Malta Beekeepers Association

The keeping of bees is like the direction of sunbeams 
 - Henry David Thoreau - 

Gardening for Bees

Some ideas for bee-friendly plants, trees and shrubs for your garden.

Whether we use our green space for pleasure or as a vegetable plot, we can all enjoy the rewards of planting for bees. Whether your garden be a balcony, allotment, window box, hanging basket, pots and tubs or a swathe of green open space we can all provide honey bees and other insect pollinators with a banquet of pollen and nectar throughout the year. Not only will they benefit from the sensual feast plants provide, so will we. We will also enjoy the variety of honey and foods from those plants. By planting the right type of plants and trees, we provide a larder for honey bees and other pollinators, habitats for wildlife and, in addition, pollination by bees provides food for us and other wildlife from birds to insects. So, by planting for bees, everyone is a winner.

Within the downloadable listings, we have detailed both popular and some more unusual food sources for bees, which will provide you with pleasure throughout the year. Whether you are gardening on a small or large scale, we hope to have listed something for everyone.

Where possible, plants are identified by type, season and whether the plant flowers are rich in nectar and/or pollen, both of which are important to the colony’s development.

Why not watch our animation on Planting for Honey Bees? -just click here