Pear
Flowers in early spring; its nectar is low in sugar, so bees prefer other blossoms. Orchard pollination needs strong colonies placed at the right moment.
- Nectar
- Low
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 5-15 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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Pear is a fruit tree whose pollination depends largely on bees, but it is not very attractive to them. The sugar content of its nectar is usually low; if dandelion, oilseed rape or plum are flowering at the same time, foragers abandon the pear. Bees come mainly for pollen.
Flowering
It flowers for about 7-10 days between late March and April, depending on cultivar and altitude. Most cultivars are self-sterile, so the orchard needs a compatible pollinator cultivar and enough bees.
Honey and pollen
No pear honey is produced; its contribution is to early-spring mixed honey and pollen for brood rearing.
Note for the beekeeper
For pollination services, bringing hives into the orchard when about 10 per cent of the flowers are open stops the bees from getting used to other sources. Mowing flowering weeds in the orchard before bloom also steers bees to the pear. Fire blight is known to be spread by bees.