Wild bees in your garden is not a blog about finding a swarm up a tree. It is about encouraging these essential creatures into your garden though. And why making your garden more bee friendly is a good idea for you, the bees and the planet.
And if you already know these things,, then perhaps I can give you some inspiration for wildlife friendly gardening. A garden that suits you, your family, your pets and the wild bees.
NB If you do find a swarm of bees in your garden, keep away and ring your local beekeeper or association. They’ll send out someone who can safely deal with the bees and give them a new home (which is what the bees are looking for).
What are the different kinds of bees you might find in your garden?
There are over 250 different species of bees in the UK and some 20,000 different kinds of bees worldwide. But I’m not going to list them all for you when there are better places to look for the information! Instead, here’s a quick whizz through some of those you’re most likely to see.
Domesticated Bees (briefly)
Honey bees
There are wild honey bee populations but the most likely one you’ll find in a garden is the domesticated European honey bee, Apis mellifera. These are the ones cared for by bee-keepers. They live in managed bee hives and the honeycomb is collected by the beekeeper. This is separated, or turned into, honey and beeswax for us humans.
I am lucky enough to live within a 10 minute walk of three different beekeepers so I can enjoy local, cold pressed honey. Delicious! But more on the domesticated honey bee another time. You can find a local Beekeeper via the Beekeepers Association or checking out local group pages on social media.
Wild Bees
Would it surprise you to learn that most of those 250 + different bee species are actually wild bees? I admit I was surprised. It makes it easier for us to start recognising them if we sub-divide these into
- social bees, who live in communities, hives, and work together
- and solitary bees, who (funnily enough) live in their own nests
photo courtesy of Wild about Gardens
Social Bees
Bumblebee
Bumblebees, Bombus species, are probably the wild bee that first springs to mind when we think of bees in our gardens and parks. There are 24 species of Bumblebee in the UK and I confess I’m not able to recognise more than a handful (yet).
However, the Bumblebee identification page on the Bumblebee Conservation Trust website should help you to identify these wild bees in your garden.
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee
- White tailed Bumblebee
- Red tailed Bumblebee
- Early Bumblebee
Did you know?
A Bumblebee, even with a full stomach, is only about 40 minutes away from starvation
Like the Honey bee, the Bumblebee lives in colonies in hives. These could be in mouse holes, bird boxes and compost heaps. Don’t worry if you do find a Bumblebee nest or hive in your compost heap. They should only use it for a year and then you can use the compost. But if you’re concerned contact a local beekeeper for advice.
Solitary Bees
Did you know?
Over 90% of UK bee species are solitary bees, so you are more likely to see a solitary bee than a bumblebee in your garden.
Solitary bees do not have a hive full of worker bees to help feed the bee larvae. The queen bee looks after her ‘babies’ herself. You’ll often find solitary bee nests in close proximity to each other. The species include –
- Leafcutter Bee
- Mason Bee
- Carder Bee
- Hairy-footed Flower Bee
- Mining Bee
Of these, the three you’re most likely to see are these –
Red mason bee
Red mason bee, Osmia bicornis, Osmia rufa
With her ginger hair and horned head, the queen Red mason bee is quite distinctive. One of the early bees, March – July, the Mason bees are critical for fruit tree pollination.
Leaf cutter bee
Leaf cutter bee, Megachile willugbiella
Fond of rose leaves to use to build her nest! The plants won’t be overly damaged, and it’s worth it to know you have one of these pollinating insects in your garden. You’ll see this wild bee from May – September.
Wool carder bee
Wool carder bee, Anthidium manicatum
The distinctive yellow and black markings on this bee sometimes get it mistaken for a wasp. However, the bee’s abdomen is not striped black and yellow. You’ll see the Wool carder bee during June – August.
Did you know?
None of the solitary bees produce honey.
What they do, however, is pollinate and cross pollinate in heroic fashion! For example, it takes 120 worker honey bees to pollinate the same amount of flowers as a single red mason bee. One of the reasons for this is that they do not have pollen baskets as bumblebees do. This means than when they visit flowers they are dropping pollen, and as a result, pollinating that flower.
Garden Designer Tip
I encourage my clients to have plenty of plants for pollinators in the planting designs I create for their gardens. However, clients are sometimes concerned about bee stings and bees swarming if they have pets or small children. Solitary bees do not swarm as they do not live in colonies. They’re also even less aggressive than bumble bees and honey bees; which generally will only defend themselves rather than attack anyway.
What could you do to encourage wild bees into your garden?
You could provide food and breeding sites. Bees forage for their food, so putting out sugar isn’t helpful, but planting bee friendly plants is. And providing places for them to nest will encourage them to stay.
Plants for Wild Bees in Your Garden
The list is long, which is good. Generally speaking, the majority of plants I put into planting schemes are pollinator friendly. Yes, I did say majority not all, for good reasons: –
- the plants might be gymnosperms, ie non-flowering plants, such as conifers.
- or they may be toxic for bees, such as the Lime tree, Tillia. (I’ll return to this subject in another blog).
- the flower shape may not suit any pollinator – some of the fancy, double flowered plants provide little or no nectar but may be included for purely decorative reasons.
Unless I’m designing a purely native species and naturalised species planting plan, I do include non-natives. Not all non-natives are bad for our wild bees. For example, shrubs with single flowers that bloom over the winter months and in early spring are extremely useful in providing a food source.
Just ensure that what you are growing to encourage wild bees into your garden is good for them. Be aware! You might buy plants labelled as bee friendly or pollinator friendly, but they may have been sprayed with insecticides and fungicides. This can still be an issue and the garden centre or plant nursery will be happy to reassure you when the plants they are promoting as good for pollinators haven’t been treated in this way by them.
But back to the good plants for wild bees. What should you bear in mind when choosing flowering plants?
- Simple flower shapes, such as single blooms and open flowers
- Have flowering plants all year round if you can
- Choose pollen and nectar rich species
- Plant a range of flowering plant species as different bees like different types of flower
Check out the blog suggestions below for planting inspiration and do get in touch if Plews can help with designs to suit you, your family, your garden and the wild bees. And here are a few pics of some bee friendly flowering plants
Nesting sites for Wild Bees in Your Garden
Providing artificial nest sites for bumble bees does not seem to be as effective as for solitary bees. That is, unless you leave rolls of old carpet or a broken lawnmower in a pile waiting to be disposed of. Then the bees will move in just when you’re ready to have a clear out!
However, solitary bees can most definitely be helped with artificial breeding habitats. Luckily theses can be relatively simple. Different types of bee like different sorts of nesting sites, so you may wish to offer a selection. For example: –
- Drilling holes in to fence posts
- Sections of bamboo canes placed together, lain on their sides and put into a plastic bottle with the top cut off
- A wooden block drilled with different sized holes
- Leave some loose mortar in a garden wall rather than repairing it (this one is for masonry bees)
- And of course there are a range of shop bought bee houses, some more suitable than others
And finally
Hopefully, this wild bees in your garden has enlightened you as to the different bees visiting your garden and suggested ways for you to encourage them. And if you’d like Plews is here to help with conservation and wildlife gardening advice and garden designs do please get in touch to ask about our design and consultancy services. We also offer bespoke Gardening Lessons and Courses there’s a pdf info download link below
For general gardening advice and inspiration, ideas for bee friendly gardens and more, check out Plews Potting Shed blogs, including the selection below and our monthly Tipsheet You could come and find us on Instagram Pinterest and Facebook
And on that note, you can have a peek at my new garden on Instagram @spitfiresandslowworms and for those of you who prefer Facebook – Spitfires and Slow Worms
Did you know?
Wild bees are found everywhere in the world, except in the continent of Antarctica.
Related Gardening articles you may enjoy from our Award Winning Blog
Why Do Bees Like Purple Flowers?
Wild about Gardens – Design Ideas for Humans and Wildlife
Bees Needs, National Pollinator Week and Your Garden
Spring, Summer and Autumn Planting Ideas
10 Purple flowers for Wild Bees
9 Blue Hardy Annual Flowers for Bees
Summer Gardens, Ten Herbaceous Perennials for Pollinating Insects
Winter Planting Ideas
Scented Shrubs for Christmas Morning
Chimonanthus praecox – Wintersweet
Ten Winter Flowering Shrubs – Planting Ideas for your Garden
Gardening Courses and Lessons
What might a Plews Gardening Lesson be Like?
Plews Gardening Lessons Information
The UK National Pollinator Strategy, launched in 2014, is a 10-year plan to protect all the UK pollinators. Now we’re in 2024, a report will be generated, hopefully giving us some positive feedback. A similar blog about wild bees in your garden was first published during the 2017 Wild About Gardens Week. Wild about Bees was part of their ongoing joint initiative, Wild About Gardens.
