Common snowberry
A park shrub with white berries; its small nodding flowers give plenty of nectar from June to September, worked even in dull weather.
- Nectar
- Good
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 1-2 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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Common snowberry is a North American shrub, common in parks and hedges and known for its round white berries. Its small, pinkish bell flowers are unremarkable, but they secrete plenty of nectar and are much loved by honey bees. Because the flowers hang downwards, rain does not wash out the nectar, and bees keep working even in cool, overcast weather. Central European and Russian sources describe it as valuable summer forage.
Flowering
It flowers for a long time from late June to September, with flowers and berries on the same branch. This long season helps feed the colony during the nectar shortage after black locust and lime.
Honey and pollen
It also gives a small amount of pollen. It is rarely harvested as a separate honey; it ends up in mixed summer honeys.
Note for the beekeeper
The white berries are harmful to people, especially children; no harmful effect on honey is known. It spreads quickly by root suckers and is considered invasive along woodland edges in some European countries. Despite the similar name, it should not be confused with the snowball bush of the genus Viburnum.