Linden honey plant is of great value for the beekeeper. The usual height of this tree is from 20 to 35 meters. It is a perennial plant from the genus of deciduous trees of the linden family. The crown is densely leafy in the form of a pyramidal ball. Inflorescences of a light yellow hue with a pleasant light aroma.
The flowering period in dry weather is only about a week, and at favorable times – 28 days. Blooms massively in mid-summer – from early July to the end of its second decade.
The content of the article
- 1 Significance in agriculture
- 1.1 Distribution
- 1.2 Types
- 2 Honey productivity
- 3 Agrotechnics
- 4 Medicinal properties
- 5 How to distinguish a fake
- 5.1 About multiflora
Significance in agriculture
In the distant past, lindens were revered as sacred trees, being symbols of the feminine principle. They were seated near temples and houses. The people organized holidays and judged, hiding under the crowns of linden tree plantations.
Nowadays, these trees are used exclusively for practical purposes. Linden tolerates air pollution from exhaust and industrial gases well. The leaves absorb large amounts of dust and carbon dioxide, while releasing tens of kilograms of oxygen. In cities, linden trees are planted in parks and green areas near sidewalks.
Distribution
The tree is very popular in agriculture, so the geography of its distribution is quite wide. It is cultivated with equal success in the warm humid regions of the Transcaucasus and in the south of the Far Eastern Territory. In Southeast Asia, you can also find a large species diversity of this plant. But in the temperate Asian and European zones, linden is much less represented.
The tree itself is unpretentious when planting – it gets along well on various types of soil, but is afraid of floods. In winter it can withstand up to 48 degrees of frost.
Types
In Europe, linden as a honey plant is represented by three varieties:
Heart-shaped – with good productivity of nectar, but completely dependent on the state of the environment. Blooms from the end of June, in the first days of July. Most of the inflorescences bloom from early morning until noon. During this period, nectar is also released to the maximum. Up to 1 kg of honey can be harvested from 500 hectare.
European – blooms from the beginning of June from 10 days to two weeks (it blooms ten days earlier than heart-shaped). Less productive. The most intense secretion of nectar is observed in the morning.
Caucasian – throws out inflorescences in the last days of June and blooms until about mid-summer. Linden honey plant is a record holder. You can take 750 kilograms of marketable honey per hectare. Moreover, the collected nectar contains a very high sugar content – 60-65 percent.
Honey productivity
Linden honey is one of the best varieties of this bee product. Immediately after pumping, it has a pleasant light yellow color and is completely transparent. After crystallization, it brightens, acquiring an almost white tint. The taste does not depend on the degree of crystallization – the product is always pleasant and aromatic.
A characteristic feature of the variety is that crystallization does not occur immediately, but only six months after pumping out.
Honey productivity per hectare of flowering linden plantations is about 800-1 kilograms (in some zones the yield can reach up to 000 tons). But in some years, the inflorescences emit nectar very poorly, so the bees practically do not visit the plants.
Good harvests of honey are provided by nomadic apiaries. There is a pattern: linden groves growing in open space bloom earlier than trees in lowlands.
Bee colonies are brought to the planting when the first inflorescences begin to bloom. Trees bloom especially well after mild winters with heavy snowfalls. One tree can release about 30-40 kilograms of nectar per season.
Agrotechnics
Trees are planted near apiaries. For this, seedlings are taken over the age of six. A young tree grows very slowly at first. But at the same time it tolerates the transplant itself well.
Lindens are planted like any garden crop, without exposing the root collar. It requires careful care over the next two to three years. In a drought, trees need to be watered every two weeks, and it is advisable to loosen the root soil annually.
Medicinal properties
Linden honey contains essential amino acids for the human body:
- arginine (necessary for protein metabolic processes);
- histidine (participates in the formation of hemoglobin);
- lysine (useful for a growing body);
- methionine (needed for fat metabolic processes).
This healing product contains a large number of enzymes. The composition includes vitamins of group B, folic acid, as well as microelements important for humans.
Beneficial features:
- well helps with diseases of the stomach and intestines;
- helps relieve stress;
- indispensable for diseases of the heart, blood vessels and nervous system;
- for various types of colds, it helps the discharge of phlegm;
- has antipyretic properties;
- and is an effective remedy for the overall strengthening of the body.
How to distinguish a fake
Fresh linden honey never changes its color. And only after crystallization does the product acquire a whitish color.
The aroma is always fragrant, including a fresh lime note with a slight touch of mint scent. The taste is sweet honey with a subtle bitterness. Slight astringency aftertaste. Three months after pumping out of the honeycomb, the product begins to crystallize, thickens noticeably and loses its transparency. This external change does not affect the taste and medicinal qualities in any way!
Remember: If you bought linden honey, and it remains liquid until winter, as before, you were sold a fake!
About multiflora
During the active honey harvesting season, bees collect nectar from all nearby flowering plants. Therefore, it is almost impossible to obtain exclusively monofloral (one-component) honey!
But the apiary can be taken to places of densely growing linden. Then it will be possible to download honey, which is close in composition and quality to a single component. However, it is still impossible to call it 100% fake!
Important: Any monofloral honey necessarily contains some percentage of “impurities” from other plants, regardless of its type.
