Cranberry

Value to bees

Nectar

Moderate

Pollen

Moderate

As a honey crop

Minor honey crop — a surplus only locally or occasionally

Which bees, and why

Bumblebees buzz-pollinate cranberry and are several times more effective per visit than honey bees, which cannot buzz and must work the flower awkwardly. Growers stock honey bees anyway because they can be supplied in bulk — a straightforward case of availability winning over efficiency.

Worth knowing

A moderate nectar and pollen source, and one that honey bees are notably reluctant to work when anything else is available.

Flowering

In flower

June to July (northern hemisphere)

A short window of three to four weeks, and cool wet weather during it depresses honey bee activity substantially.

When nectar flows

Moderate, and the crop is grown for fruit rather than honey. Cranberry honey is produced but the flow is not the reason hives are brought in.

Year-to-year variation

Modest. Commercial cranberry beekeeping is a pollination service rather than a honey enterprise, and colonies frequently need feeding after the bloom.

What it does to the honey

Medium to dark amber, with a distinctly tart, fruity character and a slightly astringent finish that genuinely reflects the fruit. It is one of the more unusual North American monoflorals.

Growing it

Conditions

Acid, peaty, permanently moist soil in full sun. It will not tolerate lime and needs ericaceous conditions.

Size

10-20 cm tall, trailing to 2 m or more.

Native range

Northeastern and north-central North America, in acid bogs and wet heath. Grown commercially in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Quebec and Chile.

Suits

Containers and window boxes, Small gardens

• Grow in ericaceous compost and keep it consistently moist — never let it dry out.
• Rainwater rather than tap water in hard-water areas; lime kills it.
• A container or raised bed of ericaceous compost is the practical route in most gardens.

What it looks like

A low trailing evergreen subshrub with small oval leaves, and pink flowers whose petals sweep backwards to leave the style and anthers projecting — a shape said to resemble a crane's head, which is the origin of the name.