Clover and Bees

Why Clover Is One of the Most Important Plants for Honey Bees

Take a walk through a Wisconsin neighborhood in late spring or early summer and you'll likely see clover growing throughout lawns, roadsides, parks, and pastures. While many homeowners view clover as a weed, beekeepers often see it differently.

Clover is one of the most valuable forage plants available to honey bees and many other pollinators. Despite its common appearance, it plays an important role in supporting healthy bee populations and contributes significantly to honey production throughout much of the Midwest.

Honey bees rely on two primary food sources: nectar and pollen. Nectar provides the carbohydrates that fuel the colony's daily activities, while pollen supplies the protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals needed to raise young bees. Clover provides both. White clover, red clover, alsike clover, and other varieties produce nectar-rich blooms that attract honey bees throughout the growing season. When clover is abundant, bees can make thousands of foraging trips each day, bringing valuable resources back to the hive.

For beekeepers, a strong clover bloom often coincides with rapid colony growth and increased honey production. In fact, much of the light-colored honey commonly produced across the Midwest contains nectar gathered from clover. Its mild flavor, light color, and pleasant sweetness have made clover honey one of the most recognizable and widely enjoyed honey varieties in North America.

The timing of clover blooms is another reason the plant is so valuable. As spring transitions into summer, honey bee colonies are expanding rapidly. Queens are laying thousands of eggs, brood production is increasing, and worker bees are actively collecting food to support the growing population. During this period, colonies require large amounts of nectar and pollen. Clover often reaches peak bloom during this critical stage, providing a dependable food source when bees need it most.

Although honey bees receive much of the attention, they are far from the only pollinators benefiting from clover. Bumble bees, solitary native bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects regularly visit clover flowers. A healthy stand of clover can support a surprising diversity of pollinators throughout the season. In areas where flowering habitat has been reduced by development, intensive landscaping, or agricultural practices, common plants like clover become even more important.

The growing popularity of initiatives such as No Mow May has also highlighted the role clover can play in supporting pollinators. Allowing lawns to flower for even a few weeks provides additional forage opportunities during a time when many pollinators are emerging from winter and searching for food. While No Mow May is not a complete solution to pollinator decline, it can increase the availability of nectar and pollen during an important part of the season.

Clover also offers benefits beyond pollinator support. As a nitrogen-fixing plant, it naturally improves soil health by converting atmospheric nitrogen into a form that plants can use. Many homeowners find that lawns containing clover remain greener during dry periods and require less fertilizer than traditional turf grass. These characteristics have led some landowners to intentionally incorporate clover into their lawns rather than trying to eliminate it.

From a beekeeper's perspective, clover remains one of the most dependable and widespread forage plants in the landscape. It provides a consistent source of nectar and pollen, supports a variety of pollinator species, and contributes to the production of the honey many people enjoy. While it may not attract the same attention as native prairie flowers or ornamental garden plants, its value to pollinators is difficult to overstate.

The next time clover appears in a lawn or field, it may be worth considering the role it plays beyond ground cover. For honey bees and many other pollinators, those small white and pink blossoms represent an important source of food during one of the busiest periods of the year.