Michigan/Midwestern Beekeepers question

[beefree]

Yippee!  My husband and i finally closed on the land we've been wanting...6 acres of field in Central MI.   I want to plant it with stuff our bees will like.  (We will build on it in 2007).  So far, i have noticed that my bees loved the Muscari armenicum (grape hyacinths might be the common name)that i planted last year, and never touched my daffodilsor irises.  I would like to sow lots of clover, but i have heard that bees prefer the white clover over the red, is this true?  What have you noticed your bees on, especially early in the spring?  Not just flowers, either...there is only one tree on the property, an oak, so i expect to plant apple, cherry, and linden trees for the bees (and me!).  Do you know of any others that will survive in Zone 5 that bees particularly like?  Thanks for your help.

Beefree

[Finsky]

I have seen sometimes huge  wild apple trees. We call them "ornamental apple tree" or "forest apple tree". They may be 10-15 meter tall and awfully much flowers. I have seen that apple blossom has plenty on nectar and pollen.  Pic is from internet.

[leominsterbeeman]

Try and go with multiple nectar sources that produce at different times of the year.
Black Locust (blooms in late may/early June) is a great source of nectar in Zone 5 in Central Mass.
As well as Linden and Basswood and all make big trees.

All Apple, Crabapple, Cherry are very colorful but their blooms don't last
as long and tend to be smaller ornimental - but also provide you with fruit. They bloom in late April/early May.

This early sping,  I noticed a lot of great bloom on Bradford Pear,  but I don't know much about them being a nectar source for HB. Very pretty white flowers,  Even the young smaller trees produce lots of flowers.

[buck]

Alfalfa and wildflower/weeds in early summer give a good long honey flow in  June-early July . Thistle and goldenrod in the late summer.  This also attracts lots of birds, pheasants, and deer.  You can easily plant and get alfalfa to grow. The weeds will fill in later.