Dandelions Besides being a tremendous early
season for us, dandelion blossoms are often the first
significant nectar source for honey bees. The cheerful
flowers also provide a nutritious source of pollen.
Short of having your neighbors riot, leave as many
dandelions as you can.
Raspberries & Blackberries Surprisingly, raspberries and blackberries are a valuable nectar source for
the honey bees in the middle of the season. This is
good news since it not only means honey for the bees,
but a bounty of berries for our own harvest.
Knapweed Despite being a blight throughout the
West, bees love knapweed. If you’re in an area with
fields of it, take advantage of the blooms by positioning your hives close enough to utilize the nectar source.
However, you also want to be particularly cautious to
avoid patches that might be sprayed to kill the noxious
weed. Herbicides may not hurt your bees, but do you
really want to consume honey tainted with chemicals?
Fireweed Found throughout the Northwest, this
beautiful native flower creates a highly sought varietal
honey that is typically light in color with a delicate
flavor. It’s often found along the edges of forest and
open meadows in areas where it receives adequate
rainfall, and makes a spectacular display in areas
during the years following forest fires.
Linden Trees Also called American basswood, if you
stand below a linden tree in full bloom during the
middle of the summer, you’ll understand how much
the bees depend on it. The canopy hums with the
busywork of thousands of honey bees as they gather
the valuable nectar, which makes a light amber honey
with plenty of flavor. It is one of the premier honey
varieties making a couple of linden trees in the landscape a worthwhile investment.
Phacelia Commonly referred to as Bees’ Friend, it’s
no wonder Phacelia is one of the most important cultivated bee crops. Its beautiful deep lavender flowers
are attractive in a garden or naturalized location, plus
it thrives in alkaline and semi-arid regions where it
might be difficult to grow other nectar sources. One
thing you must consider about Phacelia, though, is it
does have a somewhat weedy tendency in some parts
of the country. If you prefer not to have it reseed,
simply cut the plant after it flowers.
Echinops Often grown for the distinct blue globe
flowers (earning its common name of Globe Thistle)
that are used in fresh and dried arrangements, the
honey bees also love echinops. Although it’s not
typically feasible to grow large areas, incorporating
plants into an ornamental garden is helpful for local
bee colonies.
Milkweed Many of us understand the importance of
milkweed as it relates to the Monarch butterfly, yet
milkweed is a tremendous source of nectar for honey
bees. It’s just one more reason to grow milkweed at
home, as well as protect the wild patches around us.
Honey bees are undoubtedly industrious, but
it makes sense to provide them with an ample food
source so they don’t have to work so hard to ensure an
adequate honey supply, as well as enough surplus to
share. Consider some of these alternatives for a bountiful harvest of very unique honey.
Freelance writer Amy Grisak started keeping
bees in 1996 and has been feeding them ever
since. You can follow her adventures at thebackyardbounty.com