Posted January 17, 2012 by Featured Instructor
Urban beekeeping has been all the buzz, lately. And for as many people that keep bees, there are that many reasons WHY people keep bees.
One of the most important reasons to keep bees is for pollination. Bee pollination is needed for the production of an estimated one-third of the food crops grown in developed countries. When it comes to fruit, the number of bees visiting a plant affects the size, uniformity and amount of fruit it produces. Bee pollination also has an impact on other foods we eat, such as meat
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Posted June 10, 2008 by Dominique Bayne, Former Senior Horticulturist
Every morning at this time of year the deep red petals of Papaver orientalis ‘Beauty of Livermere’ unfurl slowly to reveal a mass of purple black pollen coated stamens. I say slowly but they have a slight look of sleepy unpreparedness and I am not the only one drawn to them as they, and I, are still shaking out the creases. Sure, there are usually a few early morning visitors but we are always outnumbered by those whom the poppies are really trying to attract: the bees.
The Birds and Bees Walk was designed to include many plants attractive to pollinators and other forms of wildlife. The poppies however were planted for the bees alone.
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