Bee-Friendly Spaces

In general, bee friendly spaces can be created by paying careful attention to products used on plants, and the plants chosen for your Garden. While some chemicals can be very effective in eliminating fungus and disease, bees can also be damaged in the crossfire. In general, bees are attracted to flowers and will visit a Garden with more flowers. This can be used to a gardener's advantage by carefully mixing various sweet-smelling flowers among the the different beds.

In order to not harm bees, a gardener must be very careful about the chemicals applied to plants. In particular, fungicides have chemicals within them that are very toxic to bees. Any flowers with a particular fungicide on it will actually kill bees that try to pollinate it. Some studies have actually shown bees avoiding flowers that have been sprayed with fungicide. Because flowers and bees have a symbiotic relationship this is also harmful to the flower because it has fewer pollinators to help it spread.

This week we released lady bugs into our garden as a natural way to help reduce the pest population. First we wet our garden, in particular the leaves before releasing a large number of the red and black bugs onto them. It was a great experience, and I am excited to hopefully try the practice one day in my own garden.

I attended class

 but couldn't take a picture without my phone. These ladybugs are available

 for home gardeners to purchase here.