Are Blackberry Brambles Good for Bees?

If you’ve passed a hedgerow in August, you would not fail to notice that the blackberries, or Blackas as they are often referred to here in the Rebel county. I love picking and eating handfuls of sun warmed blackberries while out beekeeping to keep the energy levels up. Blackberries are not only free, they are also a great source fiber and Vitamin C, and offer plenty of vitamin K, potassium, magnesium and manganese. Blackberries also offer potent antioxidants and are naturally low in calories and fat. But did you know that Blackberries or brambles are extremely good for honey bees and other pollinators?

Blackberries Important Plant for Pollinators

For honeybees and other pollinators, Blackberries, also known as brambles, are one of the most important flowers in the summer, offering and abundance of both pollen and nectar. Most Irish bees and beekeepers rely heavily on Blackberry for their summer crop of honey. So much so that we anxiously await the main flowering period, which usually occurs right after summer solstice and continues for about three weeks, give or take. When the blackberry flowers, this is what we refer to as the Honey-flow or the nectar-flow. You know when the flow has begun by observing the bees returning to the hive laden with green-grey pollen on their hind legs.

This year as well as last was a relatively poor year for honey yields in Ireland, as the temperatures have been quite low. For honeybees, it is not always enough that a flower flowers, in order for the bee to be able to collect nectar from the flower to turn into honey, several conditions have to be met. The two most important ones are temperatures and ground moisture. If it is too dry, the plants won’t produce a lot of nectar and if it is not warm enough the nectar won’t rise in the flower so that the bee can access it with its short tongue. So, while bees have diligently provided pollination services for the blackberries, passing that green-grey pollen from flower to flower, they collected very little in terms of nectar to turn into honey…

Blackberry Recipes

If you love blackberries and honey like me, I think you’d really enjoy some of my blackberry recipes. For something other than jam or puddings, try the Spiced Blackberry and Honey Tea Cake or the Honey ice cream with Blackberry Ripple!

Hanna Bäckmo

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