The honey plants of the Far East are an extensive list of various plants from trees to grasses and shrubs. Only in Primorye and Priamurye there are about 2,2 thousand species, many of which are cultivated.
It should be borne in mind that there are varieties in nature that do not emit nectar at all or give it in insignificant quantities. Such species provide apiaries with protein food – pollen, which bees store in combs like bee bread. For example, as pollen plants are valuable: rye, hazel, birch, and other plants. They secrete more pollen than honey plants pollinated by insects.
The content of the article
- 1 Climate in the region
- 2 Honey base
- 2.1 Primary honeybees
- 3 Review of honeybees
- 4 In conclusion
Climate in the region
The Far East is a vast Russian region that includes nine federal subjects. Geographically speaking, this is the entire east of the country, where the rivers of the Pacific basin and the eastern islands are concentrated: Wrangel, Kuriles, Sakhalin, Shantarskie, Komandorskie.
The climate is highly contrasting. Severe winters reign in the north, while the south is characterized by long, humid and hot summers. As for the coastal areas, spring here smoothly flows into autumn (there is no pronounced summer), and winters are cold and windy. At any time of the year, it rains torrentially, fogs often fall, and typhoons occur.
Honey base
In the south of the Far Eastern region, four main periods of bribe are clearly distinguished, including pollen:
- Early spring here it falls in March-April. The development of families at this time is ensured by plants that feel good in more or less sunny areas (forest edges, woodlands). Varieties of anemone, crested beetle, and Amur adonis bloom.
- In the spring nectar is produced by some varieties of maples, willows and birches.
- Summer in the region it starts from the second half of May and lasts until the first decade or mid-July. This is the period of mass flowering of about 250 honey plants, including Maak bird cherry, Amur velvet and maples.
- Late summer period starts from late July or early August and lasts until mid-September. At this time, pollen and nectar are obtained from a number of plants, including willow-herb, white melilot, creeping (white) clover, sow thistle, variegated motherwort, Amur Saussurea, black cohosh, serrata, and ovate festoon.
Primary honeybees
The most favorable zone for beekeeping is the south of the region. Both primary and secondary melliferous plants grow here, providing sustainable supporting bribes.
Primary honey plants are represented by trees (20 species), shrubs (16 species) and grasses (48 species).
It should be borne in mind that certain species provide marketable bribes only in some areas of the Far Eastern region, where they grow in abundance or are specially cultivated (for example, raspberries are the most valuable honey plant for the Jewish Autonomous Region, and in other areas its importance is not so great).
In terms of nectar productivity, trees are in the lead, giving 100-1 kilograms per hectare of dense plantations. They are presented:
- willows (11 species in total) – dewy, Suzeva, thin-leaved, Radde, five-chined, oblong-leaved, short-legged, goat, long-stalked, Daurian, basket willow (productivity 100-200 kg of nectar);
- maples (4 types) – yellow, green-barked, riverside, small-leaved (give an average of 100 to 200 kg);
- linden trees (3 species) – Amur, Take, Manchurian;
- Amur velvet;
- cherry Maximovich.
This is followed by shrub plants, conditionally providing apiaries from 28 to 250 kilograms of nectar from one hectare of thickets:
- dahurian joster;
- prickly eleutherococcus;
- white svidina;
- Manchu Aralia;
- Lespedetsa two-color;
- viburnum (2 species) – Sargent, Bureinskaya;
- chubushnik (2 types) – thin-leaved, Schrenk;
- currant (4 varieties) – pale-flowered, Palchevsky, Siberian grouse, Manchurian;
- raspberries (3 varieties) – Komarova, Sakhalin, hawthorn.
Grasses round off this peculiar rating, giving from 20 to 230 kilograms of nectar per hectare of continuous cover.… They are represented in the region:
- Saussurea – Amur, Ussuri, new sawn;
- hamenerium (2 species) – broad-leaved, narrow-leaved;
- deltoid cone-tails;
- sickle (2 species) – crowned, Komarova;
- and other plants.
Review of honeybees
Far Eastern trees are presented in our review:
Manchu apricot, a medium-sized plant (10-12 meters), covered with dark red bark. The foliage of the honey plant is oval, and the flowers are light pink, grouped on branches in three to five pieces. The drupe has a bitter or sour taste. Blooms in mid-May providing bribes of 50-70 kilograms per hectare.
Sakhalin cherry – a fruit tree, up to 13-15 meters high, covered with dark gray bark. The foliage is elongated. Light pink flowers are large, collected in a brush. The fruits are inedible, black. It blooms in May and produces nectar for an average of 8-12 days. Nectar productivity of the order of 120-170 kilograms.
Cherry Maximovichreaching a height of 20 meters. It is distinguished by elliptical leaves pubescent below, rough dark gray bark, white flowers grouped in corymbose inflorescences, and black inedible fruits. Dissolves in May providing a good bribe of 120-200 kilograms.
Bird cherry Maakblooming in the early summer period – in late May, early June. The tree reaches a height of 13-16 meters, covered with brown shiny bark. The foliage is large, elliptical. White flowers are grouped in medium-sized clusters. It gives about 80-100 kilograms per hectare of dense thickets.
Amur velvet – A 30-meter tree, sensitive to unfavorable weather. In cold weather and heavy rains, nectar is practically not released! The plant is dioecious – there are male and female trees. It blooms in the second half of June and produces nectar within a week (females are 1-2 days less). From this honey plant, you can get dark yellow honey, the smell of which is unpleasant to some people. During the day, strong colonies taken to the thickets of trees bring up to 30 kilograms. For a week of flowering an average of 280-350 kilograms of nectar are obtained per hectare.
Amur maakia – a tree reaching a height of 13-15 meters. Maakia is distinguished by light brown bark, elongated foliage, cream or white flowers, planted on a short pedicel. They are collected in dense, long clusters that bloom in July. This honey plant is eagerly visited by bees in the years when linden trees do not bloom in the region. The bee family brings 1,6-1,8 kilograms of honey per day.
Dimorphan (calopanax seven-bladed)reaching a height of 20-25 meters. The bark of the tree is gray, the branches are planted with thorns. Seven-lobed foliage, almost equal in length and width. Small yellow-white flowers are collected in large umbrellas. This is a late summer honey plant, blooming by the end of July, beginning of August. Nectar productivity per hectare is 50-100 kilograms. The resulting commercial honey is light, has a pleasant aroma, but crystallizes quickly.
Interesting shrubs:
Amur lilac – a powerful shrub plant, up to 10 meters high, covered with dark gray bark with lenticels. You can distinguish a honey plant by white or creamy brushes that emit a pungent odor. The bush opens in the 20th of June, releasing nectar for 18 days. In dry weather, honey plant is dangerous for bees! Due to the abundance of essential oils, they die right in the flowers. You can avoid this by feeding the apiary with syrup. In rainy weather, there is no need for this event – the smell of flowers becomes less pungent. Nectar productivity of the order of 30-40 kilograms.
Lespedeza two-color reaches a height of two meters. Its leaves are trifoliate, and the flowers are pink-purple, blooming in the axils of the leaves. The plant is a late summer honey plant – the flowering period is 40-45 days in July and August. The resulting honey is valued as winter food (it does not crystallize in combs!). Nectar productivity is from 50 to 300 kilograms.
Semi-shrub securinega reaches a height of 1,5-2 meters. It is a sprawling shrub with light yellow or light gray shoots covered with lanceolate leaves. Blooms up to 10 days in June and July. The flowers are inconspicuous of a greenish-yellow hue, grouped in the axils of the foliage. Nectar is best isolated in areas open to the sun. Nectar productivity from 30 to 50 kilograms.
Acantopanax sessile-flowered grows up to 2-2,5 meters. Its dark brown flowers are collected in small umbrellas, which are grouped in racemose inflorescences. Blooms in late July. Productivity 30-50 kilograms of nectar.
Aralia high – a large shrub plant, reaching a height of 5-6 meters, covered with thorns. Differs in large trifoliate foliage, collected at the tops of the stems. White-cream flowers, grouped in panicles, also crown the top of the bushes. Dissolves by the end of July, beginning of August for two weeks. It is a good pollen and nectar plant, but blooms profusely only once every two years. Nectar productivity from 50 to 100 kilograms… Pumped out honey is not suitable for wintering bee colonies, as crystals quickly form in it.
Prickly Eleutherococcus – a tall bush covered with thorns (2-2,5 meters) with light brown shoots. The foliage in its lower part is covered with reddish hairs along the veins. The female flowers are pale purple, fragrant, while the male flowers are yellow. They are collected in loose umbrellas, crowning the tips of the branches. Blossom in the last decade of July for 2-3 weeks. Nectar productivity is from 75 to 90 kilograms.
Of all honeysuckle varieties apiaries will benefit from the following varieties: Maak, Maksimovich, Ruprecht, humpbacked, edible. They bloom in May, June (except for Maksimovich’s honeysuckle, which blooms in mid-summer). Nectar productivity up to 50 kg… There are early spring varieties – Turchaninova and early flowering, blooming in April for 10-12 days.
Kalina (Sargent – with red edible fruits, and Bureinskaya – with black, also edible fruits) provides bribes from 45 to 65 kilograms… These are June honey plants growing well in the south of the Far Eastern region.
Ledum from the heather family in the Far East it is represented by four species: marsh, creeping, large-leaved, white. They grow throughout the region. Bloom in May, June, emitting nectar and pollen.
Of the cultivated shrubs, the greatest value for apiaries is raspberries… Bees work on it even in rainy weather.
Here are the main Far Eastern varieties:
- Komarova – productivity 150-180 kgblooming in June, July;
- Sakhalin – productivity of the order of 150-250 kilograms, blooms in June, emitting pollen and nectar for 1,5 months;
- hawthorn – productivity 150-200 kg, blooms in the last days of May and gives honey until the third decade of June.
The production of commercial honey is also ensured by the varieties of lianas found in the forests among the bushes. It:
Chinese Schisandra, preferring to populate areas of felling and burning. Its shoots and foliage have a characteristic lemon scent. Ripe fruits are red, they can be eaten. The adult plant length is 15-20 meters. The heterosexual flowers bloom in June for two weeks. Nectar productivity is 20-30 kilograms.
Interesting in terms of honey productivity Actinide… There are two types of this vine growing in the region:
Colomicta reaches a length of 10-12 meters. Her flowers are dioecious white (female flowers grow one at a time). Blossom depending on the region: in mid-June in Primorye, at the end of June in the north and in the mountains. Nectar productivity from 30 to 85 kilograms.
Sharp – a more powerful variety of actinidia, reaching a length of 25-30 meters. The flowers are also dioecious: single female, gathered in umbrellas – male. Blooms in July. In areas with a continuous cover from vines you can get up to 120 kilograms of marketable honey… The inflorescences are visited by flight bees mainly in the early morning. Later, insects migrate to linden trees.
Of the herbs I would like to note:
Codonopsis lanceolate – climbing grass, blooming in July, early August. Nectar productivity is from 30 to 70 kilograms. You can distinguish the honey plant by its bluish or yellow corolla.
Klopogon Daursky – a two-meter grass that blooms in August, early September. Differs in trifoliate large leaves. Gives 40 to 80 kilograms of nectar per hectare.
Dandelion (total 6 species) blooms massively from mid-May and blooms until the third decade of June. Honey productivity from 15 to 55 kg per hectare.
Creeping clover found on dry lands, forest edges, wastelands, along roads. This perennial blooms in May and releases nectar until September. Productivity from 100 to 150 kilograms.
Donnik presented in two types: white and fragrant (yellow). The white variety blooms in June-August, providing bribes up to 200-300 kg… Sweet clover has the same flowering time, but its nectar productivity is slightly lower – 180-200 kg.
Angelica (4 species in total: Maksimovich, descending, Daurian, Amur) blooms in July, August. Gives nectar for a month. Its thickets can be found in clearings, along roads, along forest edges. Nectar productivity from 90 to 100 kg.
Siberian Hogweedblooming in July-August, provides bribes from 80 to 120 kg… Occurs in vegetable gardens, along roads, in fields.
Adonis amur, often popularly called “snowdrop”, blooms in March, April. Its flowers are golden yellow, one on each stem. The pollen shedding period is 20-25 days.
Violets there are about 20 species. They are also good pollen plants, blooming in April-May for a period of one month. Little nectar is produced – 10-40 kilograms… It goes completely to the development of bee colonies in the spring.
Goose bow (nakaya) is a minor melliferous plant of Primorye and Priamurye. Blooms in late April, early May. Bees collect nectar and pollen from it.
Bush husk, as well as pale, Okhotsk, doubtful, spaced – another secondary perennial melliferous plant. Differs in violet-lilac or blue flowers. Gives honey in April-May.
In conclusion
The flowering calendar of melliferous plants is compiled on an individual basis, based on our own observations.
Read: Using the honey plant flowering calendar
For beginners, the advice of beekeepers keeping the nearest apiaries will be useful. But even in this case, you need to understand that there is no year after year, especially in the Far East with its capricious weather.
In addition, the timing of flowering in each region of the Far East is different! The difference in timing when moving from north to south is about 12-20 days.
Beekeeping work can be planned only after many years of observation and a thorough study of all honey plants growing in the district and their number. Over time, all the knowledge gained will be contained in the beekeeper’s head, and not on paper – it will become much easier and easier to navigate the honey base.
