Flowering Plants for Honey Bees Southern Qld.

It is important when considering bee hives for honey production that we also consider their food source. A good beekeeper will know the flowering plants that bring the best yield for the bees and for his honey collections. This knowledge is rarely passed on by other beekeepers. The commercial beekeeper knows when and where to expect the nectar flow and will time his hive moves to ensure his bees have access to these. The amateur beekeeper may find himself feeding his bees on sugar syrup or pollen patties over the winter months particularly. The amateur beekeeper does however have the advantage of being able to plant appropriate annual and periennel flowering plants to supplement the beehive.

Bees like and need a varied diet just like us. Planting many and varied flowering species can help to build diversity and resilience into your beekeeping endeavors. It is important to build in native and non-native specimens when planning your garden. This not only increases biodiversity but also increases the chances of having some flowering plantings at all times. Plantings should be in small clumps or layers of 3 – 4 of the same plant where possible from the ground up.

Some quick tips before we continue.

• Don’t use pesticides. (most chemicals are non selective meaning you may poison your bees)
• Use local Native plants. (many native plants are attractive to honey bees)
• Use a range of colours. (bees have great eyesight and love colour)
• Plant in groups. (bees are more likely to forage where there is more of one plant)
• Use a range of different flower shapes (open or cup shaped flowers are best for honey bees but other pollinators will appreciate your efforts as well)
• Plant where bees like to visit (bees like to be in the sun)
• Provide access to clean water (bees need water too but make sure they can land safely)
• Variety is key ( have a variety of flowering plants all year round available for your bees nutrition)

Below we have produced a list for Southern Queensland centered on the Granite Belt as this is where we live and our bees benefit from these plantings. The list is useful to anyone on sandy loam or granitic soils in a cool temperate climate. We attempt here to ensure we have enough variety of plantings including Australian Natives, to ensure year-round nectar and pollen gathering by our bees. The tables are broken up into types of plants with a colour-coded Summer – Winter flowering time for quick identification. For example, if you need winter flowering plants for groundcover simply look in the ground covers list for plants with blue flowering time.

While the list is extensive it is by no means a complete list of every plant suited to this area or to bees in general. Some plants are better suited to native bees while others are targeted towards the European Honey Bee. We are always looking to add more bee-friendly plantings to our permaculture-designed property. You are welcome to use these tables to plan your plantings around the wonderful work of bees. Good Luck.

Groundcovers

Shrubs

Trees Less than 10 metres

Trees Greater than 10 metres

References:

Bee Friendly -A planting guide for European honeybees and Australian native pollinators Mark Leech 2012

ACT for Bees 2017 Bee Friendly Canberra

Torfoot Farm Permaculture Planting List 2021

Australian Plants for Canberra Regions Gardens and other cool climate areas, Society for growing Australian Plants Canberra Region 2020

the Australian Beekeeping Manual Robert Owen 2015