The Bee Forage Calendar: What Blooms When in the UK

A single spectacular flowering shrub does little for a colony if it's the only thing in bloom for three weeks either side of it. What keeps bees fed through the season is an unbroken sequence of overlapping bloom, because colony populations and their food demand shift continuously across the year — from a small overwintered cluster in February to a peak population in midsummer, then back down before winter. Gaps in the calendar, especially the "June gap" (when early spring blossom is over but midsummer flowers haven't started) and the late-summer lull before ivy flowers, are when colonies are most likely to run short of fresh nectar and pollen.

This is the most nutritionally critical window: colonies are building up brood rapidly on limited stores after winter. Key UK sources include snowdrops and crocus (some of the very first pollen on mild days), willow (Salix) catkins — an outstanding, often underrated pollen and nectar source for spring buildup — hazel (wind-pollinated, pollen only, but early), blackthorn blossom in March, and flowering currant, primrose and lungwort in gardens. Early-flowering fruit trees such as cherry plum and apricot can open as early as March in a mild year.

The main fruit-tree bloom happens here — apple, pear, cherry and crab apple typically flower through April into early May — alongside dandelion (a hugely important, if unglamorous, early bulk source), oilseed rape where grown nearby, hawthorn ("May blossom") at month's end, and garden favourites like forget-me-not, aquilegia and comfrey.

Peak colony population meets peak flower diversity. Bramble/blackberry flowers over many weeks from June, clovers (white clover especially) carpet lawns and verges, and garden herbs hit their stride: lavender, borage, thyme, marjoram/oregano and catmint all flower through this stretch, alongside lime (Tilia) trees, a major urban nectar source in late June/July, and echium, phacelia and sunflowers where sown. Raspberry and blueberry bloom slightly earlier, in late May–June.

Forage thins out sharply after August, making late bloomers disproportionately valuable. Ivy (Hedera helix) is the standout UK late-season plant, flowering September–November and providing a final large pollen and nectar flush that helps colonies build winter stores and rear the last healthy brood of the year. Other useful late performers include sedum (ice plant), Michaelmas daisy, Japanese anemone and autumn-flowering clematis. After ivy finishes, UK colonies generally have little left to forage on until snowdrops reappear.