Bees in your garden
You can make bees happy in your home by making a bee garden. Bees like plants with nectar, which is found in flowers. A big variety of flowers is best for your garden bees. Remember to plant things which grow in all four seasons. For example:
- apple trees grow in Spring,
- lavender grows in Summer,
- honeysuckle grows in Autumn and
- ivy grows in Winter.
Click here to find out more about which plants bees like.
How do bees see
When you think of a bee, how many eyes do you see? Most people will think of the two large eyes, either side of its head. But did you know, bees also have three smaller (simple) eyes on top of their heads? These simple eyes detect sunlight, so bees can find their way around.
The big eyes are called compound eyes – they help the bee see colours and movement. Bees see colours a bit differently to us; they do not see the colour red, but they can see ‘UV’ light, which humans can’t see without a UV lamp. UV lamps are the blue lights used by police to see evidence at a crime scene.
Bees are attracted to things that look brightly coloured to them. Have a look at the garden picture below – which is the most brightly coloured bit? Now click the bee icon, and look again – which bit is the most brightly coloured to the bee?
https://view.genial.ly/5f3be4b492d4890d4724cefd
Why not have a go a drawing your own garden from a bee’s view? Remember, bees can’t see red or colours with red in them. This means, for a bee: Red looks black, Orange looks green and yellow looks greeny-blue! You can download an accessible version of this interactive here.
