Which flowers produce the most nectar?
Gardening for beesReviewed 2026-08-02
Short answerIt depends
At tree scale, lime and sycamore outproduce everything — a single mature lime can carry more forage than a substantial meadow. At garden scale, borage, phacelia, viper's bugloss, comfrey and catmint are the standouts, and borage wins on a technicality: its florets refill within minutes of being emptied.
The highest producers, by scale
| Plant | Scale | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lime | Tree | The most productive nectar tree in temperate Europe. One mature tree can fill supers in days — and yields nothing in a dry July |
| Sycamore | Tree | An enormous spring flow from flowers nobody notices, plus aphid honeydew later in the year |
| Borage | Garden annual | Refills a floret in two to four minutes, so a bee works the same plant continuously rather than exhausting it |
| Phacelia | Garden annual | Top-rated for nectar and pollen both, over months, from a cheap cover crop |
| Viper's bugloss | Wildflower | Secretes continuously through the afternoon when most plants have stopped, and in heat and drought |
| Comfrey | Garden perennial | Copious, and largely reserved for long-tongued bumblebees by corolla depth |
| Knapweed | Grassland | Among the highest nectar sugar per flower in the British flora, and it runs into September |
Why the biggest producer is not always the best plant
- Timing beats volume. A moderate nectar plant flowering in February is worth more than a very high one flowering in June, because in June a bee has options.
- Accessibility gates it. Comfrey and red clover are exceptional nectar plants that most bees cannot reach into. High nectar plus a deep corolla serves long-tongued bumblebees and nobody else.
- Pollen is a separate resource. Poppy, hazel, gorse and broom produce no nectar at all and are top-rated pollen sources, and pollen rather than nectar usually limits brood rearing in spring.
- Reliability matters. Lime is the most productive nectar tree in Europe and the most erratic — an enormous crop one year and nothing the next from the same trees.
Sources
- Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland — Bloomsbury (2015) · Field guide
- Bumblebees: Behaviour, Ecology, and Conservation — Oxford University Press (2010) · Monograph
How sources are selected and weighted is set out in the sources and evidence policy.
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