The benefits of milk thistle as a honey plant

Milk thistle is a honey plant from the Aster family, represented in nature by annual and perennial grasses. Due to its decorative appearance, it can be used in backyard and adjoining territories. The herb is highly valued in folk medicine, and provides bribes for apiaries in the second half of summer.

The content of the article

  • 1 Significance in agriculture
    • 1.1 Spotted
  • 2 Agrotechnics
  • 3 Honey productivity
  • 4 Useful Properties

Significance in agriculture

This crop is grown as a medicinal plant in fields, vegetable gardens and orchards. Milk thistle cultivation began only in the XNUMXth century. Before that, she was found in the wild nature of Central Asia, Western Siberia, the Caucasus. The grass grew here unpretentiously along the roads, on wastelands, abandoned dry areas.

The plant is edible. Its leaves are used for salads, rhizomes are fried, flowers are brewed like tea. Pharmaceutical biological supplements are prepared from the powder obtained from the stems.

Spotted

For apiaries, Milk Thistle – an annual with an erect stem up to 1-1,5 meters high.

The leaves of the grass are elongated oval in shape with a carved edge and characteristic mealy spots, covered with thorns. People call it Maryin or milk thistle.

The honey plant blooms in the second decade of July and August. Pink-purple, less often white, inflorescences are collected in fleshy spherical baskets, surrounded in the lower part by prickly scales and small leaves. Each inflorescence contains 80 to 150 tubular flowers, each of which releases nectar within two to three days.

Agrotechnics

Milk thistle honey plant is cultivated in weed-free fields. The plant loves sandy loam and slightly acidic loose soils. They sow it after perennial grasses or grain crops, having previously destroyed the weeds with herbicides (the greatest danger is sow thistle).

The field is cultivated with disc harrows. The grass is sown with early spring crops, giving friendly shoots at a 10-degree temperature for 8-10 days.

Continuous sowing to a depth of 4 centimeters, which ensures good germination and seed maturation. Sowing material consumption per hectare is 25-30 kilograms.

Four to five days after planting, the field is harrowed across the crops to destroy crust and small weeds.

The grass is unpretentious to watering, but it is sensitive to weeds – it is required to destroy them regularly in the field. Not afraid of cold snap and frost.

Seeds are harvested on an industrial scale with a combine harvester. Cleaning is carried out on time, as they crumble when overripe within 3-4 hours.

Honey productivity

It is extremely difficult to obtain milk thistle honey – it is mixed with the nectar of other summer herbs. Therefore, timely removal of honeycomb frames from hives is practiced in order to obtain a product as close as possible to monofloral.

bee

The color of the pumped honey is light yellow, transparent. The smell is bright, typical for herbs. Crystallizes rather quickly with the formation of large sugar granules.

How much bribe milk thistle provides as a melliferous plant from one hectare of plantations is not known for certain (usually honey is obtained polyfloral).

Useful Properties

Milk thistle honey is known in folk medicine for its laxative properties. It is also recommended by:

  • to normalize the work of the digestive system;
  • to improve liver function, in particular with hepatitis, cirrhosis, toxic lesions;
  • for skin regeneration in case of wounds and burns;
  • in cosmetology to improve hair growth, combat rashes on the face.

As an application, honey is applied to sore joints, where a gauze bandage is kept for 20-30 minutes. It relieves swelling and pain well.

Self-administration is excluded in case of diabetes (consultation of the attending physician is necessary) and individual intolerance to bee products!

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Anna Evans

Author ✓ Farmer

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