The best winter shrubs for bees
Almost nothing flowers, which is exactly why what does is worth planting. A garden's value is limited by its worst month.
The rule behind this list
Every plant in the catalogue recorded as a shrub. Filtered to plants whose flowering window overlaps December to February.
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 winter
The highest-leverage planting on this entire site, because the competition is nil. Winter honeysuckle, winter viburnum, hellebore, winter aconite, snowdrop, winter clematis, hardy cyclamen and early crocus between them cover December to February. Any one of them changes a garden's worst month; three or four of them together change its year.
The winter mistake
Assuming there is no point, because there are no bees about. There are — bumblebee queens and honey bees fly on mild winter afternoons, and increasingly buff-tailed colonies forage right through in mild cities. The bees are the reason this planting works, not an obstacle to it.
In flower through the whole of winter
- MahoniaMahonia × mediaNovember to February. Nectar high, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- Winter honeysuckleLonicera fragrantissimaDecember to March. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- GorseUlex europaeusJanuary to December. Nectar none, pollen very high.Not a honey source
- 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
- Witch hazelHamamelis × intermediaDecember to March. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- Prickly boxBursaria spinosaDecember to February. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- ManzanitaArctostaphylos speciesDecember to March. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
- MandacaruCereus jamacaruNovember to February. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
In flower for part of winter
- RosemarySalvia rosmarinusFebruary to May. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- MānukaLeptospermum scopariumNovember to January. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- HazelCorylus avellanaJanuary to March. Nectar none, pollen very high.Not a honey source
- BottlebrushMelaleuca citrinaOctober to January. Nectar very high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- TeaCamellia sinensisOctober to December. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- DaphneDaphneJanuary to April. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- Oil-tea camelliaCamellia oleiferaOctober to December. Nectar very high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
Check these against your region before planting
2 plants in this group carry an invasiveness or legal restriction note somewhere in the world: Mānuka, Gorse. 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.
- Manuka honeyEarthy, mineral and damp — heather-like without the smoke, with a faintly medicinal edge. Distinctive rather than delicious, and not what most people expect for the price.
- New Zealand bush honeyWarm and rounded with a light caramel base and a faint resinous lift, and considerable variation between regions — generally more approachable than any of its monofloral components.
- Prickly box honeyMild and clean with a soft floral sweetness and a faint honeyed-almond note — pleasant and considerably gentler than leatherwood.
- Bottlebrush honeyStrong and malty with a resinous depth and a faint medicinal lift — assertive, and a surprise to anyone who expects a garden shrub to make a mild honey.
- Tea blossom honeyMild and creamy with a distinct faint bitterness and a green vegetal note that is recognisably tea-like — an unusual profile and a divisive one.
- Oil-tea camellia honeyPale, thin and distinctly bitter, with an astringent tea-like finish. Not a beginner's honey and not really a pleasure honey.
- Manzanita honeyDelicate and faintly spicy, with a clean short finish. Interesting mostly for when it is made rather than for how it tastes.
- Caatinga honeyWarm, resinous and floral at once, with real complexity from a flora that exists nowhere else. Variability is inherent rather than a defect.
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?