想帮助蜜蜂吗?那多种植开花的草本植物

Want to Help Bees? Plant Flowering Herbs

Herbs are among the most useful plants in nature. We use them in food and medicines. We use them in skin care products. We even use them to scent¹ the air.

But human beings are not the only creatures that love herbs. Bees, butterflies and other insects love them, too – as do some birds.

David Trinklein is a plant scientist with the University of Missouri Extension, in Columbia, Missouri. He told the Associated Press that people’s interest in herbs has been growing and herb sales are on the rise.

People are using fresh garden herbs for cooking, he said, but their other interest in herbs is to support pollinators – creatures that help plants to reproduce.

Bee populations, for example, have been shrinking in many areas. Scientists suspect pesticide² poisoning and climate change as among the main causes.

Many gardeners are trying to help pollinator populations by giving them the plants they need to be healthy.

Francis Drummond notes that bees enjoy many kinds of herbs. Drummond is a professor in the School of Biology and Ecology at the University of Maine.

He said that herbs with the most nectar bring bees to the garden. Bees love nectar-filled herbs, such as thyme, comfrey, oregano, lemon balm, lavender and rosemary.

Pollinators will visit most flowering herbs. But some, like cilantro and basil, lose other qualities when they grow flowers. That information comes from Ed Spevak, of the Saint Louis Zoo in Missouri. He suggests that people use leaves from the plant earlier for their own purposes. Then they can let the plant grow flowers to support pollinators.

Some herbs, like cilantro, fennel and dill, produce very small flowers that interest very small bees, Spevak said. Fennel and dill also serve as food for black swallowtail caterpillars⁴.

Bees – especially honeybees – find flowers by their color, not their smell, notes David Salman. He is founder⁵ of High Country Gardens, a gardening supply company.

In general, annual herbs are more important for butterflies, especially swallowtails, Salman said. Annuals are plants that must be replanted each year.

Pollinators are necessary for a huge amount of the world’s food production, but European honeybees are especially important, Trinklein said.

“They’re the king of the pollinators,” he said. But other kinds of bees can often be accidental pollinators. Honeybees are also greater in number and more active than other pollinators.

Bees must collect syrup⁶ and pollen⁷ from early spring through late autumn to support a healthy bee colony, Trinklein said. That means gardeners should plant many kinds of flowers and herbs to lengthen⁸ the flowering season.

Many beekeepers believe that herbs used for bringing in pollinators should be native to an area. But Trinklein disagrees.

“I don’t think a bee minds if an herb is native or non-native,” he said. He added that lavender and “anything in the catnip family” will bring bees.

Gardeners wishing to help pollinators might consider planting scent gardens made up wholly of herbs. They can make your home smell wonderful and supply nutrients⁹ to bees, he said.

However, Trinklein advises gardeners against wearing strong-smelling perfumes and hair products, which bees could mistake for nectar.

I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

garden – n. an area of ground where plants, such as flowers or vegetables, are grown

scent – n. a pleasant smell that is produced by something

pesticide – n. a chemical that is used to kill animals or insects that damage plants or crops

nectar – n. a sweet liquid produced by plants and used by bees in making honey

caterpillar³ – n. a small creature that is like a worm with many legs and that changes to become a butterfly or moth¹⁰

syrup – n. a sweet, thick liquid made from the juice of a fruit or plant

pollen – n. the very fine dust that is produced by a plant and that is carried to other plants of the same kind usually by wind or insects

perfume – n. a liquid substance that you put on your body in small amounts in order to smell pleasant

1 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

2 pesticide   

n.杀虫剂，农药

参考例句：

• The pesticide was spread over the vegetable plot.菜田里撒上了农药。
• This pesticide is diluted with water and applied directly to the fields.这种杀虫剂用水稀释后直接施用在田里。

3 caterpillar   

n.毛虫，蝴蝶的幼虫

参考例句：

• A butterfly is produced by metamorphosis from a caterpillar.蝴蝶是由毛虫脱胎变成的。
• A caterpillar must pass through the cocoon stage to become a butterfly.毛毛虫必须经过茧的阶段才能变成蝴蝶。

4 caterpillars   

n.毛虫( caterpillar的名词复数 )；履带

参考例句：

• Caterpillars eat the young leaves of this plant. 毛毛虫吃这种植物的嫩叶。
• Caterpillars change into butterflies or moths. 毛虫能变成蝴蝶或蛾子。 来自辞典例句

5 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

6 syrup   

n.糖浆，糖水

参考例句：

• I skimmed the foam from the boiling syrup.我撇去了煮沸糖浆上的泡沫。
• Tinned fruit usually has a lot of syrup with it.罐头水果通常都有许多糖浆。

7 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。

8 lengthen   

vt.使伸长，延长

参考例句：

• He asked the tailor to lengthen his coat.他请裁缝把他的外衣放长些。
• The teacher told her to lengthen her paper out.老师让她把论文加长。

9 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 moth   

n.蛾，蛀虫

参考例句：

• A moth was fluttering round the lamp.有一只蛾子扑打着翅膀绕着灯飞。
• The sweater is moth-eaten.毛衣让蛀虫咬坏了。