You often find entire meadows almost overgrown with daisies, which like to form a kind of carpet of flowers. Even when other flowers have long since frozen, daisies are not impressed and continue to bloom happily. What is their value for bees?
Are daisies valuable bee food?
Daisies arevaluable bee food and are therefore often sought out by bees as a source of food. They provide both nectar and pollen over long periods of time and in months when other flowers are difficult to find.
Do daisies provide lots of nectar and pollen?
The amount of nectar that a daisy flower has to offer is compared to other flowersrelatively small The same applies to the amount of pollen. Bees can't do much with a single flower. But since daisies often grow in groups and stand together, their large number still provides a good supply of food for bees.
What makes daisies so valuable to bees?
Although daisies do not have a lot of nectar and pollen to offer, they impress with theirlong flowering periodThis means that they are particularly popular withtraditional gaps interesting for bees. The first daisy flowers can appear as early as February. Bees that have just emerged from their winter quarters, the hive, immediately find a source of food. The flowering period then extends over spring, summer and into autumn. You can often still find daisies even in November.
Which bees are interested in daisies?
It is extremely interesting for bothwild beesand forhoneybees. In addition, other insects also find a source of food in the daisy flowers. Beetles, butterflies, hoverflies and bumblebees like these flowers just as much as bees.
How to create a bee pasture with daisies?
Since daisies alone are not particularly nutritious for bees, it is recommended to create a colorfully mixedwildflower meadow. You can orient yourself towards nature and wild flower meadows. For a bee pasture go with daisies:
- Bluebells
- Red Clover
- Daisies
- Poppies
- Dandelions
- Knapweeds
- Adderhead
- Cornflowers
If you don't have the option of a wildflower meadow, you can plant the daisies elsewhere and combine them with other nectar-rich flowers, for example on the balcony. It is important to give preference to unfilled daisies in order to actually do something good for the bees.
Why are many cultivated forms of daisies hostile to bees?
Anyone who chooses nicely filled breeding forms of Bellis perennis is not doing the bees any favors, because it is very difficult for them to get to the nectar and pollen through thefilled flower center. In addition, the nectar and pollen content of such filled cultivated specimens is even lower than that of the unfilled varieties. For this reason, it is advisable to choose varieties that are unfilled. These are considered bee-friendly.
Tip
Picking daisies – but preserving the stock
When the meadows are strewn with daisies in summer, the urge to pick these flowers is great every now and then. Don't worry: If you only pick a few daisies and there are still enough left, you won't harm the bees. Daisies spread quickly and produce new flowers.
