Abeille mellifère européenne

Apis mellifera

Honey bees are the principal managed pollinator of orchard apples; because the cultivated apple is self-incompatible (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder), bee transfer of pollen between two different cultivars is what sets the crop.

Commercial sunflower-seed production relies on honeybee pollination at scale; sunflower honey is a recognized regional product.

The European honey bee is the most commonly used managed pollinator for watermelon; Missouri Botanical Garden notes bees are needed for cross-pollination and that female flowers will not set fruit without insect visits.

Honey bees work the open single and semi-double heads of this Asteraceae annual for nectar and pollen through the long summer-to-frost bloom; access is reduced in the densest fully double cultivars.

Honey bees and other early foragers visit the fragrant late-winter to early-spring flowers when little else is in bloom.

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center flags Tilia americana as having special value to honey bees; basswood is a noted nectar (honey) source, and Missouri Botanical Garden lists the fragrant June flowers as attracting bees.

Honeybees also visit the flowers for nectar over the long midsummer bloom; this is generalist foraging on a good mint-family nectar plant, graded plausible rather than documented.

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center flags American persimmon as having Special Value to Honey Bees, which visit the small urn-shaped flowers for nectar.

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center lists the fragrant early-spring flowers as having special value to honey bees.

Honey bees may opportunistically visit the open trumpets for nectar by day, but the flower is built for night-flying hawkmoths rather than bees.

Listed by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center as having special value to honey bees — a strong nectar plant whose common alternate name "anise hyssop" reflects its long use as a bee forage.

The fragrant early-spring flowers offer nectar and pollen to honey bees and other early-season foragers; bee visitation improves apricot fruit set.

The NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox lists the flowers as attractive to bees and states they provide a fall nectar source — valuable when little else is blooming.

Avocado bears perfect greenish-yellow flowers in panicles (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder); honey bees are the principal managed pollinator of commercial avocado orchards, where the dichogamous bloom relies on insect movement between flowers in opposite stages. Listed as plausible because the MBG species page documents the flowers but not the specific bee visitors.

The large fragrant flowers with a nectar guide (the beard) are visited by bees for nectar; this is a general pollination-ecology inference rather than a documented species record on the cited horticultural sources.

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center flags black cherry as having Special Value to Honey Bees; the fragrant white spring bloom is a recognized nectar source.

Honey bees work the broad flat flower umbels for nectar and pollen in early summer.

Tupelo honey from the southeastern US (Florida + Georgia) is a recognized premium varietal — among the most-prized monofloral honeys.

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center flags black willow as a Special Value to Honey Bees — its early-spring catkins are one of the first abundant pollen and nectar sources of the season.

Honey bees work the open blackberry flowers for nectar and pollen; documented for Rubus broadly, inferred here at genus level.

Honey bees visit the open, nectar-rich flowers to forage, though the heavier large bees are the more effective pollinators.

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center records blue vervain as a nectar source attractive to bees and butterflies in sunny meadow and prairie gardens.

Honey bees readily work the abundant small spring flowers; mapped as a plausible nectar forager alongside the documented native-bee value.

Honey bees work the abundant late-summer nectar of the white flower clusters; boneset is a well-documented honey-plant of wet meadows and a nectar source per the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Borage is a renowned honey-bee forage plant; Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder and NC State Extension both document it attracting bees, and it is commonly interplanted to draw honey bees to the garden.

NC State Extension lists Calendula as attracting pollinators generally; its open, abundant flowerheads are readily worked by honey bees and other generalist bees, though the sources do not name a specific bee species.

Honeybees and other generalist insects visit the early-spring flowers for nectar and pollen, but the bloom offers little that native specialist pollinators depend on.

Honey bees forage the funnel-shaped yellow flowers for nectar and pollen and are a primary pollinator of melons; NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox documents that the plant attracts bees and pollinators.

Honey bees work the single-flowered and border carnations; the heavily doubled florist types offer them little accessible nectar.

Honey bees work the small cassava flowers for nectar; the plant is insect-pollinated, though it is grown clonally from cuttings rather than for any seed crop, so the bees' visits are incidental to the harvest.

NC State Extension lists Nepeta x faassenii as attracting "Bees, Pollinators"; honey bees are among the most frequent visitors to its long succession of nectar-rich lavender-blue flowers.

NC State Extension lists the nectar- and pollen-rich white umbels as attracting bees; honey bees readily work the open carrot-family flowers when the plant is allowed to bloom.

Honey bees are consistent morning visitors to the open blue flower faces and gather both nectar and pollen before the blooms close around midday.

Honey bees work redbud flowers during the early-spring bloom; the honey bee is the cataloged generalist-bee stand-in, while early native bees are also primary visitors.

Honey bees visit the fragrant spring racemes for nectar, though the long, deep flowers are not among the most heavily worked bee plants and the vine's overall habitat value is low.

Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder lists the fragrant white flower racemes as attracting butterflies and the plant as bee-visited; honey bees forage the open, accessible spring bloom though the sources do not name the species.

On mild winter and early-spring days the large, open flowers offer honey bees rare nectar and pollen at a time when almost nothing else is in bloom. Recorded as plausible: the value lies in its exceptional bloom timing rather than a formally documented relationship.

When allowed to bolt, the open white umbels are readily worked by honey bees and other small generalist foragers for nectar and pollen — a common reason gardeners let a few cilantro plants flower.

Honey bees visit comfrey flowers and, with their shorter tongues, often take nectar through robbing holes bitten at the base of the corolla rather than entering the flower mouth.

NC State Extension notes the spring flowers attract bees for nectar; the honey bee is a representative generalist visitor (the documented specialist visitors are native Andrena mining bees, which are not yet in the Plotwright wildlife catalog).

NC State Extension Plant Toolbox lists the early-spring flowers as attracting bees; the European honey bee is a common visitor to hyacinth spikes for nectar in late winter to spring.

Honeybees work the nodding flowers for nectar on mild late-winter days, when snowdrops are one of very few sources available.

Thyme honey is a recognized monofloral product from Mediterranean regions; bees work the small tubular flowers heavily.

NC State Extension documents Zinnia elegans attracting bees and pollinators; honey bees forage the disc florets for nectar and pollen across the long summer-to-frost bloom.

Honey bees work the bright yellow late-winter flowers — one of the earliest woody nectar and pollen sources of the year for emerging colonies.

Honey bees work the early deep-yellow flowers for nectar, an important resource in cool early spring.

NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox notes daffodil flowers attract pollinators and provide nectar that is particularly valuable in early spring; honey bees are among the generalist visitors of open early-spring blooms.

Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder lists dahlias as attracting butterflies; open-centered forms also offer accessible nectar and pollen to honey bees, though fully double cultivars provide little forage.

Honey bees work dandelion flowers heavily in late winter and early spring; it is one of the most important early-season nectar and pollen sources when little else is in bloom.

The yellow umbels attract bees among a broad suite of beneficial insects (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder; NC State Plant Toolbox), foraging the shallow, accessible flowers for nectar and pollen.

As one of the earliest spring blooms, Crocus vernus offers nectar and pollen to honey bees foraging on warm late-winter and early-spring days. Missouri Botanical Garden documents the flower form and bloom timing but does not formally list pollinator attraction, so this is recorded as plausible rather than documented.

Honey bees visit the open late-spring flowers for nectar and pollen, though the long spurs suit longer-tongued bees better; honey bees sometimes take nectar through holes robbed by other insects.

Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder flags the fragrant, showy spring flowers as attracting butterflies; pear blossoms are an insect-pollinated Rosaceae bloom, so honey bees foraging nectar and pollen are a plausible visitor though MBG does not name bees specifically.

Honey bees work the small greenish spring flowers for nectar; spindle is insect-pollinated and a genuine, if modest, spring nectar source.

The showy yellow umbels attract bees and other beneficial insects for nectar and pollen (NC State Plant Toolbox).

Honeybees will work the morning-glory flowers for nectar and pollen over a long bloom season. This incidental forage value is the plant's only honest upside and is no reason to tolerate a noxious weed.

The small green spring flowers are a genuine early nectar and pollen source for honey bees; field maple is insect- as well as wind-pollinated.

Honey bees are frequent visitors to the open, nectar- and pollen-rich daisy heads through the long summer bloom.

Honey bees visit the open, nectar-rich flower clusters for nectar and pollen; sterile hybrid forms still offer nectar even when they set little or no seed.

Honey bees work the long-blooming purple spikes heavily for nectar; French lavender is a well-documented and prized nectar source in Mediterranean-climate gardens.

Open-flowered single and semi-double heads of this Asteraceae annual offer accessible nectar and pollen to honey bees; Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder rates the flowers as showy and fragrant. Density of doubling reduces access in the most fully double cultivars.

Lettuce flowers (rarely seen in productive gardens since gardeners harvest before bolt) are visited by honeybees + small bees when present; not a significant wildlife-support plant compared to ornamental natives.

NC State Plant Toolbox documents garden mum flowers as a welcome late-season nectar source in a pollinator garden; open single- and semi-double forms give honey bees and other generalist foragers accessible late-fall nectar and pollen.

Honeybees opportunistically visit pepper flowers for nectar; pollination is not required for fruit set but can increase yield + fruit size.

The spring white flowers offer nectar and pollen to honey bees and other bees; bee visitation improves strawberry fruit set, size, and shape because each achene on the aggregate fruit needs its ovule pollinated. NC State Extension lists Fragaria × ananassa as attracting pollinators.

The NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox lists Gardenia jasminoides as attracting bees and pollinators. Note that fully double ornamental forms offer reduced floral rewards compared with single-flowered types.

Basil is typically pinched to suppress flowering for leaf production, so flower-driven wildlife relationships are uncommon in cultivation; when allowed to flower the spikes do attract small bees.

NC State Extension lists Gladiolus flowers as attracting bees; mapped here to the honey bee as the representative generalist visitor. The source states "bees" generically rather than naming Apis mellifera, hence plausible rather than documented.

Honey bees forage the open thistle flowers for nectar and pollen on plants left to bloom; like all the flower-visitor value here, this is contingent on not harvesting the bud.

Honey bees will work the large open bell-shaped flowers for nectar where the plant is grown outdoors in a frost-free climate, helping move pollen between blooms; in its native Brazilian range the flowers are also visited by hummingbirds, which are the more conspicuous visitors but are not represented here.

The NC State Plant Toolbox lists the highly fragrant white flowers as attracting bees; citrus blossom is a well-known honey-bee nectar source.

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center lists the spring flowers as a nectar source for bees, with Special Value to Native Bees flagged by The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

Honey bees work the white, brush-like guava flowers for nectar and pollen and are among the chief insect pollinators of the crop.

Honeybees opportunistically visit the small pepper flowers for nectar; pollination is not required for fruit set, but visits can increase yield and fruit size.

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center records the late-spring flowers as a nectar source for bees; honey locust is a recognized nectar/honey plant where it is abundant.

The nectar-rich spring flowers are a notable early-summer forage for honey bees in regions where the tree is grown; the blotch color shift from yellow to red guides bees away from already-pollinated flowers.

The autumn flowers offer late-season nectar to honey bees still foraging on mild days, when little else is in bloom. Recorded as plausible: visitation is observed but not formally documented as a key relationship.

Honey bees visit the early white flowers for nectar when little else is in bloom, though as with related ericaceous shrubs the nectar of Pieris can be toxic to bees in quantity.

Honey bees and other generalist bees visit the small pale yellow spring flowers for nectar and pollen; this is incidental foraging on a non-native shrub, not a dependence.

Citrus flowers are richly nectar- and pollen-bearing and are a well-known honeybee forage; key lime blossoms draw foraging honeybees in bloom.

Honey bees work the fragrant late-summer flower clusters for nectar — the source of the distinctive grape-scented kudzu honey. This is incidental adult foraging on an invasive vine, not a reason to plant it; native late-summer nectar plants feed bees without the ecological cost.

Brassica oleracea is harvested for leaves before bolting in most kitchen-garden use, so kale flower-pollinator relationships are uncommon; overwintered plants that bolt to yellow flowers in spring attract bees briefly.

Honeybees work the flat white flower heads on mild winter and early-spring days, when laurustinus is one of very few nectar sources available.

Citrus is a classic honey-bee nectar and pollen source, and honey bees are the primary insect pollinators of lemon flowers; Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder advises moving indoor plants outdoors in late spring "to encourage natural pollination" by visiting insects.

A classic bee plant — the summer flowers are a documented nectar source for honey bees; the genus name Melissa is Greek for "honey bee." NC State Extension lists the plant as attracting pollinators.

Littleleaf linden flowers are one of the classic temperate honey plants; honey bees work the fragrant midsummer bloom heavily, and 'lime/linden honey' is a recognized single-source honey.

The Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder lists the flowers as nectar-producing and butterfly-attracting; honey bees forage the accessible central nectar but are less effective pollinators than the larger carpenter bees the flower is built for.

The showy, fragrant, nectar-spurred flowers draw bees alongside the hummingbirds and butterflies the Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder documents; honey bees are a likely visitor where present, though the deep spur favors longer-tongued pollinators.

The showy hibiscus-like flowers are visited by honey bees for nectar and pollen; okra is self-fertile, so this is supplemental rather than required for pod set.

Honeybees work the small fertile florets in the panicle for nectar and pollen; graded plausible as generalist visitation of an introduced Asian ornamental, and only on lacecap-type cultivars that keep fertile florets.

Honey bees visit the waxy, lightly fragrant papaya flowers for nectar and, in moving between male and female plants, help carry pollen between them on this insect-pollinated, dioecious crop.

Honey bees work the small cream true flowers nestled inside the colorful bracts for nectar; in its tropical range hummingbirds also visit the flowers, but no catalog wildlife slug exists for them, so that bird visitation is described in prose only.

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center records the flowers as a nectar source for insects; bees forage the creamy-yellow flower clusters during the rare flowering event.

NC State Plant Toolbox lists Prunus persica as attracting pollinators; the early pink spring flowers offer nectar and pollen to honey bees and other bees before most other forage is available.

Honey bees will take nectar from the small purple flowers when a plant is allowed to flower, though pineapple's flowers are largely hummingbird-visited and growers keep clones isolated so the fruit stays seedless — so bees are visitors here rather than the crop's pollinators.

Honey bees work the large pink trumpet flowers for nectar and, in moving between blooms, help pollinate this bee-pollinated tree.

The fragrant late-spring flowers offer nectar to honey bees foraging at the tail of the bulb season; daffodils are not a major bee plant but are visited where open.

Each cyathium carries a prominent yellow nectar gland, and where poinsettia flowers outdoors in frost-free climates honey bees will work the nectar; graded plausible rather than documented because its winter short-day bloom and overwhelmingly indoor, potted culture make outdoor visitation marginal for this non-native tropical.

Honey bees visit the orange-red summer flowers for nectar and pollen and contribute to the cross-pollination that increases fruit set.

Honey bees forage the showy warm-season flowers for nectar; the principal native pollinators (long-tongued bees, butterflies, and in the tropics hummingbirds) are described in prose as the catalog holds no slug for them.

Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder lists quince under "Attracts: Butterflies" for its showy spring flowers; as an open, five-petaled insect-pollinated Rosaceae bloom it is a plausible nectar and pollen source for honey bees, though MBG does not name bees specifically.

When radish is allowed to bolt, its white-to-pale-violet Brassicaceae flowers are worked by honey bees and other bees — radish is insect-pollinated and self-incompatible. Not relevant to a root harvest, since the crop is pulled long before flowering.

NC State Extension lists Allium tricoccum as attracting pollinators; its late-spring white umbels offer nectar and pollen to bees during the gap after most spring ephemerals have finished. Mapped to the honey bee as a representative generalist flower-visitor; specific visitor records for this species are limited.

Honey bees work the showy spring flower panicles for nectar and pollen. Aesculus flowers are a recognized bee draw, though the specific tie to this introduced garden hybrid is plausible rather than individually documented.

Rosemary honey is a recognized Mediterranean varietal.

The fragrant white citrus flowers are an attractive nectar source for honey bees, though as a non-native ornamental fruit tree it carries no documented North American specialist ties.

Honey bees work the flat heads of creamy spring flowers for nectar and pollen.

The NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox documents that the flowers attract bees; the long midsummer-to-autumn bloom provides nectar when many spring forage plants are spent.

The open, flat-faced composite flower heads offer accessible nectar and pollen; honey bees are common generalist visitors to daisy-family blooms, though the Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder documents only butterfly attraction explicitly.

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center flags Special Value to Honey Bees; Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder notes the flowers are attractive to bees.

Silver linden flowers are a classic temperate honey plant; honey bees work the fragrant early-summer bloom heavily, and 'lime/linden honey' is a recognized single-source honey.

The white spring flowers are worked by honey bees and other pollinators, which carry out the pollination of the crop.

Goldenrod honey is a recognized regional product across the central and eastern United States.

Honey bees work the urn-shaped autumn flowers for nectar at a time when few other plants are in bloom, making arbutus a valued late-season bee plant.

NC State Extension lists the summer flowers as attracting bees; the small lilac-to-white flowers are a nectar source for honey bees when the plant is allowed to bloom.

The profuse fragrant flowers are a well-known nectar source for honey bees and other small bees; NC State Extension lists the plant as attracting pollinators.

The fragrant April flowers are worked by bees, which carry out the cross-pollination this largely self-incompatible species needs; Missouri Botanical Garden lists the flowers as attracting butterflies.

Both the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (special value to honey bees) and NC State Extension (nectar attracts honeybees) document honey bees foraging the spring bloom.

NC State notes joe-pye weed flowers "are important for the production of honey" — late-summer joe-pye honey is a recognized regional product.

NC State Extension documents that flowering marjoram provides late-season nectar for bees and lists the plant as attracting bees.

Honey bees work the fragrant white flowers freely during the late-spring to early-summer bloom for nectar and pollen.

Honey bees forage nectar and pollen from the fragrant citrus blossoms; orange groves are a classic nectar source and the origin of commercial orange-blossom honey. (Apis mellifera is an introduced European species, not a North American native.)

The nectar-rich hanging spring flowers are a well-documented early forage source for honey bees, which work them heavily; sycamore is a recognised minor honey plant in Europe.

Honey bees visit bluebonnet flowers for nectar and pollen during the spring bloom, though the heavier bumblebees are the more effective keel-tripping pollinators.

Tulip tree honey is a recognized regional product across the southeastern US; the abundant late-spring nectar supports commercial apiaries during the late-spring nectar gap.

When a turnip is allowed to bolt or flower in its second year, the yellow cruciferous blooms of Brassica rapa offer nectar and pollen to honey bees and other generalist bees. This is incidental to growing turnips for the root, which is usually harvested before flowering.

Early-spring willow catkins are a well-known nectar and pollen source for honey bees; Salix babylonica blooms in April-May (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder).

NC State Extension reports the flower nectar attracts bees; the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center flags the species as a nectar source. (Honey bee is the closest cataloged generalist bee; native and bumble bees are the primary documented visitors.)

Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder documents that the flowers are attractive to bees; white clover is one of the most important honey-bee nectar plants in lawns and pastures.

The early-spring flowers offer nectar to generalist visitors when little else is in bloom; honey bees are among the foragers at open daffodil flowers, though daffodils are not a major bee plant.

Early-spring cherry blossom is a well-known nectar and pollen source for honey bees; Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder names butterflies specifically rather than bees, so the bee association is plausible rather than directly published for this species.

The large flat-topped cymes of small open flowers are worked by bees and other generalist insects for pollen and nectar; Missouri Botanical Garden lists the flowers as attracting butterflies. Mapped to a generalist pollinator pending a species-level record.

NC State lists the plant as bee-attracting; honey bees are among the generalist bees that visit clematis flowers for pollen.

Olive is primarily wind-pollinated and offers no nectar, but its abundant summer pollen is foraged by honey bees. Honey bees are an introduced (non-native) species, the same Old-World/Mediterranean origin as the olive itself; native North American pollinators are not documented associates of this exotic tree.

Snowdrops also offer early pollen, valued by honeybees building up the colony at the end of winter.

The open, shallow daisy-like flowers are readily worked by honey bees for pollen and nectar; NC State Extension flags the species broadly as bee-friendly.

The showy summer panicles (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder describes the flowers as "Showy") offer pollen to honey bees and other generalist foragers during a long July-September bloom; this is a plausible generalist forage relationship rather than a documented specialist association.

Honeybees visit the open, pollen-rich Rubus flowers as generalist foragers; mapped as plausible pending a species-specific record.

Honey bees and other bees visit open, less-double rose blooms for pollen; single- and semi-double-flowered roses are far more accessible to bees than tightly packed double hybrids.

Introduced honey bees may visit the flowers and collect pollen, but the effective pollinators are buzz-pollinating native bees that sonicate the poricidal anthers; honey bees are opportunistic foragers here rather than the true pollination vector.

Honeybees work the open spring flowers heavily for pollen during their single day of bloom.

Honey bees visit the accessible flowers for pollen; nectar reward is limited, so the draw is mainly the prominent ring of stamens.

The NC State Plant Toolbox notes bees pollinate the plant and lists it as attracting pollinators; the pollen-only cream flowers are worked by honey bees, which growers commonly use to pollinate commercial plantings.

NC State Extension lists Paeonia lactiflora as attracting "Bees, Pollinators"; honey bees work the conspicuous central boss of yellow stamens for its abundant pollen (peony flowers offer pollen rather than significant nectar).

The abundant trumpet flowers also offer pollen that honey bees collect during the dry-season bloom.

Honey bees forage the large yellow flowers for pollen and nectar and contribute to pumpkin fruit set alongside the specialist squash bee and bumble bees.

The very early catkins (March-April, often before leaf-out) are an important first pollen and nectar source for honey bees and other early-foraging bees as colonies build up in late winter.

Honey bees readily work the open, single rugosa flowers for pollen — far more accessible than the packed double blooms of hybrid garden roses.

Honey bees work the open, fragrant alba flowers for pollen during the early-summer flush; single and semi-double Old Garden Roses are far more accessible to bees than packed modern blooms, though the tie is not individually documented for this hybrid group.

Honey bees do not forage the wind-pollinated catkins for nectar, but a dense hornbeam hedge gives shelter and a windbreak to foraging insects moving between flower sources.