Want Bees In Your Garden? Tempt Them With Color

My favorite colors in the garden are green and black. Did you know bees, like humans may have a favorite color?

"Researchers took bees that had never seen real flowers from nine southern Germany bumblebee colonies and exposed them to violet or blue artificial flowers in the lab. The investigators found these bees—one of the most numerous bumblebee species in Europe—often prefer violet to blue, seemingly innately."



Bees Have Favorite Color.
I love bumblebees. They have to be my favorite bee and because I like them so much I allow Clover to take over the garden and grow where it wants. The bumblebees love the flowers and visit them more than anything else in my garden.



I'm hurt that they snub expensive plants and prefer "weeds" but I can get over the blow to my gardener ego as long as they stop by. They are important pollinators in the garden-who may also be flying thermometers!

"Researchers have long thought the amount of nectar and pollen is what attracts a bee. But because bees have to invest energy to maintain body temperature, the warmth of a flower, identified by color, is another incentive, scientists report in the Aug. 3 issue of the journal Nature."

Bees Can Predict Temperatures In Flowers.