5 Blooms You Might Expect In March

We are on day three of March, and as you know here in parts of the deep south it is beginning to look a lot like Spring! This is great news for beekeepers as now is the time we come out of hibernation and start watching our bees very closely for signs of swarm cells and general colony health. One big factor to early colony health is the availability of forage, and that is determined by many factors including a prolonged winter, late freezes, too much or too little rain among other things.
As I mentioned above, forage is essential this time of year. When your bees start bringing in large amounts of pollen and nectar it is nice to have an idea of what is being foraged. Below is a list of things that are commonly in bloom throughout the State of Louisiana in the month of March. Keep in mind that weather conditions can affect bloom dates which in turn can lead to early or later bloom times. Also, the blooms this time of year will generally start in the more southern regions of the state and then work northward as the temps in the north begin to warm up. Again, many variables will determine exactly how this is played out as well.

Here's the list:

1. Butterweed or Groundsel                    Wikipedia Page                   Buy Seeds Here

2. Hairy Vetch                                         Wikipedia Page                   Buy Seeds Here

3. Willow Tree                                        Wikipedia Page                   Buy Seedlings Here

4. White Clover                                      Wikipedia Page                   Buy Seeds Here

5. Parsley Hawthorne                            Wikipedia Page                    Buy Seeds Here

I want to thank LSU AgCenter for making available Dr Dale Pollet's book Louisiana Honey Plants. It made the information in this article possible. There were many more honey plants that I could have listed, but these are among the most important plants for the month of March in Louisiana.

Please consider making it a priority to help the honey bee population in your area by planting some of these plants on your property, and where possible, on surrounding properties.