NO Bees.. for garden

[pinkwindsong]

hi everyone..
Im getting a bit concerned I am getting blossoms on my zucs and cuc;s but I a have -0- bees for pollinations.. what am i gonna do I have a huge garden planted and no bees.. how do i pollinate all these plants.. I have like 20 tomato plants.. ahhhh
help ... send ideas on how to attract bees or pollinate by hand...

Pink

 

[Matt A NC]

Some folks will put marigolds in around their plants. The more visible flowers attract bees and other pollinators.

Matt

 

[mom'sfolly]

You can use a paint brush to move from blossom to blossom for hand pollination. Zucchini and cukes also have male and female flowers, so you need to be sure that you have both sexes blooming and move from one to the other. Typically, both zucs and cukes have male flowers before they have female. Good luck with the garden. You might also try providing a water source for bees. There are always wild bees at my pond.

 

[geeo1]

have a beautiful garden with lots of tomato plants, planting marigold is good but I planted Borage two seasons ago and I love it, I get lots and lots of bees, the only thing is it is avasive, however it is easy to pull any plants you do not want.

 

[ChicksterJo]

There are so many plants that would be beneficial. One good tip to remember is to try to plant more native species. Here's an article that has a list of plants that attract bees, but again you have to do a little research to see which ones will grow in your area, which ones are not invasive to native flora, etc. I know that coneflowers attract a lot of bees, buckwheat, and sunflowers (at least where I used to live).

 

[sheaviance1]

The poor bees are in so much trouble. It doesn't really surprise me that you aren't seeing any. Intermix lots of flowers in your garden to make it more bee friendly. You can pollinate them yourself, but prepare yourself to do this everyday.

 

[flnatv]

Honey Bees are estimated to be extinct by the year 2035!!

Maybe there are some out there, but you just haven't seen them.... I don't get the honey bee here, but there are other bees albeit not as many as there used to be....
You can always hand pollinate, but most likely you will be better off than you think and your plants will get pollinated anyway.

I like the idea of marigolds or other bee-friendly flowers... this will not only bring the bees in, but it will also act as a "ground cover" and prevent weeds.

 

[bluesub]

I put out a nesting box for mason bees. They are an early pollinator (the emerge early spring around here until middle of June). They are a solitary bee and non-aggressive. I have a great crop of apples last year (my first year) and this year I can already see a difference with my peas (they are covered with pods). I don't know if mason bees last until the tomatoes bloom (I hope so). The nesting box consists of little tubes.