What Is a Good Bee Attractant?

Bees are the premier pollinator of the world.

Because of their prolific ability to pollinate, bees are credited with helping to provide between 15 and 30 percent of the world's food supply. Creating a bee-friendly garden encourages the fruits of your labor to grow.

Weeds

Bees like their environment to be wild. Don't worry about manicuring each and every inch. Bees like their weeds, especially dandelion and clover.

Water

Create a puddling area if you want to attract bees. To make one, fill a small container with sand, sink the container down into the ground and keep the sand wet. Larger bodies of water can be dangerous for bees.

Highly Scented Flowers

Chemo receptors in their antennae cause bees to seek out fragrances. Provide fragrant flowers and bees will find them.

Essential Oil of Anise

Bees, from a distance of half a mile or more, can pick up the fragrance from a few drops of essential oil of anise. It's a good tool to use when you want to attract bees to your honeycomb box.

Commercially Available Scents

Those same chemo receptors that attract bees to highly scented flowers respond to commercially available scents containing pheromones.

References

• Blisstree: 5 Ways to Attract Beneficial Insects To Your Garden
• University of California, Berkeley: College of Natural Resources: Urban Bee Gardens