The best spring trees 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
Every plant in the catalogue recorded as a tree. 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
- CherryPrunus aviumMarch to May. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- EucalyptusEucalyptusJanuary to December. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- LemonCitrus limonMarch to June. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- Sweet orangeCitrus sinensisMarch to May. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- AvocadoPersea americanaFebruary to May. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- PearPyrus communisMarch to May. Nectar low, pollen high.Not a honey source
- KaranjPongamia pinnataMarch to May. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- NeemAzadirachta indicaMarch to May. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- MoringaMoringa oleiferaJanuary to December. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
- Coconut palmCocos nuciferaJanuary to December. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- MangiumAcacia mangiumFebruary to May. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- NiaouliMelaleuca quinquenerviaMarch to July. 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
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
- Ogeechee tupeloNyssa ogecheApril to May. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- Goat willowSalix capreaFebruary to April. Nectar high, pollen very 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
- 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
- AlmondPrunus dulcisFebruary to March. Nectar very high, pollen very high.Minor honey crop
- JujubeZiziphus jujubaMay to July. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- HollyIlex aquifoliumMay to June. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
- Field mapleAcer campestreApril to May. Nectar very high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- Black locustRobinia pseudoacaciaMay to June. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- Tulip treeLiriodendron tulipiferaMay to June. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- MesquiteProsopisApril to August. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- LeatherwoodEucryphia lucidaJanuary to March. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- English oakQuercus roburApril to May. Nectar none, pollen low.Minor honey crop
- PlumPrunus domesticaMarch to April. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- Chinese tallowTriadica sebiferaApril to June. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- LogwoodHaematoxylum campechianumJanuary to April. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- American persimmonDiospyros virginianaMay to June. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
- Southern beechFuscosporaJanuary to April. Nectar none, pollen low.Major honey crop
- SheaVitellaria paradoxaJanuary to April. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- ArganArgania spinosaApril to June. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- MahuaMadhuca longifoliaMarch to April. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- MangoMangifera indicaJanuary to April. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- Bird cherryPrunus padusApril to May. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- QuinceCydonia oblongaMay to June. Nectar high, pollen high.Not a honey source
- MedlarMespilus germanicaMay to June. Nectar high, 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
- Norway mapleAcer platanoidesApril to May. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- WhitebeamSorbus ariaMay to June. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
- Winter-flowering cherryPrunus x subhirtellaNovember to March. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- Holm oakQuercus ilexApril to May. Nectar none, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
- Talh acaciaVachellia seyalFebruary to April. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- DurianDurio zibethinusFebruary to April. 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
- TamarindTamarindus indicaApril to June. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
- TiacaCaldcluvia paniculataJanuary to March. 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
- Five fingerPseudopanax arboreusMay to August. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
Check these against your region before planting
8 plants in this group carry an invasiveness or legal restriction note somewhere in the world: Eucalyptus, Sycamore, Black locust, Mesquite, Chinese tallow, Norway maple, Mangium, Niaouli. 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
- Wildflower honeyVaries with the season and the landscape. Pale spring crops are floral and light; late-summer crops darker, fruitier and stronger.
- Eucalyptus honeyWoody and faintly medicinal, with caramel and a cool eucalypt lift. More savoury than its colour suggests.
- Jarrah honeyDark, malty and caramelised, with a coffee-and-treacle depth and much less of the medicinal edge a comparably dark honey usually carries.
- Ethiopian red honeyStrong and warm with a malty depth, a resinous eucalyptus lift and a faint smokiness from traditional harvesting — an assertive honey that stands up to fermentation.
- Messmate honeyStrong and resinous with a malty depth and a faintly medicinal eucalypt lift — assertive and unmistakably Australian.
- Blackbutt honeyWarm and caramelised with a light resinous edge — one of the milder eucalypt honeys and a good introduction to the group.
- Grey box honeyClean and lightly caramelised with a faint buttery quality — mild for a eucalypt honey and highly regarded for its density and smoothness.
- Yapunyah honeyMild and buttery with a light caramel sweetness and a clean finish — smooth in a way that people notice before they notice the flavour.
- Coolibah honeyMild and clean with a light caramel note and a soft buttery finish — undemanding and pleasant.
- Mallee honeyMild and clean with a light caramel sweetness and a faint eucalypt lift — approachable and consistent.
- Bloodwood honeyStrong and malty with a resinous depth and a distinct woody astringency — one of the more assertive Australian honeys.
- Spotted gum honeyWarm and caramelised with a light resinous lift and a rounded finish — a middle-weight eucalypt honey and a very usable one.
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?