As most of you know, pollinators, such as bees are crucial to the survival of many of our most important fruits and vegetables not to mention our favorite trees and flowers.  Moving pollen from flower to flower is a full time job for bees, but parasites, lack of forage, and other factors are threatening this very key component to our ecosystem.  Tree flowers provide nutrient rich pollen and nectar that bees use for food and to make honey.  Keep the honey flowing with these 5 bee-friendly trees:

1. Maples: From red maple to Japanese maple, this large family of deciduous trees provides small flowers in the spring and excellent foliage color in the fall.
2. Crapemyrtle: With intense white, pink, red, and purple flowers, the crapemyrtle is a favorite with homeowners.  The flowers appear late spring through summer and the leaves give wonderful heughs of yellow, orange, and red in the fall.
3. Black Tupelo: Boosting broad leaves with excellent shade, this tree with small flowers is known for its excellent honey
4. Black Locust: In late spring, a black locust will be clustered with fragrant white flowers and boost beautiful yellow tones in the fall.
5. Sourwood: The Sourwood, or Oxydendrum arboreum, has long white clusters of fragrant flowers in the spring followed by elongated seed capsules that remain into the winter.  They also add shades of orange, scarlet, and every purple to your fall view.  

The next time you’re looking to add some new landscaping to your yard or garden, consider choosing one of these bee-friendly trees or ask our certified arborist to recommend other trees, shrubs, and flowers that will keep our honey making friends in business.