Crocus

Value to bees

Nectar

Moderate

Pollen

Very high

As a honey crop

Not a honey source

Which bees, and why

Worked hard by honey bees on any mild sunny winter day, and by emerging bumblebee queens. The open goblet gives complete access to both stamens and nectar once the flower has warmed enough to open.

Fully open once warm, with exposed pollen and easily reached nectar — accessible to short-tongued bees, which is exactly what is needed this early.

Worth knowing

Very high pollen at a point in the year when pollen is the binding constraint on a colony starting to raise brood. Bees return from crocus carrying enormous bright orange loads, which is one of the most cheerful sights in a February apiary.

Flowering

In flower

January to April (northern hemisphere)

The early species crocuses — Crocus tommasinianus and C. chrysanthus — flower from January and February, well before the large Dutch hybrids. Autumn-flowering species extend the genus into September and October.

When nectar flows

The flowers are thermonastic: they open above roughly 10 °C and close again when it cools or clouds over. That happens to be almost exactly the threshold at which honey bees will fly, so the forage is available whenever it can be used.

Year-to-year variation

Reliable every year once established. Never a crop — what matters is the date, not the volume.

Growing it

Conditions

Full sun to light shade, sharp drainage. It rots in wet ground.

Size

8-15 cm.

Native range

Southern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and central Asia.

Suits

Containers and window boxes, Small gardens, Large gardens, Orchard, Meadow or wildflower area

• Plant the early species crocuses rather than only the large Dutch hybrids — Crocus tommasinianus flowers weeks earlier and naturalises freely in grass.
• Naturalise in lawns and under deciduous trees, and do not mow until the foliage has died back in May.
• Plant in generous drifts. A dozen crocuses is decoration; two hundred is forage.
• Squirrels and mice dig up newly planted corms. Tommasinianus is markedly less attractive to them than the large hybrids.

What it looks like

A small corm producing grassy leaves with a pale central stripe and goblet-shaped flowers in purple, white, yellow or striped, opening flat in sun to reveal prominent orange stamens.