Bumblebees
Article and photo by Monika Smith
I’ve ordered a few varieties of plugs for spring with some selected ‘just because.’ Just because I like blue flowers, I will be planting blue flax (Linum lewisii). But it’s good to know that this plant is hardy, loves the sun, is drought tolerant, blooms all summer, spreads by seeds, and is attractive to birds, bees, and butterflies. Blue flowers attract bees. More sky-blue, blue? Smooth blue beardtongue (Penstemon nitidus). More bees. Native bees have co-evolved with native plants.
But I’m also fascinated by plants with attributes, such as prairie smoke or old man’s whiskers (Geum triflorum). It has marvellously bright, nodding burgundy flowers that form incredibly feathery seed heads. The lavender pink flowers of the wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) produce a wonderful spicy scent. I’ve had no luck with the shooting star (Primula conjugens), a little greenery, but that was it. Another attempt this year. One of my favourite flowers is the red paintbrush (Castillega miniata), a gorgeous candy-apple red with brilliant yellow streaks, which has shown up in my meadow in pink but seems to get crowded out by its grassy host. Trying again. Then there’s northern bedstraw (Galium boreale), which is actually easy to grow, but also got squeezed out by more vigorous native plants. The rule of thumb has been to plant plugs about a foot apart. The blanket flower (Gaillardia aristata) and fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium) didn’t read the memo and need a lot more room. For a quick ‘fill,’ these are the plants to consider. Lesson learned.
As a huge fan of native bumblebees, I was surprised to learn bee tongue length determines what plants it visits. There are some 41 bumblebee species in Canada, with 28 in Alberta. We have some of the richest, most biodiverse habitats in North America for bumblebees. In addition, bumblebees do buzz pollinating, which is important to shooting stars and your tomatoes and squashes!
I confess, I’m not out there 24/7 checking out their favorite plants, but, when you see bumblebees mobbing a flower, you notice.
Bumblebees live in the ground, under porches, in old rodent burrows, or tree hollows (another reason not to disturb the leaf litter in the fall or go digging around). The bumblebee is eusocial, with a queen and daughters raising young bees. While the honeybee can have 60,000 bees in a hive, the bumble bee colony only has 200 or more, depending, but they don’t build hives or make honey; they store nectar in ‘pots.’
Another thing to admire is how tough they are. The first ones are out in spring and the last bee is usually seen in the fall. While they fly much slower than a honeybee (average 21 km/h), the bumblebee (around 11 km/h) can handle stiff winds to forage.
I’ve taken photos of the Bombus rufocinctus, or red-belted bumblebee that feasts on my wild roses. It is very common in Calgary. It has a short tongue and a good variety of flowers it can use, including yarrow, asters, prairie clover, blanket flowers, sunflowers, lupins, and snowberries. I have a few of these native plants that ‘my’ bumblebees can gather from ensuring a continuous supply of nectar and pollen from early spring to late fall.
But it is the non-native plants that are mobbed in my yard: the globe thistle and catmint have been winning hands down. Both are easy to grow, hardy, and give bumblebees a chance to thrive.
The Alberta Native Bee Council provides a lot of information on native bees.
If you would like to participate in more online (Zoom) talks or even give a talk, please contact me. Interested in a native and/or cherished plant walkabout in the spring or summer? What are you growing? Is it time to plan a seed or plant exchange? Contact me.
Until next time,
from Monika’s Grove
