The Best Mast-Producing Trees and Shrubs for Beekeepers
Honeybees are an introduced species in North America, so unlike some non-native mast-producing trees and shrubs, native mast-producing trees and shrubs do not rely on honeybees for pollination. However, the activity of honeybees and other pollinators can increase the yield of many native trees and shrubs.
Mast-producing trees and shrubs offer only seasonal – usually spring – blooms, so they do not provide an adequate year-round source of food to sustain a hive of honeybees, but they are an excellent supplemental source of nectar and pollen and several species provide important early season nectar and pollen sources for bees.
Mast-producing trees and shrubs can also be planted near hives to provide windbreaks and protection from inclement weather.
The best native mast-producing trees and shrubs for bees include:
- blackberries and raspberries
- blueberries
- wild roses
- crabapples
- wild cherries and plums
- hawthornes
- hackberries
- elderberries
- hazelnuts
- mountain ashes
- maples
- serviceberries
- sumacs
Many naturalized Eurasian relatives of native mast-producing trees and shrubs are also excellent sources of nectar for honeybees, including Eurasian flowering cherries, apples, plums, pears, and more. For a month-by-month list of mast and non-mast producing trees that provide important nectar sources for honeybees, check out this article.
Curiously, honeybees generally do not frequent native dogwoods, although they can be an important food source for native bees. Wood-dwelling native bee species such as carpenter bees sometimes make their homes in mast-producing trees and shrub.
[...] and more. Many fruit and berry producing trees and shrubs are an important source of nectar for honeybees and other pollinators, and more than 500 caterpillar species alone use the oak family (Quercus) as [...]
[...] Although there are many beautiful native crabapples with exceptional wildlife qualities, none are quite as beloved by the local Homo sapiens as the common apple. Descended from wild apple species in Central Asia, the domestic apple has been cultivated by humans for thousands of years and there are more than 7000 cultivars raised around the world today. Apples were among the first trees brought to North America by European colonists and the first known apple orchard in the New World was established near Boston about 1625. North America’s native wildlife eagerly took to these sweeter and juicier relatives of the native crabapples, so in some areas humans must fight the deer, bears, turkeys, and other critters for the apple crop! Apple trees are also an important spring nectar source for European honeybees. [...]
[...] provide both food and shelter to a huge variety of animals, from whitetail deer and wild turkeys to bees and butterflies. Mast producing trees and shrubs can also be used to create an “edible [...]