Cherry BlossomsWith this web page, we will attempt to provide a little information about some of the most important honey plants in North America. This list is not intended to be an exhaustive nor definitive description of our pollen and nectar sources, but rather it may provide a bit of background to folks wondering about the types of flowers honey bees work. We have divided our selections into the four seasons found in most of North America...
Spring Flowers
Summer Flowers
Fall Flowers
Winter Flowers
SPRING FLOWERS
Cherry Blossoms
A Beeyard among Citrus Trees
Honey Bee on Orange Blossom
The RoseThe rose is not considered to be an important nectar or pollen source, but here on the western prairies of Canada (Alberta is the wild rose province) we often catch bees gathering June pollen and perfume from the profusely ubiquitous blossoms. Lovell's comprehensive Honey Plants of North America, published in 1926, includes the rose under pollen plants, but not nectar plants. Frank Pellet (American Honey Plants, 1920) says the rose sometimes produces a minor crop of red coloured honey in arid parts of Oregon and Montana.
The CactiWe don't usually think of the cactus as either a nectar or pollen source, but it occasionally helps fill the dearth between spring fruit and dandelion bloom and mid-summer canola and clover. Here in western Canada, cacti are abundant in the southern badlands along the Montana and North Dakota borders, where summers are hot, sunny, and very dry.
Tulip Poplar
Carragana
SUMMER FLOWERS
Alfalfa
Sweet Clover
Buckwheat
Buckwheat
Hairy Vetch
Garden Flowers
Heather
FALL FLOWERS
Aster
Goldenrod
GoldenrodWINTER FLOWERS
Palm Tree in BlossomReturn to Beekeeping: The Beekeeper's Home Page Beekeeping: The Beekeeper's Home Pages
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
(Beekeeping@shaw.ca)
http://www.badbeekeeping.com