Lime vs sycamore
The two most productive nectar trees in temperate Europe, and a study in reputation. One is planted deliberately along avenues and the other is pulled up as a weed.
Which to choose
Neither, for most gardens — both are parkland trees. The decision that actually arises is whether to remove an existing sycamore, and the answer in forage terms is usually no. If you are planting at scale, plant lime for midsummer and keep whatever sycamore you have for spring. At garden scale, plant field maple or crab apple instead.
Why these get compared
Between them these two trees supply more nectar than anything else in a northern European landscape, and their standing among gardeners is almost exactly inverted relative to their value to bees.
Where they differ
| Axis | Lime | Sycamore | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nectar production | The most productive nectar tree in temperate Europe. A single mature tree can carry more forage than a substantial meadow | Comparable, and capable of filling supers in a warm spring | Both are exceptional and both are wildly erratic. Lime is notorious for an enormous crop one year and nothing the next from the same trees; sycamore is almost as weather-dependent. |
| When | June and July — the midsummer flow | April and May — one of the largest spring flows available | They do not compete. Sycamore fills the gap between the blossom and the summer, lime fills midsummer, and a landscape with both is covered from April to July. |
| Honeydew | Heavy aphid populations produce the sticky film on cars parked underneath — collected by bees as a second resource | The same, and substantial | Both trees deliver forage twice: nectar in flower and honeydew through the summer. The sticky car is a forage indicator rather than a nuisance. |
| Reputation | Planted deliberately across European cities as an avenue tree | Widely regarded as a weed in Britain and Ireland, and often removed | The most useful practical point on this page. Where a sycamore already exists it is worth more to bees than almost anything that could replace it, and the instinct to remove one is frequently a mistake in forage terms. |
| Garden suitability | Too large for most gardens, and it tolerates hard pollarding | Too large, and it self-seeds prolifically — which is the source of the bad reputation | Neither belongs in a small garden. Field maple does a similar job at a manageable size and takes clipping, which makes it the practical hedgerow substitute for both. |
| The bumblebee question | Dead bumblebees are found under flowering limes, and the common explanation — toxic nectar — is not well supported | No comparable issue | The better-evidenced explanation for lime is starvation: the trees flower late in the bumblebee colony cycle, workers are drawn to a source running dry, and they die of exhaustion beneath it. Worth knowing before repeating the toxicity claim. |
Where the difference is overstated
Sycamore's status as a weed. It self-seeds enthusiastically and supports fewer specialist invertebrates than a native oak, and it is also one of the largest nectar and honeydew sources in the landscape. Both things are true, and the forage value is routinely left out of the argument.
Sources
- Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland — Bloomsbury (2015) · Field guide
- HoneyHQ editorial synthesis — HEKNO Ltd · HoneyHQ synthesis
How sources are selected and weighted is set out in the sources and evidence policy.