black spot all the time. I have a lot of flowers in summer
and despite being in my garden everyday for a couple of hours, I only see
about 5 bees a summer. Can home gardens help bees in some way or has the
problem originated in some area other than than residential yards? Thanks
for any suggestions
Clarissa Vancouver BC

Here is a list a friend and I built to post on Beemaster.com, a
beekeeping forum. Since not all were gardeners, we specified what
type of plant they we

Many on the list are herb, many others are annuals. None of these are
at nurseries yet, I'm sure. Wait a month and there will be plenty
there! Also, some of them are more common on the west coast than they
are around here (east coast).

I'll outline them below:

Annual Flower-Centaurea Blue Boy Bachelors Button -- Bees and hover
flies love
Annual Herb-Borage officinalis -- Bees love it, cousin to comfrey, not
affected by rain because of drooping blue flowers
Perennial Herb-Agastache (Anise Hyssop) -- loved by bees
Perennial Herb -Comfrey -- Bees love it
Annual (??)Flower-Centaurea Dwarf polkdot mix Bachelors Button -- Bees
and hoverflies love it
Annual Flower -Consolida (larkspur) Consolida ambigua -- attracts
beneficials
Perennial Herb -Eryngium planum Sea holly -- Bees are mad about this
variety
Perennial Herb- Thyme T. Vulgaris -- a good honey plant for bees
(thymus vulgaris)
Perennial Herb - Fireweed -- excellent honey, bees love it (west coast
plant)
*Annual vine -Canary Creeper T. peregrinum -- bees love it, late late
pollen plant (related to nasturtium)
Annual Flower - Cosmos -- valuable for late nectar source
Annual Flower - Phacelia tanacetifolia (Purple Tansy) -- attracts bee
from miles
Annual Flower -Poppy giganthemum p. somniferum poppyseed poppy
Annual Flower -California poppy "Apricot chiffon"eschscholzia
californica -- bees love it
Perennial Herb -Catnip Nepeta Cataria -- a good bee plant
Perennial Herb -Lemon Balm Melissa officinanlis -- Perennial, bees
love it
Perennial Herb -Hyssop Hyssopus officinalis Perennial, -- bees,
hoverflies
Perennial Herb -Lovage Levisticum officinale -- bees love it (so do I,
it's great in potato salad!)
Perennial Herb -Spearmint Mentha spicata blooms late summer, --- bees,
hummingbirds
*Annual Flower -Helipterum (Acroclinium) helipterum roseum Sensation
Giants Mix
Yellow rocket
*Annual Flower -Impatiens capensis grows wild around my house, great
for late nectar/pollen, lasts til frost-kill (Jewelweed, wild just
about everywhere there's woodlands and water)
Perennial Flower -Great Blue Lobelia L. siphilitica perennial, dappled
light, self-sows, flowers summer through autumn
Perennial Flower-Salvia Violet Queen S nemorosa -- particularly
attractive to butterflies & bees Flowers 2nd year
*Annual Flower -Crimson clover Trifolium incarnatum outstanding cut
flowers, -- annual, bees love it
*Annual Flower -Buckwheat Fagopyrum esculentum -- bees love it, turn
under 10 days after flowering to avoid seed drop
*Perennial - White Dutch Clover Trifolium repens -- all beneficial
insects

* = not likely to find in nursery, however, seeds are available

http://nature.berkeley.edu/urbanbeegardens/list.html an excellent
listing of bee plants by season, somewhat California oriented but many
applicable plants can be found for New England.

--
Ann, gardening in Zone 6a
South of Boston, Massachusetts
e-mail address is not checked
******************************