Producing and Selling Honey for the Backyard Beekeeper

Honey Plants: The Best Sources of Information

The best source of information about when honey plants bloom where you and your bees are tends to be anyone who makes his or her living on that nectar–your local, experienced beekeeper. By necessity, these beekeepers have good information about what blooms when, and most are experienced enough to make a good guess from year to year. For instance, in the region in which I live, I can say with confidence that the first flush of dandelion bloom–that is, those early blooms on the south sides of buildings in protected locations–will be the last week in April. Knowing that, with equal confidence I can say that the first day of what I call field bloom will be within the first ten days of May. Thankfully, there are a couple of other ways to make that same prediction, other than through the accumulation of decades of experience.