AT A GLANCE
Are poppies bee friendly?
Are poppies bee friendly?
Poppy with its feathery flowers is one important bee pasture. It has no nectar per se, which bees like to collect. However, the numerous black pollen are very interesting for the busy buzzers. The plant orients itself to certain times of the day. Most pollen is formed by 10 a.m. So you can at this time most bees, bumblebees and watch butterflies on the poppies. The bees use the pollen as an important source of nutrients with numerous proteins and amino acids for their brood.
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Which types of poppies are suitable as bee pasture?
Especially the one that blooms between May and August poppy (paperver rhoeas) is an important one bee pasture. Until recently, it could often be found in fields and roadsides. However, due to intensive agriculture and the use of pesticides, this sight is now rare. That's all the more important
sowing in home gardens and on flower strips. Because of its popularity with pollinators, but also because of its appearance, poppies are often found in flowering mixtures. Corn poppy is a pioneer plant and also grows on poor, dry soil.What is the poppy bee?
In fact, there is a very rare wild bee species, which has specialized in the corn poppy: the poppy bee (osmia papaveris). The poppy bee, about half the size of honey bees, is threatened with extinction and is rarely found in our gardens or in the wild. She needs the leaves of the poppy flower to build her nest. The female cuts off pieces of the flower about the size of a fingernail with her pincers and transports them to her nest, which she has previously dug in sandy soil.
Tip
Sow poppies in your garden.
To increase biodiversity and attract extra bees to your garden, you can start as early as March Corn poppy seeds in your garden and in large pots or tubs on your balcony or terrace sowing. Poppies love a sunny spot with well-drained soil. They do not require any complex care and, in normal weather, neither additional water nor fertilizer.