Top 10 garden plants for specialist bees

Most bees are not too fussy about where they get their nectar and pollen, so gardeners have a wide range of plants from which to choose. Flowers like lavender, hollyhock, cosmos and hellebore are all listed as RHS Plants for Pollinators and will help to feed a range of different bee species.

However, some bees are specialists, visiting just a handful of plants for the pollen they feed to their larvae and sometimes for other resources. These bees are often rare and particularly vulnerable to habitat loss. Lose just one patch of their favourite plant from a park or hedgerow, and the entire local population could be lost – but as gardeners, we can support them.

Encourage specialist bees into your garden by introducing one or more of the following 10 plants.

1) Bellflowers (Campanula species)

Bellflower Blunthorn Bee (Melitta haemorrhoidalis) on a clustered bellflower (Campanula glomerata). Image: Nick Tew

Campanula is an attractive genus including both wildflowers and cultivated species. The flowers are a key source of pollen for the gold-tailed melitta, also known as the bellflower blunthorn bee (Melitta haemorrhoidalis), and for the small scissor bee (Chelostoma campanularum).

They are particularly fond of the three British native bellflowers – Campanula rotundifolia (common harebell), Campanula glomerata (clustered bellflowers) and Campanula trachelium (nettle-leaved bellflower) – but will also visit non-natives like Campanula persicifolia (peach-leaved bellflower) in gardens.

Distinguishing features of the bellflower blunthorn bee:

• Medium-sized bee with a dark body and yellow-orange hairs on the legs
• Clear orange tip to the abdomen

2) Yellow loosestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris)

A Yellow-loosestrife Bee (Macropis europaea) on its namesake plant, Lysimachia vulgaris. Image: Steven Falk

The yellow-loosestrife bee (Macropis europaea) visits its namesake plant, Lysimachia vulgaris (yellow loosestrife), for pollen and floral oils. These oils are used by the females to waterproof their nests, which are often located along the banks of rivers and ponds where the yellow loosestrife grows. Pop a plant in your garden and there’s a good chance the bees will turn up in summer, although at present they are confined to the south and east of the country.

Distinguishing features of the yellow-loosestrife bee:

• Medium-sized dark bee
• Swollen back legs with pale hairs (particularly prominent in females)

3) Willows (Salix species)

Clarke’s Mining Bee (Andrena clarkella) on a willow (Salix). Image: Steven Falk

Willow catkins are jam-packed with nectar and pollen and appear at a vital time – in the late winter and early spring, when very little else is in flower. It is therefore not surprising that a fair few bee species are willow specialists, including Clarke’s mining bee (Andrena clarkella), the small and large sallow mining bees (Andrena praecox and Andrena apicata), the northern mining bee (Andrena ruficrus) and the early colletes (Colletes cunicularius). Salix caprea (goat willow) and Salix cinerea (grey willow) are two favourites, although a variety of Salix species are suitable for growing in gardens.

Distinguishing features of Clarke’s mining bee:

• Females a little larger than a honeybee, with a furry reddish-orange thorax
• Males less distinctive, with an orange thorax that is less densely hairy

4) Lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina)

A Wool-carder Bee (Anthidium manicatum) on a lamb's ear (Stachys byzantina) plant. Image: Nick Tew

Stachys byzantina (lamb’s ear) is a nectar-rich plant that is attractive to a range of species, particularly bumblebees, so it’s a great choice for your garden. It's a particularly important plant for the wool-carder bee (Anthidium manicatum), a striking insect with yellow spots down its flanks. Females line their nests with the soft fibres found on this plant’s leaves, while males violently defend territories containing lamb’s ear against intruding insects, given its importance to their prospective mates.

Distinguishing features of the wool-carder bee:

• Relatively large and robust bee with a dark body
• Clear lines of yellow spots down sides of abdomen

5) Ivy (Hedera species)

An Ivy Bee (Colletes hederae) on an ivy (Hedera helix) plant. Image: Nick Tew

There are few bee species still on the wing come September, but the ivy bee (Colletes hederae) is just getting going. This new arrival, first recorded in Britain in 2001, times its emergence for the flowering of the ivy, whose pollen it adores. Ivy is not always the most popular garden plant, but allowing it to grow and flower where you can will encourage ivy bees and many other pollinators, as well as supporting birds with its berries and dense cover for nesting.

Distinguishing features of the ivy bee:

• Honeybee-sized, with an orange thorax and neat yellow and black stripes
• Typically active in autumn when few other species are numerous

6) Scabiouses (Knautia, Scabiosa and Succisa species)

A Small Scabious Mining Bee, Andrena marginata, on a devil's bit scabious (Succina pratensis) flower. Image: Russell Miller

Two bees are scabious specialists, imaginatively named the small scabious mining bee (Andrena marginata) and the large scabious mining bee (Andrena hattorfiana). However, the flowers are also loved by many other bees, butterflies, moths, hoverflies and beetles. There are plenty of scabiouses from which to choose, but three of the best are Knautia arvensis (field scabious), Scabiosa columbaria (small scabious) and Succisa pratensis (devil’s-bit scabious).

Distinguishing features of the small scabious mining bee:

• Relatively small bee with a black thorax
• Females often have a dull reddish abdomen; males less distinguishable

7) Mignonette (Reseda species)

A Large Yellow-face Bee (Hylaeus signatus) on a mignonette (Reseda) plant. Image: Steven Falk

Mignonettes are especially popular with yellow-face bees (Hylaeus species), which deliver pollen to their larvae by swallowing and regurgitating it, unlike most bees, which carry pollen on their legs or body. They also waterproof their nests by producing a cellophane-like lining. The large yellow-face bee, also known as the mignonette yellow-face bee (Hylaeus signatus), is strongly associated with base rocket (Reseda luteola) and yellow mignonette (Reseda lutea), but may also visit Reseda odorata (garden mignonette).

Distinguishing features of the mignonette yellow-face bee:

• Fairly small black bee (though larger than other Hylaeus species)
• Males have a pale yellow face and both sexes have black legs

8) Dandelions and relatives (Taraxacum officinale agg. and others)

A Large Shaggy Bee (Panurgus banksianus). Image: Benny Hawksbee

Encouraging bees into your garden is not just about what you plant, but also what you choose (or choose not) to weed out or mow. Taraxacum officinale agg. (dandelions) and their close relatives – yellow composites like Hypochaeris radicata (cat’s ear), Leontodon (hawkbit), Picris hieracioides (hawkweed) and Crepis (hawk's beard), which are notoriously difficult to distinguish between – are often regarded as weeds and unwanted intruders in lawns.

However, if you let these flower by mowing your lawn less often and avoiding herbicides, a wide range of bees will turn up. These may include the pantaloon bee (Dasypoda hirtipes), small and large shaggy bees (Panurgus calcaratus and Panurgus banksianus), and the hawksbeard mining bee (Andrena fulvago).

Distinguishing features of the large shaggy bee:

• Medium-sized, shiny black bee with sparse body hairs
• Distinctive yellow pollen brushes on the legs of the female

9) Buttercups (Ranunculus species)

A Large Scissor Bee, Chelostoma florisomne, on a buttercup (Ranunculus) flower. Image: Steven Falk

You don’t tend to see Ranunculus (buttercups) buzzing with bees to the same extent as clovers or dandelions, but they are visited by one specialist, the large scissor bee or sleepy carpenter bee (Chelostoma florisomne). Males can be found resting in the centre of flowers during overcast weather, while females use old beetle holes in dead trees and fence posts for nesting. This species provides yet another reason to let your lawn bloom.

Distinguishing features of the large scissor bee:

• A long, thin bee with a dark body and pale bands on the abdomen
• Female has a box-shaped head

10) White bryony (Bryonia dioica)

A Bryony Mining Bee (Andrena florea) on white bryony (Bryonia dioica). Image: Steven Falk

Britain’s only native member of the cucumber family, Bryonia dioica (white bryony) is a delightful scrambling climber that is frequently found in hedgerows, but beware its high toxicity. In the South East it is visited by the bryony mining bee (Andrena florea), a narrow specialist which only collects pollen from Bryonia species across Britain and Europe and roughly resembles a honeybee in size and colour.

Distinguishing features of the bryony mining bee:

• Honeybee-sized, with a dull orange-brown thorax
• Abdomen usually has two reddish bands

Record your sightings to help conserve specialist bees

Inspired to plant one of these in your garden? Watch to see which bees turn up. If you can get a photo, record your sightings on iRecord*, which has a handy app. Contributing to valuable citizen science data helps scientists gain a better understanding of where these wonderful insects are found, which is key to their protection and conservation.

For more general wildlife sightings at our gardens, we’d love you to record what you’ve spotted on iNaturalist*. This helps us build a better picture of the biodiversity at our sites, and what we can do to increase this even further!

*Please note: When visiting iRecord or iNaturalist, you will be leaving the RHS website and will be governed by iRecord’s or iNaturalist’s terms and conditions and privacy policy. iRecord’s wildlife sightings form is made available through Indicia.