Tagasaste

Value to bees

Nectar

Moderate

Pollen

High

As a honey crop

Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus

Which bees, and why

Bumblebees are heavy enough to trip the young flowers; honey bees mostly wait for bumblebees to open them, work older flowers that stay open, or take nectar through holes bumblebees bite in the calyx.

A closed flag blossom under tension: young flowers need a heavy bee to open them, which is why few honey bees are seen on a tree at once.

Worth knowing

Sources differ on its weight as a pollen plant: an older field study judged it unimportant for honey bees, while New Zealand beekeepers rely on it where little else flowers, and one pollen sample measured 35% crude protein.

Flowering

Typically in flower

June to September (southern hemisphere)

In New Zealand: from as early as June, peaking August–September, and for up to four months on one plant.

A typical window for the species, HoneyHQ synthesis — it moves with latitude, altitude and the year.

When nectar flows

The nectar sits inside the keel and is reached only once a flower is tripped open. Bagged week-old flowers held about 2.6 µl each.

Growing it

Conditions

Full sun on light, free-draining soil; drought-tolerant once established, and it fixes nitrogen.

Native range

Canary Islands. Introduced and naturalised in New Zealand, Australia, California, Hawaii and East Africa.

Suits

Farm scale, Hedgerow

What it looks like

A fast-growing shrub or small tree with soft grey-green trifoliate leaves and dense branches of white pea flowers, opening in several stages along each branch.