Are there any recommendations for a bee friendly, climbing plant with a neat habit?

[florentina1]

One of my MDay presents was a Bee hotel. I have a very sunny corner to hang it. I want to plant up a pot with climber annuals in the corner. I thought of nasturtium but would love some other ideas

Sweet peas? Or runner beans- bees love them and you would get a harvest too. We grow them every year in a big pot against the wall. Love the scarlet flowers.

cucamelon?
nice cucumbers to harvest as well

I love the idea of runner beans. Is there a variety recommended for pots

I don't know, but for nearly 20 years we have grown the variety Scarlet Emperor in pots against a trellis on the wall. We get so many that we pick them much smaller than they are sold in shops, half the size. The bees are in the flowers all day.

Good luck!

Bear in mind that your bee hotel will be for solitary bees and their nesting season is March/April to June/July so earlier flowering things like peas and sweet peas would be better. I've got a full bee hotel just waiting for them to emerge this year. They are all done by end of June-mid July. Not climbers but I find herbs that flower early like rosemary and fruit flowers are especially enjoyed. It's a lovely thing to have once it gets busy it feels like having your own hive.

We have both mason & leaf cutter bees in our bee hotels - they're active between May-July. I tend not got grow annuals & have focused on perennials like herbs (rosemary, lavender, thyme), fruits (loganberry, blueberry, gooseberry, cherry), buddleia, honeysuckle, roses, spring bulbs & hellebores.
What annuals we do grow, which the bees love, are sunflowers.
Does it have to be annuals?

Thank you for all of these replies, they have been really helpful.

I have placed it on the trellis amongst the Banksaei Lutea Rose. This has thousands of complex flowers from early April. So it will provide shelter but not much in the way of pollen.

The reason for thinking about annuals is because I want to plant a pot underneath it

Plant some Phacelia. Seeds grow readily, and oh my life, the bees go mad for it. The plants buzz all summer and it flowers and flowers.

They also love Monarda (Korean Mint) which is a perennial easily grown from seed which has the bonus of having leaves which are lovely in g&t.

Rosemary definitely too.

Upside down, don’t know how to correct t it

I have never heard of phacellia that s definitely on the list. I am planning Miss Wilmots Ghost too as that is always covered in bees.

Phacelia doesn't climb but it's a bee haven.
Thunbergia is a good option too. Tends to flower well all summer and climbs quite high. Needs a good sunny spot

One you might not have considered...Not truly a climber but can be easily trained into a neat climbing habit (and also it's not an annual), the plant most attractive to bees in spring in my experience, is Cotoneaster horizontalis. The bees seem to prefer its numerous tiny flowers rather than bigger showy types. The plant buzzes from early morning with them. It can be grown in a pot, has flaming autumn colour leaves and blackbirds love the winter berries...

My bee hotel is in a similar spot to yours, I can't tell you how much time I spent last year watching the bees carrying bits of perfectly cut leaves coming and going.

@florentina1

I love the idea of runner beans. Is there a variety recommended for pots

NRFT but Hestia is a dwarf variety that might work