Bees are important for vegetable plants just as vegetables are important for bees.
Bees play a very necessary role when vegetables are in development by pollinating their flowers.
When a bee perches on a flower or bloom, it is looking for pollen and nectar.
The pollen supplies stable protein and fats for the bees, while Nectar is filled with sugar and sugar gives the bees energy.
To attract bees, planting bright, blooming flowers is one way of bringing bees that serve as pollinators, even vegetables, and fruits flowers can entice the bees to your garden as well.
Not all bees are active all season long except the honeybees and bumblebees, others are only active in the spring.
In this article, we are going to be exploring some vegetables that are good for bees.
However, many vegetables are good for bees, but in this article, we are going to discuss our 10 best vegetables for bees.
1. Watermelons
Watermelon with the scientific name Citrullus Lanatus are both fruits and vegetables.
They originate from flowers that have been pollinated by bees, and they are fruits because they have seeds in them. They are called watermelons because 92 percent of them are water.
Bees pollinate watermelons, they need bees to pollinate the crop. The flowers of watermelon do not open for long and when they do, bees need to be present.
This makes farmers hire and raise bees so they can pollinate the flowers when they are open.
Watermelons have pollen and nectar which bees need to survive, they provide the bees with Protein, fat, and sugar which are the bee’s main sources of energy.
Related: Here is an article I wrote on best salvias for bees
2. Cantaloupes
Cantaloupes flowers are another vegetable that is best for bees.
It is a type of melon that has a tan-green rind.
When open, inside it is bright orange and it is sweet. The name Cantaloupes is gotten from the name of a town in Italy called cantaloupe.
They require similar things like watermelons to grow.
And although they are different from other crops because their flowers contain both male and female parts they require bees to help them pollinate.
They therefore a sufficient amount of bees during bloom will allow much more harvest of the cantaloupes.
Cantaloupes are best for bees because they provide the necessary nutrients for bees to survive which is pollen and nectar.
Cantaloupes provide this to bees and this makes it a good vegetable for bees.
3. Cucumbers
Cucumbers are vine plants that are cultivated widely, they are low in calories.
They need pollinators to pollinate and bees are their main pollinators.
The bees take pollen from the male cucumber flowers and give it to the female cucumber flowers with that the female cucumber flowers produce a cucumber.
Bees also gain nutrients from the cucumber, they get the pollen and nectar from the cucumbers which provides them with the nutrients they need to last long.
4. Pumpkins
Pumpkins are round, slightly ribbed skin, mostly deep yellow to orange in color.
A pumpkin grows by planting the seed in the warm ground, then water and sunshine help the sprout to pop up from the soil, then the leaves and vine begin to grow till it’s large, then their flowers blossom from the plants.
Pumpkins have relatively large and sticky pollen and this makes Bees the best pollinators as they also feed off of them.
The honeybees, the bumblebees, and the squash bees are the most important and frequent pollinators of the pumpkins.
The bees help pollinate the vegetable as they feed off protein, fat from the pollen and they get sugar from the nectar which is their main source of strength.
The pumpkins are best for bees to live and have energy.
Also check out this article I wrote on can bees drink sugar water
5. Eggplant
Eggplants are also called auberges or brinjal.
It is a vegetable that the best method of pollination comes from bees, usually, the wild bees pollinate the flowers so the eggplant crop comes in abundance.
Bees are important for growing eggplants.
If for instance as a farmer you do not see bees in your garden, one can grow flowers around the garden to attract the bees so has to help pollinate the crop.
The Eggplant is another vegetable that is best for bees because the bees pollinate the flowers thereby feeding off the pollen and nectar which are important for the bees.
Bees cannot survive without pollen and nectar just as humans can’t survive without food and water. This vegetable is also best for bees.
6. Hot Peppers
Hot peppers are another vegetables that are good for bees.
This vegetable when growing typically start out with green color, but as time goes on and as they grow, they begin to mature in different colors such as yellow, orange, red, purple and or even brown.
Like other vegetables listed above, Native bees are effective for pollination of the hot pepper plants although the hot pepper can self pollinate but with the bees, they have better fruits.
The hot pepper plants give the bees the nutrients they need through pollen and nectar which is why they are essential vegetables that are best for bees.
7. Tomatoes
The tomato plants are edible berries and while they are fruits they are used as vegetables as well.
The tomatoes self pollinate but, if tomatoes are pollinated by native bees they will produce large and more fruits.
This popular berry/vegetable grow out of blooms that bees feed off of, this symbiosis is good for the bees and the tomato plant
8. Almonds
Almonds are 100% reliant on the wild and honey bees for pollination, when the trees of Almonds bloom, the bees feed on the nutritious pollens that supply them with protein and fats.
When the bees move from one almond tree to the other they pollinate the flowers along the way, and each of the flowers grows into almonds.
The bees that feed on the pollen from the almond flowers, provide vital nutrition to the bees as they move the pollen from tree to tree because the almond trees need cross-pollination.
9. Chives
You can grow chives in pots or window box and when they grow into flowers they provide nectar that attracts bumblebees, honeybees, mason bees, and leafcutter bees.
The flowers are purple in color and can as well be eating.
Chives naturally attract pollinators which are bees, and the bees consume nectar from the flowers which are sugar and it gives them strength.
The bees play a crucial role in pollinating the fresh chives, which is best for the bees as they get nectar from them.
10. Rosemary
This vegetable is also a shrub, it is scientifically called “salvia rosmarinus”.
This vegetable has more benefits than you think, it is not just for cooking, though it is a great ingredient for making your meals like chicken, it has an amazing scent that is very attractive to the right insects like bees.
Its flowers are beautiful and rich in nutrients for bees.
Rosemary doesn’t need many nutrients in the soil to grow, it can grow well in hot environments.
This beautiful popular plant is Evergreen and considered perennial, it grows all year long.
Ordinarily, you would find Rosemary in many kitchens cause it is a staple ingredient for a lot of meals it has a unique taste and smells glorious
This plan can be grown in containers, it needs sunlight to grow well and moisture, but not too much moisture. It has several benefits to humans and bees, try it out and see.
Conclusion
In this article, we have provided you with a list of 10 great vegetables to include in your garden that is very good for bees.
If you are a lover of bees and vegetables you should have no difficulty when picking vegetables to plant in your garden that are best for bees
