I love watching bees swarm the stonecrops on nice sunny afternoons. If a garden is thriving, the bees will come to visit, but if you want to entice them further, here are a few pointers.

Avoid using insecticides, pesticides or harsh fertilizers.

Bees like tiny flowers that make it easier for them to collect pollen and nectar, so plant as many of the following as possible to attract them: sedums, catmints, beebalm, lemon balm, goldenrod, lavender, butterfly bush, mint, basil, thyme, rosemary and verbena.

If you can, provide a source of fresh water.

Choose native and heirloom species, they constitute better sources of pollen, which is bred out of the hybrid varieties in the process of hybridization.

Have flowers in bloom for all the seasons. Plant herbs, they love herbs. Make rooms for flowering trees.

Allow the garden to grow a little wild to make the bees feel more at home and provide them with shelter.

Author's Bio: 

Main Areas: Garden Writing; Sustainable Gardening; Homegrown Harvest
Published Books: “Terra Two”; “Generations”; "The Plant - A Steampunk Story"; "Letters to Lelia"; "Fair"; "Door Number Eight"; "A Year and A Day"; "Möbius' Code"
Career Focus: Author; Consummate Gardener;
Affiliation: All Year Garden; The Weekly Gardener; Francis Rosenfeld's Blog

I started blogging in 2010, to share the joy of growing all things green and the beauty of the garden through the seasons. Two garden blogs were born: allyeargarden.com and theweeklygardener.com, a periodical that followed it one year later. I wanted to assemble an informal compendium of the things I learned from my grandfather, wonderful books, educational websites, and my own experience, in the hope that other people might use it in their own gardening practice.