Common honeysuckle

Value for beekeeping

Common honeysuckle is a fragrant climber that twines around trees in the woods and thickets of Western and Central Europe. The flower tube is long and narrow, so the nectar stays deep at the base; honey bees can only reach it when the tube is full of nectar or through holes that other insects have bitten at the base. The main pollination is done by moths flying in the evening and at night and by long-tongued bumblebees. Its value for honey bees is limited.

Flowering

It flowers from June to September with a strong scent that intensifies towards evening. The flowers turn from white to creamy yellow and are often pinkish on the outside.

Honey and pollen

It provides honey bees with a small amount of pollen; there is no honey under its name.

Note for the beekeeper

The red berries are mildly poisonous to people. It is a valuable garden plant for biodiversity and bumblebees, but not worth planting as forage for honey bees. It does not occur naturally in Turkey; its close relatives growing in Anatolia are Lonicera etrusca and Lonicera caprifolium.