Why do bees like laurel

It looks like a tiny slug like creature, would like to know what it is. Location is North Wales. Laurel has extra-floral nectaries which produce nectar which the bees are gathering, There are several theories about the function of these nectaries. Thank you Triops, not heard of this before but it would explain why there is always a buzzing noise under the Laurel tree. That has probably saved the tree, we were going to take it down but will now only trim enough to enable easy access for vehicles.

Our garden is dedicated to insect friendly environment, never thought that Laurel had any use but just goes to show how integrated the natural world is.

Most Prunus Laurel is Prunus laurocerasus have the extra-floral nectaries and these are found on the underside of the leaf along the midrib in the case of Laurel. More commonly they are found on the leaf petiole near the base of the leaf. I have seen wasps visiting laurel in the spring as well.

In this instance your photo does not show one the nectaries, but I think the dark spot is a scale insect. As with other sap sucking insects they do produce honeydew as a waste product which still contains sugar and this could also be attracting the bees. The honeydew can also drip down on to the foliage below and you can get sooty mould growth on the leaves.

Flowering should be avoided and restricted with this species! Thrives in the British climate, liking many soils ranging from alkaline to acid, moist and well drained and tolerating shade. Although this is really an unwanted species, if we are stuck with it, we can look on its positive sides: used as hedging, and kept in check, the leaves produce nectar..

I found a theory that the plant releases nectar in this way as a defence mechanism against pests. A plant under attack from pests might give off nectar from its leaves to attract predatory insects like flies, ladybirds and wasps who will feast on the nectar but also gorge on any small plant-eating types [ rather clever ].

There was some visible damage to the leaves [ like in the photo below ] so it might make sense that the plant took some defensive measures. Natural communities are packed full of beneficial relationships and it makes me wonder whether there is a role for the bees here that we do not yet understand. Or perhaps there is such a thing as a free lunch in nature and the cherry laurel simply releases its nectar to the bees out of pure pleasure :.

Bees and plants have been working together in this way for the last million years [ the oldest honeybee fossil was found in Burma in ] and as a result, have built highly sophisticated relationships. Modern humans have had about , years to develop our communities.

I believe they get nectar from the leaves. I have Golden Laurel around part of my garden the bees love it. Gilberdyke John said:. Marton House Bee. Seems to be to encourage ants to fend of aphids. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro.

Photo of Honeybee working extrafloral nectaries of laurel. Lots of plants have extra floral nectaries. Bracken has nectaries too but you can't really call them extrafloral as they aren't a flowering plant. Nectaries predate the evolution of flowering plants. Honeybee working Extrafloral on Laurel. Beagle23 House Bee.