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1. Planting bee friendly flowers in the yard provides almost nothing towards a honey flow.
2. Planting fields of bee crops is not the best either.
3. Instead, trees provide vastly more nectar and pollen than anything else in nature. Two grown basswood trees provide the same as an acre of planted clover. ...
This is one of my favorite topics - Great choice Bobll. I began to go down this road 3 or 4 years ago, and haven't returned from it.
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My initial thought is that you plant clovers and camellias and dandelions and hellebore for your bees, cherries and tulip poplars for your kids' bees, basswood for your grandkids' bees.
Excellent advice Matt, & I would concur completely.
I noticed early on that once the trees stopped flowering in my area, the bees had little increase of honey for the rest of the year.
So, I started by planting clover and alfalfa. I planted the wrong clover at first and the bees didn't touch it. Then I researched, and got 7 total types of clover, mixed the seeds, and planted. Since I'm on a small(ish) property and have to be careful on water useage, the clover didn't grow very well. Then I switch my thinking to trees ...
Question: When are the #1 & #2 Best times to plant a tree? ... answer: #1 - 20 years ago. ... the 2nd best time to plant a tree is Today.
sooo ... I began researching Nectar producing trees that I could add to the property. Specifically, different types of trees so that I could have a flow going [as close to] year round as possible - essentially trying to get something that was flowering at all times.
I already had Cherries, Pears, Plums, Apples, Ovacado's, Apricots, etc, but these are all "Spring" flowering trees.
Since then I have added a citrus orchard of some 30 trees of 7 varieties - These will flower between August & November.
Here's a list of some of the trees that I have planted since, or have on back order, or am looking for ...
Goldenrain tree
Black locust
Linden, American (Basswood)
Tulip Tree
Arbutus Marina Std (Strawberry tree)
Japanese Pagoda Tree
Tupelo, Black Gum
Lilac Tree
Staghorn Sumac
Linden, European (Littleleaf Linden)
Linden, Silver
Sourwood
Japanese Lilac Tree
Thornless Honey Locust
Late Lilac Bush
and more ... Nectar producing Shrubs and plants will be my next focus - to fill in between the trees. I see no reason that Clover & Mint (both are Nitrogen Fixing Plants) cannot be planted beneath the canopy of trees, as well as various shrubs around the area.
I have one 15 yr old Honey Locust - The bees cover it in July when it blooms - there are 4 more of these trees growing in pots currently.
All my trees are on Drip irrigation systems with timers and controllers. It is worth noting: When you plant trees, their full mature growth size must be accounted for, and they have to be planted on the correct spacing from the beginning. For now, I have been planting 2-3 of each. I buy the trees in the smallest size possible to save cost - 10" bare root sapplings are fine - I just add 3 years to my schedule.
I look at it this way: the next 20 years are going to pass, whether I plant trees for my bees today or not. The only question then is: Will my bees have a [more] reliable nectar source 20 years from now, or not? ... That's up to me to decide ... today.
All-in-all, I don't know if [the correct] trees will out-produce a field of clover - but I'm going to find out some day ...