We just finished sowing more than 5 acres of a pollinator friendly mix at our BeeManiacs honey bee yard.
We teamed up with the Spokane County Conservation District, and we’re running this program for the first season as a test. We will monitor the progress of the germination of the mix of pollinator friendly plants and confirm how much of the active season different flowering plants will cover. Depending on this year results, the Conservation District will expand the program coverage for the 2017 season.
The seed mix includes some non-flowering plants for providing wind-erosion protection or improving soil condition. This is the list of seeds used:
| Common Vetch |
| Mung Beans |
| Guar-Kinman |
| Chinese Red |
| Sainfoin-shoshone |
| Super Sugar |
| Wildlife Grain Sorghum |
| 2120 Forage Sorghum |
| Spring Forage Barley |
| Nitro Radish |
| Safflower-Finch |
| Sunflower-Peredovic |
| Buckwheat-Mancan |
| Okra- Clemson spineless |
| Clover- Yellow Sweet |
| Proso Millet- (Red) |
| White Wonder Millet (Hay) |
| Pacific Gold Mustard |
| African Cabbage |
| Sesame |
The pictures do not show much going on the ground because a no-till drill was used. The seeds and the organic fertilizer were applied directly through the current, mostly grass cover. Our goal is to increase the amount and diversity of flowering plants available to the bees in our yard throughout the season.
