Hey there, farmily! Have you seen the Cheerios/ wildflower seeds/ honey bee giveaway on your Facebook news feed yet? The gist: Cheerios is partnering with a seed company to give away 500 free wildflower seeds so people can plant them to help the bees. BUT... there are some problems here.
As local beekeepers and raw honey producers, we want our Farmily to know what's up. Here are two quick thoughts about the free seed giveaway:
1. Cheerios have been tested and shown to contain over 1,100 parts per billion of Glyphosate. Glyphosate (commonly sold as RoundUp) is a systemic herbicide made by Monsanto. Monsanto (in our opinion) is pure evil. Although Cheerios is pledging to go GMO-free, the fact remains: it contains the very poison that's killing bees to begin with. Looks as if they're trying to right a wrong here.
2. Problem with ^ that is: wildflowers are region-specific and some are more helpful to bees than others. Giving away seed that may (or may not) grow in our area and may (or most likely not) provide nectar or pollen for bees isn't really doing much to help honey bees.
So skip the free Cheerios seeds. Want to help honey bees in our area? We've consulted with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and have a list of plants that WILL be beneficial to bees in our area. Join us in planting one (two? five? all?) of these, and together we'll help bees thrive in Cass, Bowie, Miller, and surrounding counties!
Here's that list of What To Plant For Bees:
Catnip
Common Yarrow
Basil 'African Blue"
Bottlebrush Tree
Pink Evening Primrose
Bee Bush
Flutttermills
False Indigo
Prickly Pear
Coral Vine
Oregano
Columbine (yellow)
Golden Groundsel
Roosevelt Weed
Rock Rose
Crossvine
False Fox-Glove
Blue Beard Spirea
Honey Mesquite
Redbud
Cherry Laurels
Partridge Pea
Mexican Plums
Meyer Lemon Tree
Wafer Ash
Erect Dayflower
Large Buttercup
Gregg's mist flower
Flameleaf Sumac
Gregg's Dalea
Rose
Larkspur
Rosemary
Persimmons
Black-Eyed Susan
Fruit-bearing Loquats
Black Willow
Blue Mist Flower
Indigo Spires
Kidneywood
Mealy BlueSage
Prairie Verbena
Autumn Sage
Sunflower
Helianthus 'Lemon Queen" Asteraceae
Lyre leaf sage
Sunflower
Cedar Sage
Nellie Stevens Holly
Bog Sage
Shrimp Plant
Goldenrod
Mexican Honeysuckle
Global Mallow
Texas Lantana
Texas Betony
Lavender
Eve’s Necklace
Bluebonnet
Sky-Blue Aster
Tomatillo
Aster
Texas Barberry
Bitterweed
Spiderwort
Hemp Vine (Monarch Vine)
Mexican Buckeye
Powderpuff
Verbena
Bee Balm
Queen Anne's wreath
Wild Bergamot
Lemongrass
Basil
Sicilian Oregano
Baby Blue Eyes
Need a printable copy of this list to take with you? View or print one here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KGrLtCheUwj7Tn5bTxhr7RkP39EZZkFcmr2nyqKQPPY/edit?usp=sharing
Whew! That's a lot! Do you have any of these plants in your vicinity already? If so, the bees will thank you. Can we work toward growing more of these bee-friendly species in our area? Absolutely. Together we can do so much! Many thanks in advance.
-Brin, Managing Beekeeper, Balm+Honey Farm