Pollen source

Definition

Nectar is fuel and pollen is protein, and a colony without stored pollen stops rearing brood within days. Pollen sources matter most in early spring, when a bumblebee queen must provision her first cells within days of emerging. Some plants — poppies, dog rose, St John's wort — offer abundant pollen and no nectar at all.

Honey records that discuss this

• Ceanothus honeyDelicate and clean with a light floral sweetness and a faint spicy edge — mild, and rather more interesting than a pale honey usually is.
• Dandelion honeySharp, pungent and unmistakably strong for a spring honey — a chamomile-and-hay aroma with an animal note behind it that fades as the honey ages.

Plant records that discuss this

• White cloverOne of the very few plants that is both a top-tier nectar source and a substantial pollen source, over a long season, at landscape scale.
• SunflowerAn outstanding late-summer pollen source at a point in the season when pollen is becoming scarce, which matters for colonies raising the bees that will overwinter.
• Sweet chestnutAn exceptional pollen source — the catkins shed enormous quantities — and a good nectar source in the right weather. The pollen arrives at a useful moment for colonies building towards late summer.
• Goat willowThe single most important early-season pollen source across much of Europe. Its value is not in yielding honey but in what it makes possible six weeks later.
• SnowdropRated low for nectar and it matters anyway, which is the clearest case on the site for why timing belongs alongside quantity. A moderate pollen source in February is worth more to a colony than a high one in July.
• Viper's buglossAmong the most productive nectar plants in the European flora per flower, and a good pollen source alongside it. In New Zealand, naturalised echium is a significant commercial honey source under the name blue borage.
• RockroseAn outstanding pollen source and a good nectar one, and a plant that also supplies resin for propolis — an unusual triple contribution.
• ElderA good pollen source with almost nothing to offer in nectar, and the clearest hedgerow example of why the two are rated separately.
• Tulip treeA heavy nectar source and a moderate pollen source, concentrated in a narrow late-spring window.
• AvocadoA heavy nectar and pollen source, and one the bees are notably unenthusiastic about relative to what else is on offer.