Flowering Crab Apples for Spring Bee Food

Crab apple trees provide bees pollen in spring.

Flowering Crab  Apples for Spring Bee Food

Flowering crab apple trees are one of the popular spring bee trees in mid-Missouri. My bee buddy David has a beautiful specimen in his front yard and I love to visit it to see how many varieties of bees I can find among the lovely white blooms.

Whether it's honeybees from his nearby apiary or native bees from the neighborhood, this flowering crab apple tree is abuzz with a variety of winged insects from bees to wasps, all important pollinators.

A variety of bees visit this crab apple tree in spring including native bees.

One of my favorite things to do is to stand under the tree and just listen. It takes a few seconds for my focus to sharpen but once I get quiet, it is amazing the sounds I pick up from all of the insects flying around in the tree.

A honeybee takes off after visiting the flowering crab apple tree.

See the little yellow pollen this honeybee is packing on its leg?

Flowering crab apples are a great source of spring pollen for bees at a time when they are quickly growing the bee nursery. Crab apple trees also provide wildlife pretty fall color and winter fruit for wildlife. What's not to love?

Charlotte