Nectar and Pollen Producing Plants of Alabama
A Guide for Beekeepers

Honey bees visit flowers to collect pollen and nectar for food. Pollen is essential to bees because it is their only natural source of protein. Without it, colonies would be unable to produce new bees and would eventually die. Nectar is the carbohydrate portion of the honey bee’s food and is the raw material of honey. Bees convert nectar into honey by adding an enzyme which breaks down the complex sugars into simple sugars. During this time bees reduce the moisture content of nectar to less than 18 percent by fanning air through the hive. Honey bees also require water in addition to pollen and nectar for their survival.

To produce honey successfully, you must have your honey bee colonies at peak strength when the major nectar producing plants in your area begin to bloom. To properly manage honey bee colonies so their populations will increase and peak at the correct time, you must have a working knowledge of the nectar and pollen producing plants in the vicinity of your apiaries. This knowledge will enable you to determine when to stimulate brood production, add supers, use swarm control measures, harvest honey, requeen, prepare colonies for winter, and locate the most profitable apiary sites. If left on their own, most honey bee colonies don’t begin increasing their populations rapidly until the major nectar flow starts. As a result, the nectar flow is usually over before the colonies are strong enough to produce a surplus of honey.

Honey bees may be kept almost anywhere in Alabama because there are enough nectar and pollen producing plants within flight range to produce some surplus honey. However, apiaries only a few miles apart are often found to produce honey crops varying considerably in size. Therefore, greater production and profit may result if you give more attention to kinds and numbers of nectar and pollen producing plants. The numbers of plants in any given area may change considerably over a period of years. These changes may be brought about by changes in agricultural crops and practices, rainfall levels, flood control projects and urban development.

Beginners in beekeeping frequently ask questions about growing crops or plants specifically for honey production. In general, it is not economically practical to grow a crop for the honey bees alone. Beekeepers are largely dependent on cultivated crops grown for other purposes or on wild plants. However, under certain conditions, it may be advantageous for beekeepers to use certain nectar and pollen producing plants in landscaping their home grounds and to plant certain crops on idle land. Either case would require selection of specific plants or crops adapted to, and suitable for, specific locations and situations.

The ideal location for our apiary would be an area free of hazardous insecticides, and would contain an abundance of nectar and pollen producing plants blooming in succession through the spring, summer, and fall. Honey color and flavor are determined by the plant or plants from which the bees collect nectar. To produce honey for your table or the market, your bees must have access to an abundance of plants yielding large amounts of nectar that will make a high quality, table grade honey.

Nectar production and secretion are affected by many factors, such as fertility, soil moisture and acidity, altitude, latitude, length of day, the number of hours of sunlight per day, and weather.

Some of the primary nectar plants in Alabama are the yellow poplar (also known as tulip poplar) and various clovers, particularly crimson, arrowleaf and white. Clover honey is often used as the standard for comparison, because clovers and other legumes yield a light-colored, mild-flavored honey. Yellow poplar nectar produces a high quality, deep amber, full flavored honey. Soybeans and cotton also yield an amber honey that has a good flavor. Both of these commonly grown crops may produce enough nectar for bees to store surplus honey, but the use of insecticides can make beekeeping near these fields quite hazardous.

When bees gather nectar from several sources, including a variety of wildflowers, honey is usually dark with a strong flavor. This is generally the case with the fall nectar flow, which usually yields a dark, strong flavored honey that is not preferred by most consumers. However, this honey (August and later, certainly by the time that goldenrod flowers) is usually suitable for wintering bees. Japanese privet, sumac, sourwood, vetches, and tallow tree (also called popcorn tree) are good choices for pollen producers.

There are many other plants which are excellent for nectar and are good sources of pollen. Keep records of dates when these plants bloom, because there is variation in the dates from one section of the state to another and also some variation from year to year. After a few years you will know when to expect your greatest surplus honey storage and what quality of honey to expect from various nectar sources.

Honeydew

Summary

Honey bees may be kept almost anywhere in Alabama. There are enough nectar and pollen producing plants within flight range to produce some surplus honey if the bees are correctly managed. The list of nectar and pollen producing plants in the publication is not all-inclusive. It is a list of some of the plants that may be found growing in various sections of the state. Beekeepers should observe their bees closely to learn the plants from which they collect nectar and pollen. Keep simple records of the dates when these plants bloom because there is a variation in dates from one section of the state to another, and also some variation from year to year. This information will enable beekeepers to manage honey bees for maximum production.

Table 1. Some Nectar and Pollen Producing Plants of Alabama (A-M)

Plant	Nectar/Pollen	Dates of Bloom	Section
Alder (Alnus serrulata)	P	February - March	E
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa)	N&P	April - September	C&N
American Elm (Ulmus americana)	P	February - March	N
American Holly (Ilex opaca)	N&P	April - June	E
Apple (Malus spp.)	N&P	April - May	C&N
Aster (Aster spp.)	N&P	June - November	E
Basswood (Tilia americana)	N&P	June	E
Bitterweed (Helenium amarum)	N&P	May - Frost	E
Blackberry (Rubus spp.)	N&P	March - May	E
Black Locust (Robinia pseudo-acacia)	N&P	April - June	C&N
Blueberry (Vaccinium spp.)	N	February - June	E
Boneset (Eupatorium spp.)	N&P	June - October	E
Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum)	N	June - Frost	E
Burford Chinese Holly (Ilex cornuta "Burfordii")	N&P	March - April	E
Carolina Laurelcherry (Prunus caroliniana)	N&P	March - April	E
Chaste Tree (Vitex negundo and V. agnus-castus)	N&P	June - July	E
Chinese Tallow Tree (Sapium sebiferum)	N	May - June	E
Clover:
Arrowleaf (Trifolium vesiculosum)	N&P	April - July	E
Ball Clover (Trifolium nigrescens)	N&P	March - May	E
Crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum)	N&P	April - June	E
Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)	N&P	May - September	N&C
White Clover (Trifolium repens)	N&P	April - September	E
Corn (Zea mays)	P	June - October	E
Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum)	N&P	July - October	E
Cottonwood (Populus deltoides)	P	March - April	E
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale and T. erythrospermum)	N&P	February - June	E
Florida Pusley (Also Florida Purslan) (Richardia scabra)	N	June - Frost	S
Gallberry (Ilex glabra)	N&P	May - June	S
Goldenrod:
Flat-topped (Solidago spp.)	N&P	July - October	E
Plume type (Solidago spp.)	N&P	July - October	E
Horsemint (Monarda spp.)	N&P	June - September	E
Ironweed (Vernonia spp.)	N&P	June - October	E
Lespedeza (Lespedeza spp.)	;N&P	June - October	E
Key N = Nectar, P = Pollen, E = Entire State, N = North Alabama, C = Central Alabama, S = South Alabama