Bee balm is one of the most versatile plants you can grow, serving as a culinary herb, a medicinal tea, a topical remedy, and a powerful pollinator magnet. Every part of the plant above ground is usable, from the colorful flowers to the aromatic leaves. How you use it depends on which species you have and what you’re after.
Know Your Species First
The two most common types of bee balm have distinctly different strengths in the kitchen. Wild bee balm (sometimes called wild bergamot) has leaves that smell and taste like a cross between oregano and thyme, thanks to a natural compound called thymol. Scarlet bee balm, the variety with bright red flowers, is a different story: its leaves taste slightly odd to many people, but its flowers have a unique flavor that blends that same herbal quality with notes of ripe red fruit and berries.
This distinction matters. With wild bee balm, you’re primarily using the leaves. With scarlet bee balm, you’re using the flowers. Mixing the two up will give you disappointing results.
Cooking With Bee Balm Leaves
Wild bee balm leaves work anywhere you’d normally reach for fresh oregano or thyme. Some foragers call it “pizza plant” because it pairs so naturally with tomatoes, especially in tomato sauce. The fresh green leaves add depth to soups, marinades, vinaigrettes, and pasta dishes. You can chop them finely and stir them in toward the end of cooking, just as you would with other soft herbs, or add them earlier for a mellower background flavor.
The leaves are best used fresh. Drying them concentrates the thymol, which can push the flavor from pleasantly herbal to overpoweringly medicinal if you use too much. Start with a few leaves and adjust to your taste.
Using the Flowers
Bee balm flowers are fully edible and make a striking garnish. The tubular petals can be pulled apart and scattered over salads, layered into sandwiches, or floated in cocktails. Fresh flowers from both species have good flavor, but scarlet bee balm flowers are the standout for eating raw because of their fruity brightness.
One important note: the flowers lose most of their punch after drying. If you want to preserve that flavor, use them fresh or turn them into infused honey, jelly, or vinegar rather than simply drying them for later.
Making Bee Balm Tea
Tea is the most traditional way to use bee balm, and Indigenous peoples in North America have brewed it for centuries to settle digestive complaints and ease cold symptoms. The plant contains thymol and carvacrol, compounds that are naturally antimicrobial and can help soothe an upset stomach by supporting digestive enzyme activity.
For hot tea, crush a small handful of fresh leaves and petals (or about a tablespoon of dried) and pour hot water over them. Let it steep for 10 to 15 minutes, longer than you would with standard tea, to fully extract the aromatic oils. The result tastes herbal, slightly minty, and warming.
Cold brewing works beautifully too. Place about 10 fresh bee balm flowers in a quart of filtered water, refrigerate, and let it steep for up to 24 hours. The cold method produces a lighter, more floral drink that’s refreshing on its own or mixed with lemonade.
Making a Topical Salve
Bee balm’s antimicrobial properties make it useful for minor cuts, scrapes, and skin irritation when applied externally as an infused oil or salve. The process starts with dried bee balm, which creates a more concentrated infusion than fresh herbs and avoids the risk of mold forming in the oil.
Fill a wide-mouth mason jar about two-thirds full with dried bee balm, packed down. Cover the herbs with olive oil (or almond oil), leaving an inch of headspace. Stir thoroughly to make sure all the plant material is submerged, then seal with a tight lid. Store the jar in a dark cupboard for about a month. If you’re in a hurry, place the sealed jar in a warm, sunny spot for two weeks instead, or gently warm the herbs in oil on low heat for an hour, then transfer to a jar and let it steep for a week.
Once strained, the infused oil can be used directly on skin or melted with beeswax to create a firmer salve. A common ratio is roughly one ounce of beeswax per cup of infused oil, adjusted depending on how thick you want the final product.
Harvesting at the Right Time
When you harvest bee balm makes a real difference in both flavor and potency. The best window is in the morning, after the dew has evaporated but before the day gets hot. Heat causes the volatile oils to dissipate, so an early harvest captures the strongest concentration of the compounds that give bee balm its flavor and medicinal properties.
Cut the entire stalk when the small flowers have just appeared or are about to open. This is when oil content peaks. You can harvest earlier if you only want leaves, but waiting for the first blooms gives you the most versatile material to work with. Bee balm is a vigorous grower, and cutting it back actually encourages a second flush of growth later in the season.
Drying and Storing
To dry bee balm, bundle a few stalks together and hang them upside down in a warm, well-ventilated area out of direct sunlight. They typically dry fully in one to two weeks. You can also strip the leaves and petals and spread them on a screen or dehydrator tray at a low temperature (around 95 to 100°F) to speed the process.
Once completely dry, strip the leaves and flowers from the stems and store them in an airtight jar away from light. Dried bee balm keeps its potency for about a year. Crush the leaves just before using them rather than ahead of time, since breaking the cell walls releases the flavor oils and starts the clock on degradation.
Growing Bee Balm in Your Garden
Bee balm thrives in a spot that gets at least six hours of direct sunlight each day, planted in moist, well-drained soil. Space plants about two feet apart to allow airflow, which helps prevent the powdery mildew that bee balm is notoriously prone to. If you notice a white, powdery coating on the leaves, thinning the clump and improving air circulation usually helps more than any treatment.
The plant spreads by underground runners and can be aggressive. If you want to contain it, plant it inside a buried barrier or in a raised bed. Every two to three years, dig up the clump in early spring, divide it, and replant the healthiest outer sections. This keeps the center from dying out and gives you new plants to share or move around the garden.
Attracting Pollinators
Beyond its usefulness to you, bee balm is one of the best plants you can grow for pollinators. It produces nectar continuously throughout its blooming season, drawing in native bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. The tubular flowers are especially shaped for hummingbird bills, making scarlet bee balm one of the most reliable plants for attracting them to a garden. Planting bee balm near fruiting vegetables and fruit trees can improve pollination rates in those crops simply by bringing more pollinators into the area.
Safety Considerations
Bee balm is generally safe for most adults when used in normal culinary and tea quantities. However, because its active compounds can interact with thyroid function, people with hypothyroidism should avoid using it in concentrated or medicinal amounts. Pregnant and breastfeeding women should also avoid medicinal use. If you’re taking thyroid medication, treat bee balm as a culinary garnish rather than a daily tea habit.
When foraging wild bee balm, make sure you’ve correctly identified the plant and that it hasn’t been sprayed with herbicides or pesticides. All Monarda species are edible, so a misidentification within the genus isn’t dangerous, but confusing it with an entirely different plant could be.