Meadowsweet
A wet-meadow plant with no nectar but plenty of pollen; in midsummer it gives bees a reliable pollen supply along streams and ditches.
- Nectar
- None
- Pollen
- Good
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Pollen colour
- Height
- 0,5-2 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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Meadowsweet secretes no nectar, but its clusters of small creamy-white flowers, each with many stamens, yield plenty of pollen. Because it forms large stands in wet meadows, along streams and in ditches, it is a valuable support during the midsummer pollen dearth.
Flowering
It flowers from June to August. Although the strong, sweet scent of the flowers suggests nectar, bees collect only pollen from this plant; visits are heaviest in the morning and before midday.
Honey and pollen
No honey bearing its name is produced. The pollen loads are greenish yellow and easy to recognise at the hive entrance.
Note for the beekeeper
For apiaries near damp, treeless areas it adds to the summer pollen supply. Leaving wet margins unmown and protecting stream banks keeps this resource available to bees.