Oregon Pollinator Seed Mix
Spring Bee Forage Mix
Fall-Planted Spring Forage for Honey Bees & Other Pollinators
Spring Bee Forage Mix combines flowering legumes and lacy phacelia to create a diverse cool-season planting intended to provide nectar, pollen and flowering habitat during the important spring forage period.
Designed for: Oregon beekeepers, apiary forage plantings, pollinator habitat, farms, orchards, vineyards and other sites where additional spring floral resources are desired.
Spring Pollinator Forage
Build Floral Resources Before Summer
Honey bee colonies expand rapidly during spring, increasing their need for accessible nectar and pollen. Spring Bee Forage Mix is designed to establish during the cool season and produce multiple flowering plant types as temperatures rise.
The mixture combines fava beans, crimson clover, Lana woollypod vetch, white clover and lacy phacelia rather than relying on a single flowering species. Each component contributes a different growth habit, flower structure and seasonal function.
What's in the Mix
Spring Bee Forage Mix Components
A focused combination of cool-season legumes and flowering phacelia selected to provide diverse spring flowers and pollinator forage.
Bell / Fava Beans
A vigorous cool-season legume contributing substantial spring growth, flowers and biological nitrogen fixation when successfully inoculated and nodulated.
Crimson Clover
A colorful spring-flowering annual clover that provides accessible floral resources for honey bees and other pollinating insects when allowed to reach bloom.
Lana Woollypod Vetch
A vigorous cool-season annual vetch contributing vine growth, spring flowers and additional legume diversity within the planting.
White Clover
A familiar flowering clover with accessible blossoms that can contribute nectar and pollen resources for honey bees and other pollinators.
Lacy Phacelia
A flowering broadleaf valued for abundant blooms and its ability to provide nectar and pollen resources for bees and other beneficial insects.
Why Plant It
Designed Around Spring Bee Forage
Spring Bee Forage Mix is intended to complement existing forage by creating another flowering resource around apiaries, farms and other suitable planting areas.
Nectar Resources
Multiple flowering species can provide nectar resources during spring when the planting is successfully established and allowed to bloom.
Pollen Resources
Diverse flowers provide different potential pollen resources instead of relying on one flowering species.
Spring Colony Forage
The mix is timed around the period when honey bee colonies are becoming increasingly active and spring forage demand is rising.
Flowering Diversity
Clover, vetch, fava bean and phacelia contribute different flowers, plant structures and growth habits within one planting.
Cool-Season Cover
Fall establishment can provide living vegetation and active roots during part of the cool season before the stand moves toward spring flowering.
Legume Diversity
Several legume species add biological nitrogen fixation potential when appropriate rhizobia, soil conditions and successful nodulation are present.
Spring Forage Strategy
More Than One Flowering Species
Different species do not necessarily begin, peak and finish flowering at exactly the same time. Combining several flowering plant types is intended to create a broader forage window than relying on one species alone.
Actual flowering timing depends heavily on fall establishment, winter conditions, spring temperatures, soil moisture and management.
Establishment
Planting Spring Bee Forage Mix
This mixture is intended primarily as a fall-planted spring forage crop for western Oregon. Establishment and flowering will vary with location, weather, planting date and available moisture.
Planting Window
For western Oregon, target establishment in September through early October while soil temperatures and moisture conditions support good fall establishment.
Seeding Rate
General starting rate: 50 lb per acre drilled. For broadcast planting, approximately 55–60 lb per acre may be used with good seed-to-soil contact.
Spring Flowering
The mix is intended to provide spring flowering, generally targeting approximately April through June in suitable western Oregon locations. Actual bloom timing will vary.
Potential Uses
Where Spring Bee Forage Mix Can Fit
Apiary Forage
Plant suitable acreage near managed honey bee colonies to create an additional spring flowering resource.
Orchards
Potential use in appropriate orchard areas where flowering cover is compatible with orchard management and pollination plans.
Vineyards
Can provide a flowering annual cover option in suitable vineyard middles where growth and termination can be managed.
Pollinator Habitat
Useful as one component of a broader pollinator habitat strategy that also includes permanent flowering and nesting habitat.
Pollinator Research
Learn More About Clover & Bee Forage
Looking for more technical information about flowering clovers, honey bees and pollinator relationships? Explore this independent educational resource.
View Supporting Pollinator Research →Frequently Asked Questions
Oregon Spring Bee Forage Questions
What species are in Spring Bee Forage Mix?
Spring Bee Forage Mix contains Bell/Fava Beans, Crimson Clover, Lana Woollypod Vetch, White Clover and Lacy Phacelia.
When should Spring Bee Forage Mix be planted in Oregon?
In western Oregon, the primary target is fall planting, generally September through early October. Establishment timing should be adjusted for local weather, moisture and field conditions.
When should the mix flower?
The mixture is intended to provide spring flowering, generally targeting approximately April through June in suitable western Oregon locations. Planting date, winter conditions, moisture and spring temperatures will affect actual bloom timing.
Is Spring Bee Forage Mix only for honey bees?
No. Although the mixture was designed with honey bee forage in mind, several components can also provide floral resources for bumble bees and other beneficial insects.
Does the mix need to flower to benefit pollinators?
Yes. Nectar and pollen resources are provided by flowers, so the stand must be allowed to reach bloom for its intended pollinator-forage benefits to develop.
Is this intended as a permanent pollinator planting?
No. Spring Bee Forage Mix is primarily a cool-season forage planting designed around spring flowering. Permanent pollinator habitat should include additional long-lived flowering plants and suitable nesting habitat.
Looking for Spring Bee Forage Seed in Oregon?
Contact Weaver Seed for Spring Bee Forage Mix availability, pricing, acreage requirements or help determining whether this mix fits your Oregon apiary, farm, orchard or pollinator planting.
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