Northern American Nectar Sources For Honey Bees - Trees and Shrubs

Trees and Shrubs

Plant type Common name Latin name Begin Bloom Month End Bloom Month Monofloral honey Availability Source for honey bees / pounds of honey per acre
T Maple Acer 2 4 no feral major but temperature usually too cold
T Red Maple Acer rubrum 2 4 no feral major but temperature usually too cold for bees to fly
T Ohio Buckeye Aesculus glabra 4 5 no feral minor
S Shadbush Amelanchier arborea 4 5 no feral minor
Devils-walkingstick Aralia spinosa 7 8 no feral minor
S Red Chokeberry Aronia arbutifolia, Photinia pyrifolia 5 6 no feral minor
S Black Chokeberry Aronia melanocarpa 5 6 no feral minor
T Catalpa, Indian Bean Catalpa speciosa 6 7 no feral, ornamental minor
S Common Hackberry Celtis occidentalis 4 5 no feral minor
S Buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis 7 8 Honey is light in color and mild in flavor. feral
S Hawthorn Crataegus 4 5 no feral minor - 50 - 100 pounds/acre
S Honeysuckle Diervilla lonicera 6 8 minor
T Honey Locust Gleditsia triancanthos 5 6 no feral minor
S American Holly Ilex opaca 4 6 no feral minor, important in southeastern US
T Tulip-tree Liriodendron tulipifera 5 6 yes, see Monofloral honey feral major in southern Appalachians and Piedmont
T Apple Malus domestica 4 5 No, the nectar is mostly used for spring brood raising and not stored for surplus. see Monofloral honey cultivated minor
T Crab Apple Malus sylvestris; Malus coronaria 3 6 no ornamental minor
T Cherry Prunus cerasus 4 5 no feral, cultivated minor
T Pear Pyrus communis 4 5 no cultivated minor
T Black Cherry Prunus serotina 4 5 no feral, cultivated minor
T Plum Prunus 4 5 no feral, cultivated minor
S Common Buckthorn Rhamnus cathartica 5 6 no feral minor
T Sumac Rhus glabra 6 7 mixed with other honeys feral major
T Black Locust Robinia pseudoacacia 5 6 yes, see Monofloral honey feral major - 800 - 1200 pounds/; short bloom period of about 10 days
S Raspberry Rubus 5 6 yes, see Monofloral honey feral, cultivated major in some areas
S Blackberry Rubus spp. 5 6 yes, see Monofloral honey feral, cultivated major in some areas
T Willow Salix 2 4 no feral, ornamental major but outside temperatures are usually too cold for bees to fly. 100 - 150 pounds honey per acre; 1,500 pounds pollen
T Pussy Willow Salix discolor 3 4 no feral, ornamental major but temperature usually too cold for bees to fly
T Bee bee tree Tetradium 7 9 ornamental major
T Basswood Tilia americana, Tilia cordata 6 7 yes, short flow up to 14 days; Honey white; aromatic see Monofloral honey feral, ornamental Produces a high volume of honey on a cycle of every five to eight years, with lower volume of nectar other years. major 800 - 1,100 pounds honey
T American Elm Ulmus americana 2 4 no feral minor
S Blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum, Vaccinium angustifolium, Vaccinium pennsylvanicum 5 6 no. Honey amber and of good flavor. cultivated minor in most areas. Strong colonies may store 50-90 pounds of surplus from it.
S Black haw Viburnum prunifolium 5 6

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Famous quotes containing the words trees and/or shrubs:

    “Though trees turn bare and girls turn wives,
    We shall afford our costly seasons;
    There is a gentleness survives
    That will outspeak and has its reasons.
    There is a loveliness exists,
    Preserves us, not for specialists.”
    —William Dewitt Snodgrass (b. 1926)

    “Half-opening her lips to the frost’s morning sigh, how strangely the rose has smiled on a swift-fleeting day of September!
    How audacious it is to advance in stately manner before the blue-tit fluttering in the shrubs that have long lost their leaves, like a queen with the spring’s greeting on her lips;
    to bloom with steadfast hope that, parted from the cold flower-bed, she may be the last to cling, intoxicated, to a young hostess’s breast.”
    —Afanasi Fet (1820–1892)