# 🐝 **SPRING POTS THAT FEED ORCHARD BEES**

## 🌱 What’s happening right now?

In early spring, **orchard bees (mason bees)** (*Osmia*) are emerging from their cocoons.

* They hatch when days reach ~10–12 °C
* They live only **3–6 weeks**
* In that short time, they must:

  * find flowers
  * collect pollen and nectar
  * build nests and lay eggs

👉 **If food is missing for even a short time, reproduction fails.**

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# 🌸 WHY THESE POTS WORK

Each pot is planted with **layers of bulbs** that bloom in sequence, matching the bee’s life cycle.

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## 🗓️ BLOOM SEQUENCE (YOUR POT)

### 🌼 RIGHT NOW (Mid–Late April)

**Crocus chrysanthus — Snow Crocus**

* One of the **first real pollen sources**
* Provides **protein-rich pollen** for larvae
* Supports bees just after emergence

👉 These are blooming now.

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### 🌷 NEXT (Late April)

**Crocus tommasinianus — Tommie Crocus**

* Continues pollen supply
* Extends feeding window so bees don’t run out

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### 🌸 FOLLOWING

**Scilla forbesii — Glory of the Snow**

* Good nectar source
* Bridges early crocus to later flowers

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### 🌿 LATE SPRING

**Muscari armeniacum — Grape Hyacinth**

* Long-lasting blooms
* Provides **steady nectar for energy**
* Helps bees complete nesting cycle

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# 🌼 WHAT ABOUT DANDELIONS?

**Taraxacum officinale — Dandelion**

* Arrives mid–spring
* Becomes a **major food source**

👉 **Important:**
If you mow lawns too early, you remove one of the largest food supplies.

✔ Let dandelions flower for a few weeks
✔ Then mow after bees have used them

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# ⚠️ A NOTE ON EARLY FLOWERS

Not all early flowers are equal:

* **Snowdrops & Siberian Squill** → mostly nectar, less pollen value
* **Crocus** → provides **significant pollen**, which bees need to raise young

👉 That’s why crocus is a key part of these pots.

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# 🐝 THE BIG IDEA

Orchard bees don’t need one flower —
they need a **continuous sequence**:

**Crocus → more Crocus → Glory → Muscari → Dandelions**

That sequence allows them to:

* survive
* gather enough pollen
* successfully reproduce

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# 🌸 YOUR OPTIONS

* **Spring Starter Pots ($15)**
  Simple, single bloom

* **Pot of Spring ($20)**
  A sequence of flowers

* **Glorious Pot of Spring ($35)**
  Full spring progression for pollinators

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## 🌱 AFTER FLOWERING

* Let leaves die back naturally
* Plant bulbs in the ground
* They will return every year and multiply

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## 💡 SIMPLE TRUTH

**A gap in bloom = a gap in life.
Continuous bloom = successful pollination.**