The best spring hedging plants for bees
The plants that flower between March and May are feeding colony expansion and solitary emergence at once. Quantity matters less here than presence.
The rule behind this list
Plants the catalogue records as suited to a hedgerow. Filtered to plants whose flowering window overlaps March to May.
Months here are northern-hemisphere temperate. Southern-hemisphere readers should shift by roughly six months — but that shift is an approximation rather than a translation, because day length, rainfall pattern and the local flora do not shift with it. Records that genuinely span both hemispheres say so.
What to prioritise in spring
Spring planting competes with nothing — this is the season most gardens are already reasonably covered in, thanks to fruit blossom, bulbs and the willows. The genuine gaps sit at either end: early March, before the blossom starts, and late May, in the pause between fruit blossom and the summer perennials. A plant that covers either of those is worth two that flower in April.
The spring mistake
Tidying. The single most damaging spring habit is cutting, mowing and clearing at exactly the moment bees need the ground undisturbed and the dandelions flowering. A lawn left uncut through April produces more forage than most deliberate planting, and it costs nothing.
In flower through the whole of spring
- RosemarySalvia rosmarinusFebruary to May. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- CherryPrunus aviumMarch to May. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- LungwortPulmonaria officinalisFebruary to May. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- PrimrosePrimula vulgarisFebruary to May. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- Dead-nettleLamiumJanuary to December. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- GorseUlex europaeusJanuary to December. Nectar none, pollen very high.Not a honey source
- Lesser celandineFicaria vernaFebruary to May. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Not a honey source
- Sea buckthornHippophae rhamnoidesMarch to May. Nectar none, pollen high.Not a honey source
In flower for part of spring
- AppleMalus domesticaApril to May. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- HawthornCrataegus monogynaMay to June. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- Goat willowSalix capreaFebruary to April. Nectar high, pollen very high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- Winter honeysuckleLonicera fragrantissimaDecember to March. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- CatmintNepetaMay to October. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- ComfreySymphytum officinaleMay to September. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- RaspberryRubus idaeusMay to August. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- BlackthornPrunus spinosaMarch to April. Nectar high, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- Crab appleMalus sylvestrisApril to May. Nectar high, pollen very high.Minor honey crop
- RowanSorbus aucupariaMay to June. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- 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
- SycamoreAcer pseudoplatanusApril to May. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- Hardy geraniumGeraniumMay to October. Nectar high, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- BluebellHyacinthoides non-scriptaApril to May. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- Flowering currantRibes sanguineumMarch to April. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- HazelCorylus avellanaJanuary to March. Nectar none, pollen very high.Not a honey source
- Forget-me-notMyosotis sylvaticaApril to June. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- HollyIlex aquifoliumMay to June. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
- ElderSambucus nigraMay to July. Nectar low, pollen high.Not a honey source
- Field mapleAcer campestreApril to May. Nectar very high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- Christmas boxSarcococca confusaDecember to March. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- Winter viburnumViburnum × bodnantenseNovember to March. Nectar moderate, pollen low.Not a honey source
- Guelder roseViburnum opulusMay to July. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- BroomCytisus scopariusApril to June. Nectar none, pollen very high.Not a honey source
- Alder buckthornFrangula alnusMay to July. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
- English oakQuercus roburApril to May. Nectar none, pollen low.Minor honey crop
- GallberryIlex glabraMay to June. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- White bryonyBryonia dioicaMay to September. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Not a honey source
- LogwoodHaematoxylum campechianumJanuary to April. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- TamariskTamarixMay to August. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
- OsierSalix viminalisMarch to April. Nectar moderate, pollen very high.Minor honey crop
- Bird cherryPrunus padusApril to May. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- WhitebeamSorbus ariaMay to June. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
- DogwoodCornus sanguineaMay to July. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
- SpindleEuonymus europaeusMay to June. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- BuckthornRhamnus catharticaMay to June. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- HonestyLunaria annuaApril to June. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- Sweet rocketHesperis matronalisMay to July. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- Shrubby cinquefoilDasiphora fruticosaMay to October. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Not a honey source
- Five fingerPseudopanax arboreusMay to August. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
Check these against your region before planting
9 plants in this group carry an invasiveness or legal restriction note somewhere in the world: Cotoneaster, Sycamore, Gorse, Broom, Tamarisk, Buckthorn, Lesser celandine, Sweet rocket, Sea buckthorn. 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
- Rosemary honeyDelicate and softly aromatic — floral first, with a thin thread of resin behind it that tells you where it came from.
- Hymettus honeyIntensely aromatic and herbal, with a warm thyme character, a resinous maquis edge and a long finish that carries a distinct savoury note.
- 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.
- Narbonne rosemary honeyDelicate and clean with a soft herbal floral note and a texture that does much of the work — one of the classic pale European honeys.
- Wildflower honeyVaries with the season and the landscape. Pale spring crops are floral and light; late-summer crops darker, fruitier and stronger.
- Willow honeyMild, faintly green and quick to set. A spring honey in the literal sense, and one most beekeepers taste and few buyers ever see.
- Raspberry honeyDelicate and lightly fruity with a clean bright acidity — one of the few honeys where a taster unprompted names the right fruit.
- Siberian taiga honeyComplex and warm with a herbal lift over caramel, and a density that comes directly from the low moisture — thick, concentrated and long on the palate.
- Urban honeyVaries enormously and is frequently more complex than a rural multifloral, because the flowering succession is longer and the species mix wider.
- 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.
Keep going
Plan the season
- Seasonal bee planner
It is this season and I want to do this — what should I plant?
- 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?