The best field-scale plants for bees

Field and farm scale in the catalogue

• LavenderLavandula angustifoliaJune to August. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
• White cloverTrifolium repensMay to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• SunflowerHelianthus annuusJuly to September. Nectar high, pollen very high.Major honey crop
• Wildflower meadowMixed native floraApril to September. Nectar very high, pollen very high.Major honey crop
• Oilseed rapeBrassica napusApril to June. Nectar very high, pollen very high.Major honey crop
• BuckwheatFagopyrum esculentumJuly to September. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
• AlfalfaMedicago sativaJune to September. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• BorageBorago officinalisJune to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
• PhaceliaPhacelia tanacetifoliaJune to October. Nectar very high, pollen very high.Minor honey crop
• RaspberryRubus idaeusMay to August. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• Red cloverTrifolium pratenseMay to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
• CornflowerCentaurea cyanusJune to September. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
• Common poppyPapaver rhoeasMay to August. Nectar none, pollen very high.Not a honey source
• Sweet cloverMelilotus officinalisJune to August. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• Chinese milk vetchAstragalus sinicusMarch to May. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• ChicoryCichorium intybusJuly to October. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
• Black locustRobinia pseudoacaciaMay to June. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
• SainfoinOnobrychis viciifoliaMay to July. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• MesquiteProsopisApril to August. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• CottonGossypium hirsutumJune to September. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• Yellow starthistleCentaurea solstitialisJune to September. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
• Himalayan balsamImpatiens glanduliferaJuly to October. Nectar very high, pollen very high.Major honey crop
• Japanese knotweedReynoutria japonicaAugust to October. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
• Field beanVicia fabaMay to July. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
• Squash and pumpkinCucurbita pepoJune to September. Nectar high, pollen very high.Not a honey source
• Brazilian pepperSchinus terebinthifoliaSeptember to November. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
• Chinese tallowTriadica sebiferaApril to June. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• MarmeleiroCrotonJune to September. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• KaranjPongamia pinnataMarch to May. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
• SesameSesamum indicumJuly to October. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
• SheaVitellaria paradoxaJanuary to April. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• TamariskTamarixMay to August. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
• Crimson cloverTrifolium incarnatumMay to July. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
• Fodder radishRaphanus sativusAugust to November. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
• CorianderCoriandrum sativumJune to August. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
• Sea buckthornHippophae rhamnoidesMarch to May. Nectar none, pollen high.Not a honey source
• AjwainTrachyspermum ammiJanuary to March. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
• MoringaMoringa oleiferaJanuary to December. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
• BabulVachellia niloticaAugust to November. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• Talh acaciaVachellia seyalFebruary to April. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• MangiumAcacia mangiumFebruary to May. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
• TamarindTamarindus indicaApril to June. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
• Sweet thornVachellia karrooNovember to February. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• Niger seedGuizotia abyssinicaSeptember to November. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• Oil palmElaeis guineensisJanuary to December. Nectar low, pollen very high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
• BushwillowCombretum speciesAugust to November. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
• SoybeanGlycine maxJuly to August. Nectar moderate, pollen low.Minor honey crop
• Common milkweedAsclepias syriacaJune to August. Nectar very high, pollen low.Minor honey crop
• Spanish needleBidens albaJanuary to December. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• SafflowerCarthamus tinctoriusJune to August. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Minor honey crop
• TepezcohuiteMimosa tenuifloraNovember to February. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• AngicoAnadenanthera colubrinaSeptember to November. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• ChañarGeoffroea decorticansSeptember to November. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
• StringybarkEucalyptus macrorhyncha and related speciesDecember to March. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• Yellow gumEucalyptus leucoxylonMay to September. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• Swamp mahoganyEucalyptus robustaMay to August. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
• WilgaGeijera parvifloraJune to October. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor 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
• White-tailed bumblebee
• Mining bees
• Long-horned bees
• Metallic green sweat bee
• Mason bees
• Yellow-legged mining bee
• Egyptian honey bee
• Augochlora bees
• Caucasian honey bee

Honeys from these plants

• Lavender honeyOvertly perfumed — lavender flower, warm hay and a soft fruity sweetness underneath. Aromatic in a way most honeys are not.
• Alcarria honeyDelicate and aromatic, with a clean herbal sweetness — the rosemary type is softer and more floral, the lavender type more perfumed and slightly camphoraceous.
• Rosmaninho honeyAromatic and resinous with a warm herbal sweetness and a faint eucalyptus lift — more robust and less perfumed than Provençal lavender honey.
• Clover honeyWarm, mild and rounded — sweet with a faint cinnamon-and-hay note underneath. The taste most English-speaking readers picture when they read the word honey.
• Wildflower honeyVaries with the season and the landscape. Pale spring crops are floral and light; late-summer crops darker, fruitier and stronger.
• Berseem honeyMild and clean with a soft floral sweetness and a faint hay note — the archetype of an unassuming everyday honey.
• Sunflower honeyStraw, beeswax and pollen, with a slightly waxy mouthfeel and a fresh, faintly herbal edge.
• Alpine meadow honeyComplex and aromatic, with a herbal lift over warm caramel and a distinctly clean finish — the flavour of a great many plants rather than of any one.
• Karakovan honeyComplex, floral and herbal at once, eaten with the wax. Its character is a mountain and a year rather than a species.
• Rapeseed honeyVery sweet, very mild, faintly cabbage-like when fresh and cleanly bland once set. Texture is what it has instead of flavour.
• Himalayan forest honeyComplex and warm, with a herbal and faintly smoky character reflecting both the flora and the traditional processing — spring honey is lighter and more floral, autumn honey darker and more resinous.
• Buckwheat honeyMalt, molasses and wet straw, with a savoury, almost animal depth. The most polarising honey in general production.