List of Northern American nectar sources for honey bees

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A honey bee collecting nectar from an apricot flower. Bee in flower.jpg
A honey bee collecting nectar from an apricot flower.

The nectar resource in a given area depends on the kinds of flowering plants present and their blooming periods. Which kinds grow in an area depends on soil texture, soil pH, soil drainage, daily maximum and minimum temperatures, precipitation, extreme minimum winter temperature, and growing degree days. The plants listed below grow in USDA hardiness zone 5. A good predictor for when a plant will bloom and produce nectar is a calculation of the growing degree days. Hopkins' bioclimatic law states that in North America east of the Rockies, a 130-m (400-foot) increase in elevation, a 4° change in latitude North (444.48 km), or a 10° change in longitude East (two-thirds of a time zone) will cause a biological event to occur four days later in the spring or four days earlier in the fall. [1] In botany, the term phenology refers to the timing of flower emergence, sequence of bloom, fruiting, and leaf drop in autumn.

Contents

The classification in major or minor nectar sources is very dependent on the agricultural use of the land. An agricultural crop such as canola or alfalfa may be a major or minor source depending on local plantings. Generally, the more diverse a forage area is, the better for a stationary apiary. Urban, suburban, and uncultivated areas provide more consistent warm-season nectar forage than areas that are heavily cultivated with only a few agricultural crops. The nectar sources from large cultivated fields of blooming apples, cherries, canola, melons, sunflowers, clover, etc. benefit a bee keeper who is willing to travel with his hives throughout the season.

Honeydew sources are not included in this listing.

Trees and shrubs

Flowers, crops, herbs, and grasses

Garden plants to feed honey bees in Canada

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forage (honey bee)</span> Bee foraging

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<i>Lobelia siphilitica</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Agastache foeniculum</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Spiraea alba</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Trifolium fragiferum</i> Species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae

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<i>Trifolium fucatum</i> Species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae

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<i>Polygala sanguinea</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Trifolium nanum</i> Species of legume

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References

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  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Tew, James Some Ohio Nectar and Pollen Producing Plants Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet, 2000 [ dead link ]
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  9. 1 2 "Long Distance Moving Guide | NYC Gardens Near Me & Local Movers Blog". Archived from the original on 2009-11-26.
  10. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Gonolobus laevis". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
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Further reading