The best climbers for bees

Climbers in the catalogue

• BrambleRubus fruticosusJune to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• IvyHedera helixSeptember to November. Nectar very high, pollen very high.Minor honey crop
• BuddleiaBuddleja davidiiJuly to September. Nectar high, pollen low.Not a honey source
• HoneysuckleLonicera periclymenumJune to September. Nectar high, pollen low.Not a honey source
• CotoneasterCotoneasterMay to June. Nectar very high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
• PyracanthaPyracantha coccineaMay to June. Nectar high, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
• WallflowerErysimumMarch to November. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
• White bryonyBryonia dioicaMay to September. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Not a honey source
• PearPyrus communisMarch to May. Nectar low, pollen high.Not a honey source
• ApricotPrunus armeniacaFebruary to April. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
• PeachPrunus persicaMarch to April. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
• Dog roseRosa caninaJune to July. Nectar none, pollen very high.Not a honey source
• Winter clematisClematis cirrhosaNovember to March. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
• AubrietaAubrieta deltoideaMarch to May. Nectar high, pollen high.Not a honey source
• Lesser calamintClinopodium nepetaJuly to November. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
• Winter savorySatureja montanaJuly to September. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
• Giant catmintNepeta racemosaMay to October. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
• XtabentúnTurbina corymbosaNovember to January. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
• PaperbarkMelaleuca speciesOctober to February. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop

What this group covers

12 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.

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.

• Western honey bee
• Bumblebees
• Leafcutter bees
• Mason bees
• White-tailed bumblebee
• Augochlora bees
• Mining bees
• Ivy bee
• Carpenter bees
• Sweat bees
• Red mason bee
• Bryony bee

Honeys from these plants

• Wildflower honeyVaries with the season and the landscape. Pale spring crops are floral and light; late-summer crops darker, fruitier and stronger.
• Urban honeyVaries enormously and is frequently more complex than a rural multifloral, because the flowering succession is longer and the species mix wider.
• Ivy honeyStrong, faintly bitter and distinctly herbal — closer to a dark honey in character than its pale colour suggests.
• Pear blossom honeyVery light and faintly green, with a clean sweetness and almost nothing behind it. Notable chiefly for how hard it is to get.
• Savory honeyIntensely herbal with a distinct peppery, almost oregano-like bite over a warm sweetness — one of the more assertive Mediterranean aromatics.
• Xtabentún honeyPale, aromatic and faintly aniseed, with a clean floral lift. The liqueur made from it leans directly on that anise note.
• Paperbark honeyMedicinal and camphorous over an amber sweetness — a strong, distinctly antiseptic character that some people find difficult.