Common lime
Hybrid of small- and large-leaved lime and the most planted lime in European towns. It yields nectar in late June, and aphid honeydew adds to the crop in some years.
- Nectar
- Good
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Crystallisation
- Medium
- Pollen colour
- Height
- 25-40 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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The common lime is a natural hybrid of the small-leaved and large-leaved limes and is very common as a street and park tree in north-western Europe. Its nectar yield is good but strongly weather-dependent: it secretes well after mild nights and on moist soil, and poorly in dry, hot wind.
Flowering
It flowers between its parents, for about two weeks from late June to early July. Where a town has several kinds of lime, bees can work lime for weeks.
Honey and pollen
The honey is pale yellow, slightly greenish, with a fresh lime aroma, and crystallises at a moderate rate. This hybrid lime is very prone to aphids; in some years the honeydew that makes cars parked beneath it sticky is collected heavily by bees and darkens the honey. The pollen loads are pale yellow-green.
Note for the beekeeper
In urban beekeeping it is one of the main sources of early July. In honeydew-heavy years the honey is darker and smells less of lime; harvesting it separately makes labelling easier.