Lemon

Value to bees

Nectar

Very high

Pollen

Moderate

As a honey crop

Major honey crop — yields a surplus in good years

Which bees, and why

Worked heavily during the flush, and hives are moved into groves for it. Commercial lemon fruiting does not depend on bee pollination, so the relationship is largely one-way — the bees gain far more than the grove does.

Open flowers with accessible nectar, usable by short-tongued bees.

Worth knowing

Excellent nectar over an unusually long and repeated window, and only a moderate pollen contribution.

Flowering

In flower

March to June (northern hemisphere)

The main spring flush, with secondary flowerings through the year in warm climates — everbearing behaviour that few other fruit trees share.

When nectar flows

Generous nectar and a very strong scent. Warm still weather during the flush produces an intense flow.

Year-to-year variation

Dependable where lemons are grown at grove scale, and more variable than orange because the repeated flowering spreads the nectar across the year.

What it does to the honey

Lemon nectar gives the honey a sharp zest-and-blossom character with a genuine acidity behind it, distinctly greener and more cutting than orange blossom honey.

Growing it

Conditions

Full sun, sharp drainage, and protection from frost. Perfectly happy in a large container moved under cover for winter in cool climates.

Size

3-6 m.

Native range

Probably northeast India and Myanmar as a natural hybrid, cultivated around the Mediterranean since the medieval period.

Suits

Containers and window boxes, Small gardens, Large gardens, Orchard

• One of the easiest citrus to grow in a pot in a temperate climate, and it will flower and scent a conservatory through much of the year.
• Feed with a citrus-specific fertiliser; general feeds produce yellowing leaves.
• Do not overwater in winter. More container citrus is killed by wet roots in January than by cold.

What it looks like

A small thorny evergreen tree with glossy aromatic leaves and waxy five-petalled flowers, white inside and flushed purple outside, opening in flushes through much of the year.