Evodia Daniela as a honey plant

Evodia Daniela is considered the best honey tree in the XNUMXst century. The British call it “the bee tree”, the Germans call it even more poetic – “a fragrant diamond.”

This plant is similar to white acacia and linden, which in temperate climates hold the record for honey productivity. But even with this comparison, evodia remains unrivaled.

The content of the article

  • 1 Distribution and Description
    • 1.1 Varieties
  • 2 Significance in agriculture
  • 3 Agrotechnics
  • 4 Honey productivity

Distribution and Description

The historical homeland of the tree is in the Far East. In China and Korea it is called “Korean acacia”. A little more than half a century, Evodia Daniel’s honey plant, which is actively cultivated in Europe.

A mature tree tolerates hot weather well. Prolonged frosts are not afraid of him either. If the crown freezes, it will still bloom profusely in the spring.

Evodia Daniela is a 15-20 meter tall, fast-growing deciduous tree. Its bark is smooth, gray with a metallic shade. The crown is spreading, covered with dense dark green foliage.

The inflorescences, collected in large panicles (up to 20 bees can work on the inflorescence at the same time!), Densely cover the entire crown. The flowers themselves are small and can be white, pink or beige.

Varieties

Scientists do not know exactly how many species of evodia exist in the world. Some have counted about 50 varieties. Others believe that these 50 species are actually one tree – the hupehensis.

And among beekeepers there is an opinion that it is necessary to divide the honey plant into two types: Evodia hipehensis and Evodia daniel. The appearance of these plants is similar, but they bloom at different times, which is extremely important for the beekeeper.

When the hipehensis is already bearing fruit (blooms from July to August), Daniela is just beginning to bloom its inflorescences. The active flowering period occurs in August-September, just when the bees find it difficult to find the last flowering plants. The tree has been blooming for almost a month. This feature makes it a valuable melliferous plant during the non-tipping period.

Significance in agriculture

The tree can be safely grown as an ornamental plant near the house, in summer cottages, as well as in city parks or gardens.

saplings

Recently, it has been cultivated by beekeepers to obtain a serious honey base in areas close to apiaries.

Agrotechnics

The variety known as Daniela is propagated by seed or seedlings.

Saplings and seeds can be ordered from online stores or from places where these trees are cultivated. But be careful! Very often, unfriendly sellers deceive naive buyers unfamiliar with an exotic plant.

The following are the main steps for planting and grooming:

  1. Seeds are planted in the prepared soil (you need to dig up and loosen the site) in early April. For rapid development in early spring, the seed is placed in the freezer twice in the winter for a period of 2-3 days. Thus, the seeds will undergo natural selection. Before planting, they are germinated in the warmth. Or spread in a damp cool place for the summer – the seeds swell and are sown in late autumn. In this case, a larger percentage of sprouts will sprout up in the spring.
  2. In the second year, ready-made seedlings are planted in a permanent place well-lit by the sun. Ensure regular watering for the first three years! Young seedlings are afraid of frost. Therefore, they must be carefully insulated, and the roots must be sprinkled with earth and leaves.

In the third or fourth year of life, the tree begins to bloom profusely. Moreover, regardless of weather conditions, evodia will bloom annually and produce abundant nectar.

Honey productivity

It is known from European beekeeping magazines that the tree is valued as an excellent honey plant and pollen.

inflorescence

Bees can bring up to 2-3 kilograms of pollen from one plant per day! The honey productivity of the Daniel species is record-breaking: the nectar collected by bees from a hectare is equal in weight to that collected from 10 hectares of dense plantings of linden.

 

Inflorescences of one tree emit up to 90 kilograms of nectar over the entire flowering period.

Honey resembles acacia in consistency, but has a sharper aroma.

Note: Since in the European part of our continent, Evodia is a very rare tree, it is simply impossible to find monofloral honey from it on the Ukrainian and Russian markets. But with an increase in the number of planted honey plants (after about 10-20 years), it is quite possible that such a variety will become a reality, and not be another market fake.

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Anna Evans

Author ✓ Farmer

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