Why don't the bees like my hydrangea

[Dowser]

I've left them the lavender for the last couple of years and they loved that. Now they are turning their attention to the marigolds and my dahlias but they avoid the much bigger, showier hydrangea like the plague.

Ditto the geraniums.

Ooh I might have answered my own question here. The dahlia and marigold have fleshy middles, the geranium and hydrangea have flat flower heads. Wonder if that's why.
They are queuing up to get into this yellow dahlia, yet there are loads of heads on the hydrangea. Not mop heads this year. Very poor showing of them. Lots of little ones.

I like the bees.

[pombearcat]

Some of the more showy flowers don't have much value to bees in terms of nectar or pollen ....my bees ignore my geraniums ..and if there's something better on offer they'll go fir that first.

[TimTamTerrier]

I have fuchsia in my front garden and the bees go mad for it, but ignore the hydrangeas (both mop head and paniculata) completely. I suspect that there is nothing for them to harvest in hydrangeas.

[shovetheholly]

Some flowers don't have much in the way of nectar or pollen for bees - lots of hydrangea varieties fall into this category! That's because what we call 'flowers' are actually a kind of bract called a spathe, more like a leaf than a flower, and the actual flowers (the tiny bits in the middle) are often sterile. The paniculata varieties are better (and, in my opinion, also prettier!) as they are more fertile and are often thronging with bees.