How to make your garden attractive to bumblebees

You may be surprised, but the first pollinating jobs are not done by hard-working bees, but by bumblebees. This is because they fly out of their nests even when the temperature is around 3 °C, while bees cannot even “get up” until the temperature is between 12 and 13 °C.

Bees tend to fly to one preferred location, but bumblebees often change their destination and can pollinate far away fruit trees and flowers. They love gardens or orchards, but is there any trick to attract them to your garden?

Bumblebees love shrubs that bloom in early spring

As soon as bumblebees wake up they start looking for food. As soon as they find suitable places they fly there and tend to return . To make your garden attractive to them, plant trees that bloom really early. For example, hazel, cornel tree, some witch-hazels or willows. It is better to have more than one species because some bumblebees can be really picky.

Photo: Pixabay

Give them suitable nesting place

Unlike bees, bumblebees do not need much. With a bit of exaggeration, any hole in the ground will do. However, approximately half of bumblebee species that live in our territory love special beehives. You can try a pile of rocks, a pile of wood, or even an old mouse hole is fine. If that does not work, head to the store to buy a bumblebee house.

Place your bumblebee house so that the entrance faces south or east. And when should you put them out? You can put them out now, but definitely when you see large female bumblebees in your garden searching and searching. They do not fly from flower to flower, but clearly looking for “something” and keep entering weird places.

You don’t need to be afraid of them. Bumblebees only attack if you disturb the immediate surroundings of their house. But yes they can also sting and unlike bees, they can do so repeatedly. The good news is that their venom will not harm you if you are not allergic.

Preview photo: Pixabay