The best winter trees 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 tree. 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
- EucalyptusEucalyptusJanuary to December. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- KanukaKunzea ericoidesNovember to February. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- LoquatEriobotrya japonicaNovember to February. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- ChiuriDiploknema butyraceaDecember to February. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
- CashewAnacardium occidentaleNovember to February. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- Winter-flowering cherryPrunus x subhirtellaNovember to March. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Not a honey source
- MoringaMoringa oleiferaJanuary to December. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
- Coconut palmCocos nuciferaJanuary to December. Nectar moderate, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- Sweet thornVachellia karrooNovember to February. 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
- TepezcohuiteMimosa tenuifloraNovember to February. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- StringybarkEucalyptus macrorhyncha and related speciesDecember to March. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- PaperbarkMelaleuca speciesOctober to February. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
In flower for part of winter
- Strawberry treeArbutus unedoOctober to December. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
- SidrZiziphus spina-christiOctober to December. 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
- AlmondPrunus dulcisFebruary to March. Nectar very high, pollen very high.Minor honey crop
- QuillayQuillaja saponariaNovember to January. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
- AvocadoPersea americanaFebruary to May. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- RewarewaKnightia excelsaOctober to December. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- PohutukawaMetrosideros excelsaNovember to January. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- JarrahEucalyptus marginataSeptember to January. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- LeatherwoodEucryphia lucidaJanuary to March. Nectar very high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- LogwoodHaematoxylum campechianumJanuary to April. Nectar very high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- Southern beechFuscosporaJanuary to April. Nectar none, pollen low.Major honey crop
- SheaVitellaria paradoxaJanuary to April. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- BaobabAdansonia digitataOctober to December. Nectar high, pollen high.Minor honey crop
- MopaneColophospermum mopaneSeptember to December. Nectar moderate, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- MangoMangifera indicaJanuary to April. Nectar high, pollen high.Major honey crop
- ApricotPrunus armeniacaFebruary to April. Nectar high, pollen high.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
- MangiumAcacia mangiumFebruary to May. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Major honey crop
- TiacaCaldcluvia paniculataJanuary to March. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
- TowaiWeinmannia silvicolaOctober to December. Nectar high, pollen moderate.Minor honey crop
Check these against your region before planting
3 plants in this group carry an invasiveness or legal restriction note somewhere in the world: Eucalyptus, Mangium, Sweet thorn. 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
- 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.
- White box honeyClean and lightly caramelised with a faint buttery smoothness — mild, dense and highly regarded within Australia.
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?