Trees and Shrubs
| Plant type | Common name | Latin name | Begin Bloom Month | End Bloom Month | Monofloral honey | Availability | Source for honey bees / pounds of honey per acre |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T | Maple | Acer | 2 | 4 | no | feral | major but temperature usually too cold |
| T | Red Maple | Acer rubrum | 2 | 4 | no | feral | major but temperature usually too cold for bees to fly |
| T | Ohio Buckeye | Aesculus glabra | 4 | 5 | no | feral | minor |
| S | Shadbush | Amelanchier arborea | 4 | 5 | no | feral | minor |
| Devils-walkingstick | Aralia spinosa | 7 | 8 | no | feral | minor | |
| S | Red Chokeberry | Aronia arbutifolia, Photinia pyrifolia | 5 | 6 | no | feral | minor |
| S | Black Chokeberry | Aronia melanocarpa | 5 | 6 | no | feral | minor |
| T | Catalpa, Indian Bean | Catalpa speciosa | 6 | 7 | no | feral, ornamental | minor |
| S | Common Hackberry | Celtis occidentalis | 4 | 5 | no | feral | minor |
| S | Buttonbush | Cephalanthus occidentalis | 7 | 8 | Honey is light in color and mild in flavor. | feral | |
| S | Hawthorn | Crataegus | 4 | 5 | no | feral | minor - 50 - 100 pounds/acre |
| S | Honeysuckle | Diervilla lonicera | 6 | 8 | minor | ||
| T | Honey Locust | Gleditsia triancanthos | 5 | 6 | no | feral | minor |
| S | American Holly | Ilex opaca | 4 | 6 | no | feral | minor, important in southeastern US |
| T | Tulip-tree | Liriodendron tulipifera | 5 | 6 | yes, see Monofloral honey | feral | major in southern Appalachians and Piedmont |
| T | Apple | Malus domestica | 4 | 5 | No, the nectar is mostly used for spring brood raising and not stored for surplus. see Monofloral honey | cultivated | minor |
| T | Crab Apple | Malus sylvestris; Malus coronaria | 3 | 6 | no | ornamental | minor |
| T | Cherry | Prunus cerasus | 4 | 5 | no | feral, cultivated | minor |
| T | Pear | Pyrus communis | 4 | 5 | no | cultivated | minor |
| T | Black Cherry | Prunus serotina | 4 | 5 | no | feral, cultivated | minor |
| T | Plum | Prunus | 4 | 5 | no | feral, cultivated | minor |
| S | Common Buckthorn | Rhamnus cathartica | 5 | 6 | no | feral | minor |
| T | Sumac | Rhus glabra | 6 | 7 | mixed with other honeys | feral | major |
| T | Black Locust | Robinia pseudoacacia | 5 | 6 | yes, see Monofloral honey | feral | major - 800 - 1200 pounds/; short bloom period of about 10 days |
| S | Raspberry | Rubus | 5 | 6 | yes, see Monofloral honey | feral, cultivated | major in some areas |
| S | Blackberry | Rubus spp. | 5 | 6 | yes, see Monofloral honey | feral, cultivated | major in some areas |
| T | Willow | Salix | 2 | 4 | no | feral, ornamental | major but outside temperatures are usually too cold for bees to fly. 100 - 150 pounds honey per acre; 1,500 pounds pollen |
| T | Pussy Willow | Salix discolor | 3 | 4 | no | feral, ornamental | major but temperature usually too cold for bees to fly |
| T | Bee bee tree | Tetradium | 7 | 9 | ornamental | major | |
| T | Basswood | Tilia americana, Tilia cordata | 6 | 7 | yes, short flow up to 14 days; Honey white; aromatic see Monofloral honey | feral, ornamental Produces a high volume of honey on a cycle of every five to eight years, with lower volume of nectar other years. | major 800 - 1,100 pounds honey |
| T | American Elm | Ulmus americana | 2 | 4 | no | feral | minor |
| S | Blueberry | Vaccinium corymbosum, Vaccinium angustifolium, Vaccinium pennsylvanicum | 5 | 6 | no. Honey amber and of good flavor. | cultivated | minor in most areas. Strong colonies may store 50-90 pounds of surplus from it. |
| S | Black haw | Viburnum prunifolium | 5 | 6 |
Read more about this topic: Northern American Nectar Sources For Honey Bees
Famous quotes containing the words trees and/or shrubs:
““A thousand Christmas trees! at what apiece?”
He felt some need of softening that to me:
“A thousand trees would come to thirty dollars.”
Then I was certain I had never meant
To let him have them.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“Half-opening her lips to the frost’s morning sigh, how strangely the rose has smiled on a swift-fleeting day of September!
How audacious it is to advance in stately manner before the blue-tit fluttering in the shrubs that have long lost their leaves, like a queen with the spring’s greeting on her lips;
to bloom with steadfast hope that, parted from the cold flower-bed, she may be the last to cling, intoxicated, to a young hostess’s breast.”
—Afanasi Fet (1820–1892)