Lupine as a melliferous plant

The lupine honey plant belongs to the genus of legumes that are widespread on our planet. Its species are found in the Mediterranean area, on the African continent, in North America, including Alaska. In total, there are about 200 varieties of this plant – there are shrubs, annuals and perennials.

Another name is wolf bean.

The content of the article

  • 1 Significance for agriculture
    • 1.1 Yellow
    • 1.2 White
    • 1.3 Narrow-leaved
  • 2 Agrotechnics
  • 3 Honey productivity
  • 4 Useful Properties

Significance for agriculture

Lupine is a honey plant known for its high pollen production. When it blooms, bees bypass their attention to other plants, and bring up to 80% of pollen from lupine.

In agriculture, the plant is valued as green manure, the green stems of which are used to fertilize the soil. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria live on its roots, enriching the soil with nitrogen.

Main applications:

  • fertilizer for plowing;
  • compost preparation;
  • soil mulching;
  • growing for livestock and fish feed;
  • use for cosmetic and medical purposes;
  • industrial applications (soap making, paper making, paints, varnishes, plastics);
  • growing as an ornamental plant.

Lupine angustifolia is of value as a honey plant. Other varieties – yellow, white – are beneficial as sources of pollen. These are annual species that grow well in Ukraine, central Russia and Polesie.

Yellow

Lupine yellow is a grass from Polesie, rarely found in forest-steppe regions.

yellow

Differs in erect stems up to one meter high. The leaves are palmate. The flowers are collected in fairly large yellow clusters. The grass blooms in June and July.

This variety grows well on sandstone and acidic soils. Resistant to cold weather.

White

White lupine honey plant, often found on the territory of Ukraine. Outwardly, it looks like a yellow variety, but it stretches much higher – up to 1,5-2 meters.

white

Inflorescences are white, outwardly resembling brushes. Blossom in the middle of summer and bloom on average up to 30 days.

This herb is demanding on soil fertility, is resistant to drought and heat, and is thermophilic.

Narrow-leaved

Lupine angustifolia (blue) is also an annual herb. It has high (up to 1,5 meters) erect stems, crowned with inflorescences of different colors – pink-white, blue, dark purple.

Differs in early maturity and high resistance to cold (withstands frosts up to -8 degrees). It is cultivated in the western regions and central part of Russia mainly on sandy soils.

blue

Blooms in the middle of summer. The flowering period is 20 to 30 days. In addition to pollen from this herb, bees receive nectar (more than from other varieties of lupine).

Agrotechnics

The plant is not sown after legumes! Recommended predecessors: corn, beets, grain crops. Of the pests, only the weevil, eating up tubers, and aphids are dangerous to him.

The ideal place for sowing is light, pre-fertilized soils (sandy loam, loam).

The sowing time for this culture is quite long – from mid-spring to November. However, in order for annual varieties to bloom faster, they must be sown in October. Moreover, the blue (narrow-leaved) lupine blooms two weeks earlier than the other varieties listed here.

Strain rules:

  1. The selected area should be exposed to the sun – the grass is sensitive to the quality of lighting.
  2. One to three kilograms of seeds are taken per one hundred square meters, depending on the method of sowing.
  3. Seeds are sown in rows with wide or narrow row spacing – from 15 to 45 centimeters. 3-4 seeds are sown in each hole to a depth of 4 centimeters. The distance between the holes is 5-8 cm.
  4. Seedlings thin out. During the budding period, the area is watered, the soil is regularly loosened and weeded.

Honey productivity

The growing season takes 100-130 days. After the appearance of inflorescences around the plant, bees begin to actively fly, collecting pollen.

honey productivity

The edging has a characteristic brick-red color – it is clearly visible on the frames and on the body of insects. Pollen formation depends on favorable conditions – watering, timely thinning of crops.

Lupine as a honey plant provides a collection of 50 to 90 kilograms of nectar from 1 hectare (mainly a narrow-leaved variety with blue or purple inflorescences).

It is impossible to judge the taste and other characteristics of honey, since the nectar from this honey plant is brought in small quantities compared to other plants. And commercial honey in summer is mainly polyfloral – collected from several types of melliferous plants.

Useful Properties

The chemical composition of pollen and other parts of the plant includes the alkaloid lupanine, which has a slight analgesic and antispasmodic effect.

Traditional medicine recommends various tonic decoctions and infusions, but their ingestion is quite dangerous due to the toxicity of lupine.

From the history of the use of the plant in medicine, it can be judged that it is effective when applied externally – it is used to treat ulcers, abscesses, acne, to relieve pain in joints and with inflammation of the sciatic nerve. Consequently, honey containing herbal nectar can be used for the same purposes – healing wounds, abscesses, and solving cosmetic problems.

Attention! The lupine nectar found in honey can cause an allergic reaction in people with intolerance to legumes and / or bee products. Also, the polish is taken with caution.

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Anna Evans

Author ✓ Farmer

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