I am interested in planting more for the bees, although I don't care for honey so am not thinking of an actual hive system (unless I could just set it up and forget about it, which doesn't seem likely). What have been your best plants for bee magnets? I have the following which are all good attractants: monarda, sunflower, borage, raspberries, blueberries, sedums, fruit trees, comfrey, pieris (trying to think back to more).
Also, any thoughts on adding structures or watering hole type things to encourage them to nest? I did have my husband drill me a mason bee structure, but haven't noticed anyone using it yet. Put it up last spring before the pieris bloomed, sited on a south facing wall near pear, cherry, and pieris.
I will do a search of our database, but am looking more for tried-and-true plants that others have seen large numbers of bees pollinating. Thanks - a winter planning project...
