Forum home› Wildlife gardening

bee bombs

moragb1moragb1 Posts: 291
in Wildlife gardening
I am part of a new charity that is all about the environment and we are being training and have grants to build bee hives on our wee island. We are about to plant trees which we already have been given by the woodlands trust and want to start planting across the island to help the bees. We also have a small community garden and a few old boats to plant up. Someone has posted about these bee bombs but I am wondering if they are just a gimmick as imo quite expensive to do a lot of them. Anyone have experience with these seeds or have any other suggestions.
https://www.beebombs.com/shop/5-packs-of-native-wildflower-beebombs
Thanks

Cumbrae Beecology facebook page

Posts

  • JennyJJennyJ DoncasterPosts: 7,707
    I think it's a bit of a marketing gimmick and you're paying for the fancy packaging.  You can get bee-friendly wildflower seed mixtures for a lot less money (eg here https://britishwildflowermeadowseeds.co.uk/wildflower-meadow-seeds/bee-seed-mix. Not recommending them specifically but it was the first site I looked at from the list that Google came up with.) 
  • AnniDAnniD South West UKPosts: 11,018
    I have a search around on bee bombs, and l tend to agree with Jenny. Clever idea, but l can't see that they have any advantage over a standard wildflower seed mix. Good luck with the project  :)
  • moragb1moragb1 Posts: 291
    That's what I think too. Just all tarted up for attracting individuals. Thanks for the link x
  • JennyJJennyJ DoncasterPosts: 7,707
    They might be nice to give as gifts, but not value for money if you have a big area to sow.
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Leicestershire, UKPosts: 11,391
    edited March 2019
    I think they're intended to be thrown onto inaccessible areas for 'guerilla gardening'.  If you are tending the areas, much cheaper, better and far more likely to be successful by preparing the soil and sowing loose seed direct.  You could also sprinkle some over trays of modules and bring them on in a greenhouse etc., so you have plenty of spare 'plug' size plants to fill gaps or areas where the seed didn't germinate well.  You can also then make groupings of particular plants as you will be able to select them by type once they have a few true leaves.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • moragb1moragb1 Posts: 291
    Great idea about the tray modules Bobthegardener. No we don't have a huge area of garden. It is for small patches of areas around benches etc on the island. Think the intention was also to give them out to school kids etc as a learning tool to teach kids to sow seeds and feed the bees. I think we could package them ourselves a lot cheaper. I was given a seed bomb years ago for my xmas and it was for throwing on roundabouts to make them prettier but nothing grew ha ha 
  • JennyJJennyJ DoncasterPosts: 7,707
    If you're having a seed-sowing day (so that the children can be supervised to make sure that the seed ends up sprinkled where you want it) you could just portion it out into small containers - something like yoghurt pots would do, or paper bags if you can get some.
    Surely if a seed bomb just gets thrown somewhere, all the seed will end up in a clump not spread over the area?  Maybe I'm missing something.
  • moragb1moragb1 Posts: 291
    Great advice Jennyj. The yoghurt pots sound perfect xx thanks. Glad I posted as lots of great ideas here from experts. x
Sign In or Register to comment.