Himalayan balsam
Tall pink annual giving abundant late-summer nectar, but an invader of European riverbanks whose planting is banned in the EU.
- Nectar
- Very good
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Pollen colour
- Height
- 1-2.5 m
- Life cycle
- Annual
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Himalayan balsam is an annual from the western Himalayas, brought to Europe as an ornamental in the 19th century; it can exceed 2 metres and has hollow, fleshy stems. Its large, helmet-shaped flowers, pink to purple, produce very large amounts of sugar-rich nectar. When a honey bee enters the flower, its back is dusted with off-white to grey pollen; bees returning to the hive dusted in this colour are a sign of this plant.
Flowering
It flowers from July to October, until the first frost, and can give colonies a strong flow at the end of summer, when other sources have run out.
Honey and pollen
In some places the late-summer surplus honey comes from this plant; however, it is not marketed as a common monofloral honey.
Note for the beekeeper
In Europe it is an invasive species that crowds out native plants along rivers and in damp woods and increases erosion on banks left bare in winter. It has been on the EU list of invasive species since 2017; growing, selling and spreading it is prohibited. Whatever its nectar value, beekeepers must not spread the seed of this plant.