What plants attract bees?
Short answerIt dependsEstablished evidence
Bees are attracted to flowers they can physically feed from, which is a question of shape rather than colour or scent. Open, shallow, single flowers suit almost every bee; deep tubular flowers suit only long-tongued bumblebees; and double-flowered garden cultivars often offer nothing at all because the reproductive parts have been bred into extra petals. Herbs, daisy-family and carrot-family flowers, and native trees and shrubs are the reliable answer.
Where the belief comes from
Garden centres label plants 'bee friendly' on the basis of appearance and popularity, and blue and purple flowers are widely said to be preferred. Bees do see into the ultraviolet and blue is genuinely well represented among bee-pollinated flowers — but colour is a weak predictor next to whether the bee can reach the nectar at all.
Shape decides who can feed
A honey bee's tongue is about 6 mm. A small solitary bee's may be 2 mm. A garden bumblebee's can exceed 15 mm. A flower's corolla depth therefore sorts its visitors before anything else does — red clover is a long-tongued bumblebee plant not because bumblebees prefer it but because nothing else can reach the bottom of it.
- Open, shallow, single flowers — daisies, umbels, most herbs, blossom — are usable by nearly everything.
- Deep tubular flowers — foxglove, comfrey, honeysuckle, red clover — are for long-tongued bumblebees, and are often robbed through holes bitten at the base.
- Double-flowered cultivars are the trap. Extra petals are converted reproductive parts, so the flower frequently has neither nectar nor pollen.
- Bedding plants bred for continuous colour are often sterile and worth nothing to a bee despite flowering all summer.
The reliable answer, if you want a short one
Culinary herbs. Marjoram, thyme, lavender, sage, rosemary, chives and mint are all productive nectar plants with accessible flowers, they tolerate containers and drought, and you were going to grow them anyway. In a small space they beat almost anything sold as a bee plant.
Sources
- HoneyHQ editorial synthesis — HEKNO Ltd · HoneyHQ synthesis
- Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland — Bloomsbury (2015) · Field guide
How sources are selected and weighted is set out in the sources and evidence policy.
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