Revised- Flowers in the Bay Area Most Visited by Honeybees
Going through the observations of Apis melliferas (Western Honeybees) in this project, taking the first day of spring, 03/20/18, as my starting point, the top 20 plant genuses visited by honeybees are:
- Lavandula (Lavender) 18 observations
- Salvia (Sages) 18 observations
- Echium (Viper's-buglosses) 15 observations
- Eriogonum (Wild buckwheats) 15 observations
- Trifolium (Clovers) 15 observations
- Baccharis (Coyote brush and related species) 12 observations
- Rosa (Roses) 12 observations
- Rosmarinus (Rosemary) 11 observations
- Rubus (Brambles) 11 observations
- Cirsium (Thistles) 10 observations
- Eschscholzia (California poppies and related species) 9 observations
- Mentha (Mints) 9 observations
- Asclepias (Milkweeds) 8 observations
- Escallonia 7 observations
- Symphyotrichum (American asters) 7 observations
- Veronica (Speedwells) 7 observations
- Callistemon (Bottlebrushes) 6 observations
- Ceanothus (California lilacs) 6 observations
- Centaurea (Star Thistles) 6 observations
- Epilobium (Willowherbs) 6 observations
Flowers bloom at different times- the top 5 flowers in spring (March 20th-June 20th) were:
- Echium (Viper's-buglosses) 14 observations
- Trifolium (Clovers) 10 observations
- Rubus (Brambles) 9 observations
- Lavandula (Lavender) 8 observations
- Salvia (Sages) 8 observations
The top 5 flowers in summer (June 21st-September 21st) were:
- Eriogonum (Wild buckwheats) 11 observations
- Asclepias (Milkweeds) 8 observations
- Mentha (Mints) 8 observations
- Cirsium (Thistles) 7 observations
- Lavandula (Lavender) 7 observations
It's still very early in autumn, but so far the top autumn flowers are:
- Baccharis (Coyote brush and related species) 7 observations
- Callistemon (Bottle brushes) 5 observations
- Epilobium (Willowherbs) 5 observations
- Salvia (Sages) 4 observations
Disclaimer- this is obviously still a very small sample, and it is inevitably biased by what is blooming in areas where we happen to have iNaturalist observers with cameras. Nonetheless, it does provide an overview of nectar plants that are attractive to honeybees, and which ones peak in a specific season.
The project still continues!
Best,
Alexis
PS- If you are submitting observations to this project, please fill out the "Nectar plant" field if you know what plant your pollinator is feeding upon. I did not want to make the field mandatory, as sometimes there are really cool photos of pollinators where the observer does not know the name of the flower, and I'd rather err on the side of including those observations and trying to ID the plant after the fact. However, it is much appreciated if you put as specific of an ID as you can- whether it is down to the species or subspecies level, or just the general plant family. Thanks!
Comments
Sometimes backing up a step can help to see larger patterns- here are the top 5 plant families observed being visited by honeybees, overall, and breaking it down by season:
Overall (3/20/18 through today):
Asteraceae (Sunflowers, Daisies, Asters and Allies) 79 observations
Lamiaceae (Mint family) 79 observations
Boraginaceae (Borage family) 31 observations
Rosaceae (Rose family) 31 observations
Fabaceae (Legumes) 23 observations
Spring:
Lamiaceae (Mint family) 30 observations
Boraginaceae (Borage family) 29 observations
Asteraceae (Sunflowers, Daisies, Asters and Allies) 22 observations
Rosaceae (Rose family) 20 observations
Fabaceae (Legumes) 18 observations
Summer:
Asteraceae (Sunflowers, Daisies, Asters and Allies) 39 observations
Lamiaceae (Mint family) 33 observations
Polygonaceae (Knotweed family) 11 observations
Apocynaceae (Dogbane family) 8 observations
Rosaceae (Rose family) 8 observations
Fall (to date:)
Asteraceae (Sunflowers, Daisies, Asters and Allies) 18 observations
Lamiaceae (Mint family) 17 observations
Onagraceae (Evening Primrose family) 8 observations
Myrtaceae (Myrtle family) 5 observations
Brassicacea (Mustard family) 4 observations
Thanks for compiling these results, Alexis! Very interesting information. Now we know what plants are favored by honey bees so we know where to find the most bees in the future.
@truthseqr - the next thing I'm working on is compiling a similar list for bumblebees. I was thinking of going down the list of the most commonly observed polinator species, and compiling the flowers most favored by each- it'll be interesting to see how much they overlap or diverge. (However, there are a great number of bumblebee observations that could not be ID'd to the species level due to the similarity in appearence between several of the species.)
Interestingly, Rosemary has recently been re-classified as a member of the Salvia genus. So those categories are no longer divided and since Rosemary is quite attractive to bees, Salvia will now show as an even more important category.
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