Flowers and bees

flores de tomillo

The bees play an essential role in the conservation of the environment, pollinating both wild and cultivated flowers, a fundamental part of the life cycle. The flowers produce the fruits on which many of nature’s chains depend. we pollinate our crops with bees, and we extract from them their raw or pure honey, royal jelly and propolis.

These insects alone cannot develop and multiply in nature without the help of man, due to the attack of many diseases they suffer, including varroa.

According to data from REGA at 1 January 2013 in Spain there are almost 25 000 beekeepers, of which only 19% are professional beekeepers, the rest are amateur beekeepers who have their hives for self-consumption. Spain produces around 34 000 tonnes of pure honey every year, figures that may fall sharply in the coming years due to the extermination of bees.

The exact causes that are killing bees around the world are not clear, but the use of insecticides with compounds such as neonicotinoids and the colonization of the Asian wasp are accelerating this process.

The use of some insecticides containing these neonicotinoids has been banned for some years, but the big phytosanitary companies have taken others with the same content in neonicotinoids, doing the same damage to bees and contributing to their extermination.

From the Cortijuelo de San Benito we invite you to cultivate plants that help and feed these social insects that have been on the ground much longer than the human species. You can also read about this topic Unpasteurized raw honey

Favorite flowers of the bees

f you are a person who is environmentally conscious and want to do your bit so that we all live in a better world, we give you now a fantastic idea to do it. Plant these plant species and you will help the bees, you will have a prettier garden and you will even be able to have them as medicinal plants.

Not all flowers produce nectar and some produce such small quantities that bees do not visit them. Other flowers that do not produce nectar do produce pollen, which is interesting for bees. Both flowers that produce nectar in sufficient quantities or pollen, are called melliferous flowers, among them we can name: rosemary, lavender, thyme, orange blossom, loquat.

There are other plants that their flowers do not give anything ero that release substance in their trunk or leaves that are rich in sugar and minerals, these substances are honeydew. Among the plants and trees that produce myelates are heather, rosemary, eucalyptus, etc..

Here we will put some photos so that you can identify them by yourselves

1. Lavender

Lavender is a perennial shrub of the labiadas family that grows regularly in the Mediterranean basin, and it is common to find it with other plants such as rosemary or thyme. Lavender honey

Lavender in bloom in the Sierra de Madrid

2. Rosemary:

Rosemary is a very aromatic perennial shrub and also belongs to the labiadas family. Rosemary also grows habitually in the Mediterranean basin accompanying other plants and trees.

Rosemary in flower from the Sierra de Madrid

3. Thyme

Thyme is a perennial bush, commonly cultivated as an aromatic herb and also belongs to the labiadas family. Thyme is found on slopes exposed to the sun accompanying other plants such as rosemary and lavender.

Thyme in flower of the plateau of Guadalajara and the bees pollinating its flowers

4. The broom

Broom is a shrub which belongs to the Fabaceae family and grows sporadically in North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. This shrub can grow up to three meters high.

Retama of the Sierra de Madrid

Other plants beneficial to bees

These other beneficial plants for bees, sometimes you need to have a good garden to have them. However, what we should ask is that our city councils plant them in public gardens, medium and roundabouts and stop planting removable flowers, which consume large amounts of water.

1. The holm oak:

The holm oak is a perennial tree of the family of phagaceae that grows in the Mediterranean basin and can reach up to 20 meters. The holm oaks release the mielatos that are rich in sugar and minerals, which are used by the bees for the manufacture of their honey.

Holm oak forest in Las Rozas de Madrid

To learn more about these plants we also recommend visiting:  http://www.botanical-online.com

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