Blue spruce
An ornamental spruce from the Rocky Mountains, common in parks for its bluish needles; no nectar, but occasional aphid honeydew and resin for propolis.
- Nectar
- None
- Pollen
- Low
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 10-25 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
🐝 Add to my apiary
Log in to add it to your apiary.Value for beekeeping
Blue spruce grows in the Rocky Mountains of North America; in Europe and Turkey it is planted as an ornamental tree in parks, gardens and along roads for its bluish-silver needles. It is wind-pollinated and gives no nectar. Its pollen has low nutritional value, so bees collect little of it.
Flowering
The cones form in May and June, together with the new shoots. Flowering itself is of no importance for bees.
Honey and pollen
The spruce genus is an important source of honeydew honey in Europe; but blue spruce is not grown densely enough to form forests, so it does not give a regular honeydew flow. In some years aphids and scale insects produce honeydew in places. Resin oozing from its buds and wounds can be a source of propolis.
Note for the beekeeper
Where it is planted densely in towns, bees moving around the spruces in midsummer are usually a sign that they are collecting honeydew. Honey made from this honeydew is dark and not suitable as winter stores.