The relationship between comfrey, borage and viper's head quickly becomes apparent visually. Borage and viper's head are considered to be sought-after rough leaf plants by bees. Is comfrey as bee-friendly as its relatives or do bees prefer to avoid it?
Is comfrey bee friendly?
Comfrey is consideredbee-friendly because its flowers offer plenty of nectar and some pollen and are often visited by wild bees. In addition, this perennial is valuable for bees due to its long flowering period. They also like to visit bumblebees and butterflies.
Does the flowering period make comfrey a bee-friendly perennial?
Since the flowering period of comfrey extends overseveral months, it makes it abee-friendly perennial. The flowers open as early as May. If you cut off the spent flowers of Symphytum immediately after they have faded, new flower buds can then form and the flowering period will last until the end of August in a suitable location for the comfrey.
Does comfrey provide bees with lots of nectar and pollen?
Comfrey provides bees withplenty of nectarandmoderate pollen. Since there are numerous flowers on each individual plant, it is considered an important food source for bees, but also an important plant for other insects.
For which bee species is comfrey important?
Comfrey is for wild bees such asLonghorn bees,Mason bees,Fur beesandSandbees of importance. Due to their body shape or long tongues, these bee species have the ability to penetrate through the long flower tubes to the nectar inside the flowers.
Why isn't comfrey valuable to all bees?
Honey bees are usually too fat and cannot get through thenarrow corolla tube of the flowers to the nectar. Only slim wild bees or those with long tongues manage to penetrate so deep.
Is comfrey also valuable for other insects?
Not only for bees, but also forbumblebeesandbutterfliesis comfreyvaluable. Bumblebees are even so clever that they gnaw off the flower tubes at the base in order to easily get to the nectar.
Tip
Brown spots on the flowers – good signs
There are brownish spots at the base of the corolla tubes? These are often the gnawing sites of bumblebees. This also makes it much easier for bees to access the nectar of the comfrey flowers.
