Elderflowers (Sambucus Nigra), a wonderful flower for cordials and food but not enjoyed as honey bee forage. The plant is mildly toxic so needs to handled with care for food preparation.
Elderflowers love hedgerows and woodlands and flowers between May and June.
You can buy our honey from us here.
You can buy our honey here. We also offer pollination, bee hosting and swarm collections.
You can buy honey from us here and read more from our blog here.
In the interests of not just picking all the great bee forage flowers I thought I’d also talk about some flowers which aren’t great for honey bees. In this instance I’ve selective Rhododendron Ponticum, no doubt a beautiful flower but one which is not beneficial for our honey bees.
First introduced to the UK in 1763 the Rhododendron is an incredibly hardy plant which produces a toxin which is thought to act as deterrent to bee species which the plant does not have a preference for in its native environment.
In the case of honey bees Rhododendron nectar proves fatal once ingested. Bumble bees however are impervious to the plants toxic effects.
A further downside to the Rhododendron its incredible ability to propagate with the plant often generating forest like habitats of itself muscling out native UK plant species. In many parts of the UK Rhododendron clearance is now being undertaken to allow native plant species a better chance of getting established. Examples of Rhododendron clearance programmes can be found here: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/surrey/runnymede-and-ankerwycke/our-work-at-runnymede-and-ankerwycke and here https://forestryandland.gov.scot/what-we-do/biodiversity-and-conservation/habitat-conservation/woodland/rhododendron
If you’re looking for honey bee friendly forage steer clear of this one.