Honeysuckle family plants for bees
Scabious for late summer, honeysuckle for moths and long-tongued bees, and one shrub that flowers through the coldest part of the year.
Why this family matters
This family splits usefully in two. The scabious group — field scabious, small scabious, devil's-bit, teasel — produces composite heads of shallow florets that are among the very best late-summer nectar sources in a British garden and are worked by an unusually wide range of solitary bees. The honeysuckles proper go the other way: long tubular corollas evolved for moths and for the longest-tongued bumblebees, which makes them beautiful, valuable to a narrow group, and useless to a honey bee.
When it flowers
Winter honeysuckle covers December to March, which is a genuinely rare thing. The scabious group then runs from June to October, filling the late-summer gap that most gardens have. Abelia and seven-son flower extend into November in mild years.
Which bees it serves
Devil's-bit scabious supports several scarce solitary bees and is worth planting for that alone. The tubular honeysuckles favour garden bumblebees and carder bees with the tongue length to reach the nectar; short-tongued bees frequently rob them through a hole bitten at the base, which is worth watching for because it is the clearest demonstration of corolla depth mattering.
Honeysuckle family plants in the catalogue
- Winter honeysuckleLonicera fragrantissimaDecember to March. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- HoneysuckleLonicera periclymenumJune to September. Nectar high, pollen low.Not a honey source
- Field scabiousKnautia arvensisJuly to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- TeaselDipsacus fullonumJuly to August. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- Small scabiousScabiosa columbariaJune to October. Nectar high, pollen high.Not a honey source
- Devil's-bit scabiousSuccisa pratensisJuly to October. Nectar very high, pollen high.Not a honey source
- SnowberrySymphoricarpos albusJune to September. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
- AbeliaLinnaea x grandifloraJuly to November. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- Seven-son flowerHeptacodium miconioidesSeptember to October. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
What this group covers
10 of 12 months have something in flower. Nectar and pollen are counted separately and a month counts only where at least one plant offers that resource at moderate value or better — a plant in flower is not the same as a plant worth visiting.
| Month | In flower | Nectar | Pollen |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1 | Yes | Yes |
| February | 1 | Yes | Yes |
| March | 1 | Yes | Yes |
| April | nothing | No | No |
| May | nothing | No | No |
| June | 3 | Yes | Yes |
| July | 7 | Yes | Yes |
| August | 7 | Yes | Yes |
| September | 7 | Yes | Yes |
| October | 4 | Yes | Yes |
| November | 1 | Yes | Yes |
| December | 1 | Yes | Yes |
What this group does not cover
Nothing in flower: April, May. Planting only from this group would leave those months empty.
Check these against your region before planting
2 plants in this group carry an invasiveness or legal restriction note somewhere in the world: Honeysuckle, Teasel. HoneyHQ does not know where you are and will not guess, so it flags rather than filters.
Bees these plants are recorded with
Taken from the relationships on each plant record. These are the well-attested associations rather than an exhaustive list of visitors, so treat the number as a floor.
Honeys from these plants
Other families
- Daisy family
- Mint family
- Rose family
- Pea family
- Heather family
- Buttercup family
- Myrtle family
- Cabbage family
- Borage family
- Carrot family
- Mallow family
- Onion family
- Buckthorn family
- Maple and horse chestnut family
- Sapodilla family
- Plantain family
- Citrus family
- Protea family
- Primrose family
- Asparagus family
- Currant family
- Elder and viburnum family
- Pine family
- Cashew and mango family
- Palm family
- Ivy family
- Oak and chestnut family
- Leatherwood family
- Spurge family
Plan with these
- Flowering calendar
What should I plant so that something is always in flower for bees?
- Bee-friendly garden planner
What should I plant in the space I actually have?
- Plant recommendation tool
Which plant fills this specific gap?