Maple family plants for bees
Early spring trees producing nectar in the quantity a colony needs precisely when it is expanding fastest. Sycamore in particular is badly underrated.
Why this family matters
The maples and horse chestnuts flower in April and May with small inconspicuous flowers in very large numbers, and they yield heavily. Sycamore is treated as a weed tree across Britain and is one of the most productive spring nectar sources in the country; field maple is the native equivalent and belongs in any mixed hedge. Horse chestnut adds a detail worth knowing: its flowers change the colour of their nectar guides from yellow to red once the nectar is spent, which is a signal to pollinators not to bother.
When it flowers
Compressed and early — April and May for all four members. That timing is what makes them valuable, because it coincides with maximum brood rearing and minimum alternative forage.
Which bees it serves
Worked heavily by honey bees for both nectar and pollen, and by early bumblebees. Sycamore and maples also host large aphid populations, which makes them a source of honeydew later in the summer — the same tree can therefore contribute twice in a season by two completely different mechanisms.
Maple and horse chestnut family plants in the catalogue
- Horse chestnutAesculus hippocastanumApril to May. Nectar very high, pollen very high.Minor honey crop
- SycamoreAcer pseudoplatanusApril to May. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- Field mapleAcer campestreApril to May. Nectar very high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- Norway mapleAcer platanoidesApril to May. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- LycheeLitchi chinensisFebruary to April. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- RambutanNephelium lappaceumJanuary to March. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
What this group covers
5 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 | 2 | Yes | Yes |
| March | 2 | Yes | Yes |
| April | 5 | Yes | Yes |
| May | 4 | Yes | Yes |
| June | nothing | No | No |
| July | nothing | No | No |
| August | nothing | No | No |
| September | nothing | No | No |
| October | nothing | No | No |
| November | nothing | No | No |
| December | nothing | No | No |
What this group does not cover
Nothing in flower: June, July, August, September, October, November, December. 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: Sycamore, Norway maple. 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
- Urban honeyVaries enormously and is frequently more complex than a rural multifloral, because the flowering succession is longer and the species mix wider.
- Tochi honeyMalty and rich with a distinct woody astringency and a long dry finish — assertive without being harsh, and closer to a dark forest honey than to a blossom one.
- Wildflower honeyVaries with the season and the landscape. Pale spring crops are floral and light; late-summer crops darker, fruitier and stronger.
- Sycamore honeydew honeyMalty and mildly sweet with a savoury, faintly smoky depth and a mineral finish — less resinous than the conifer honeydews and more caramelised.
- Red maple honeyWarm and lightly caramelised with a faint woody note — a straightforward honey, and one that surprises people expecting it to taste of maple syrup.
- Field maple honeyFresh and faintly green with a warm caramel base — a spring honey with rather more body than its colour suggests.
- Lychee honeyDelicately floral with a distinct rose-and-lychee perfume, and a clean sweetness underneath that keeps it from being heavy.
- Madagascar litchi honeyOvertly aromatic — muscat grape and rose over a light caramel body. One of the more perfumed honeys in the catalogue.
- Rambutan honeySoft, floral and faintly muscat — closer to lychee honey than to anything temperate, and gentler than most tropical honeys.
Other families
- Daisy family
- Mint family
- Rose family
- Pea family
- Honeysuckle family
- Heather family
- Buttercup family
- Myrtle family
- Cabbage family
- Borage family
- Carrot family
- Mallow family
- Onion family
- Buckthorn 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?