[blackowl]

Aside from flowering plants, what other plants would be best pollinators?

 

[mtnmyke]

I've never known a pollinator to benefit from a non-flowering plant.

I put lemongrass on the ends of my hive stands. Mainly as they get huge in my area and act as a wind/sun break while providing a nice aroma. But if there were a flowering bush or something more beneficial, I could be persuaded to replace them.

 

[LAlldredge]

You need a flower for nectar. #1 is Phacelia. Ian Steppler (A Canadian Beekeepers Blog) planted Phacelia this year along with Sunflowers and was very impressed. It's in my wildflower mix which will be reseeded this fall before the rains.

 

[AHudd]

I planted a small patch of Phacelia this Spring to see how they would use it in this area. I was surprised how many bees were on it.

Alex

 

[mtnmyke]

They call Phacelia "Bees Friend" for a reason!

I also tried some in a pot this year after seeing it at the nursery, and having no idea what it was. It produced a TON of seeds which I cut when dry and placed in open bags to harvest.

I'll definitely be planting more this next year. I'll be interested to see if it will thrive in areas I don't water.

 

[SeaCucumber]

In some parts of the world, corn might be the best bee plant. Plant cover crops at just the right time, so they don't out compete. Crimson clover feeds nitrogen to corn and winter kills.

 

[little_john]

Your question is far more challenging that some people here appear to appreciate:

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has a desert climate, with very mild winters and very hot and sunny summers, in which the humidity of the Persian Gulf makes the heat unbearable. The annual precipitation is almost everywhere below 100 millimetres (4 inches), and is concentrated in the winter months.

UAE appropriate environment for beekeeping, By Wam
Published Wednesday, April 03, 2019
The UAE is deemed a suitable environment for beekeeping given the availability of natural pastures during the seasons and Emirati honey is considered one of the best honey in the world, especially Acacia; Sidr, Frangula alnus, and Ghaf, Acacia tortilis, honey.

Seems local knowledge of the UAE is essential when making any recommendations.
LJ

 

[Live Oak]

Aside from flowering plants, what other plants would be best pollinators?

I take it that you will be heavily irrigating what you plant in some form or fashion due to your location. From the Buckthorn family, botanical name: Ziziphus spina-christiIn, also called Christ's thorn jujube seems to be well adapted to your area. Brazilian pepper tree may be another. In another life, I spent a year deployed to that area as a military aviator and I was very impressed what farmers were able to grow using walk-line pivots and other forms of irrigation. If you are able to irrigate and with proper soil preparation you might be able to grow Tulip Poplar, Black Locust, Korean Bee Bee Tree, and perhaps others but until they become well rooted would require close and constant care. Even when well rooted, irrigation would be required. Not sure if that would be practical or economically feasible for you.

 

[Live Oak]

Duplicat post. Please delete. Moderators, the forum is not functioning properly this morning.

 

[tracyoverstuff]

I found this on wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_crop_plants_pollinated_by_bees

It really would depend only your geographical location from what I see.

 

[blackowl]

Thanks for all your response! I've done quite a lot of research myself, and there's quite a lot of alternative but of course that would be depending as you guys said on location. The local climate here is not well suited.

 

[SeaCucumber]

Think of the categories of what you should plant. In different locations, there are the same categories for plants.
some US charts
https://www.sare.org/wp-content/uploads/chart2-performance-and-roles.pdf
https://www.sare.org/wp-content/uploads/chart3a-cultural-traits.pdf