The willow honey plant is an early spring plant, according to the biological classification, belonging to the family of the same name.
Due to the diversity of this species, there are many other popular names for it. Verba (willow) is often called willow, willow, willow, and also willow or vine. The latter name is directly related to the lighting of tree branches in temples on Palm Sunday.
The willow is a honey plant that gives good yields of nectar and pollen.
The content of the article
- 1 Distribution
- 2 Significance in agriculture
- 3 Description
- 3.1 Basic views
- 4 Agrotechnics
- 4.1 Landing technology
- 4.2 Care
- 5 Honey productivity
- 6 Useful Properties
Distribution
The honey plant is well known to beekeepers living in the territory of Ukraine and Russia. You can meet him in different places. Most varieties of this woody plant are moisture-loving – they prefer to grow near water bodies, occupying a free coastal line.
A few species grow on steep slopes, sandstones, dense forests and swamps.
Significance in agriculture
Many types of willows are used as ornamental plants. Thanks to their fluffy earrings, which bloom in early spring, they look very impressive in landscape design. As mentioned above, it is customary among the people to break off their branches and decorate their houses on Easter holidays.
Also, these early spring honey plants have a well-developed root system, therefore they are widely used on sandstones, the banks of mountain streams, city canals, cliffs, landscape slopes – the plants perfectly strengthen loose and loose soils. And in forest plantations, willows are planted to protect the forest and forest-steppe zones from erosion.
Young trees are used to form protective strips along fields and roads. Especially on wet soils. In addition, their roots are capable of effectively retarding the movement of volatile sands.
The bark of mature trees is light and soft. It is used for the manufacture of wooden products used in everyday life. Baskets, furniture, dishes are woven from flexible rods of bush.
Description
There are many different types of willow (willow) in the family. This can be both tall trees and smaller shrubs. Sometimes you can find small, squat trees, the branches of which spread to the very ground.
Only dwarf willows grow in the arctic and mountainous areas. Their smallest variety in nature is a tiny shrub that grows no more than two and a half centimeters in height. Such willows can be simply overlooked among the mosses growing between them!
The stem of the plant is branched, and the branches themselves resemble twigs – they are both brittle and flexible. Depending on the type of foliage, it can be dense and curly or more rare and shallow in shape.
The inflorescences are always collected in neat earrings. Flowers in them are very small, unisexual, and without perianth.
Unlike other plants, willows do not produce abundant pollen and nectar. But on the other hand, they provide an important early spring bribe for bee colonies.
Basic views
For beekeepers, the following types are of particular importance:
Willow (goat) – is considered the best honey plant among its kind. During the flowering period, it emits a lot of nectar and a sufficient amount of pollen. It grows in forest zones and on the shores of water bodies in the form of a five-meter shrub or a tree of medium height (from 6 to 10-11 meters). Its leaves are rounded, planted on petioles. Earrings are large, yellowish. It differs from other varieties of its family in wide foliage and good shade tolerance.
Willow white (known as the weeping willow) is the largest in the family. The tree grows quickly and can easily reach 30 meters in height. The crown is large, rounded. Young branches are very flexible, hanging beautifully, fluffy or bare at the ends. This species is also an excellent spring honey plant.
Willow sharp-leaved (or red willow) – is valued in agriculture as a valuable plant that reliably strengthens the soil. It grows on sandy soils, more often on the coast of rivers or lakes. It differs from other varieties of its family by its hardiness to extreme weather conditions – it tolerates summer drought well and is not afraid of severe frosts. It grows up to 10-12 meters, sometimes it looks more like a powerful shrub than a tree. Shoots of a dark red hue.
Agrotechnics
Willows are unpretentious and can grow on all types of soil. But if you specifically engage in their cultivation, it is necessary to select areas with loose, moderately moist soil. For planting, the best option would be sandy loam or loam. Avoid areas where stagnation and accumulation of water is possible. Excessive moisture will negatively affect the growth of honey plants.
Usually willows are bred with one-year-old spring cuttings up to 25 centimeters long. To do this, in the fall, the soil is dug to a depth of 80 centimeters, so that the top layer, along with small vegetation, is underground. You can use a shovel or a plow.
In the spring, cuttings are placed in rows. It is desirable that the rows go from southeast to northwest. The row spacing is up to 40-45 centimeters, and the distance between individual cuttings is from 10 to 20 centimeters (up to 300 cuttings can be planted per hectare).
Not all species reproduce so easily! Goat willow cuttings take root rather poorly for its mass planting. Therefore, this species is bred with seeds. They are harvested in May, sown in the beds, without sowing land. Here, after two days, the first shoots appear.
Landing technology
The technique and type of planting depends on the purpose and area of cultivation:
1.The whole area is planted, except for the road and ditches Is a continuous or sowing technology.
2.The rows are landed… There are three types of this landing:
- The so-called intermittent, when cuttings are planted in strips with a distance between them up to three meters. The technique is used to alternate with vineyards and fields.
- Ridge, when willows are grown in peat bogs and bogs, between ditches).
- Ditch, when the prepared twigs are bent into rings and stick them into the walls of the ditch.
3.The nests are planted… This technique is used to strengthen slopes, steep banks. Up to ten cuttings are planted in one hole, sprinkling them with earth.
Care
Willow tree care is pretty simple. Between the rows, you need to regularly loosen the ground, weed out, and huddle tree trunks.
Such care is required in the first five years!
The soil can be fertilized with one year old compost or Peruvian guano.
Honey productivity
All varieties of willows bloom in early spring in the fifth year of life. Flowering occurs at the end of April or May, depending on the climatic zone. Due to unstable spring weather, the flowering period lasts only 10 days.
Productivity:
- Goat willow from 1 one hectare of plantations during the bribe period allocates from 150 to 200 kilograms of honey product. One strong bee colony can bring up to 6 kilograms of nectar per day.
- White willow is not inferior in nectar content. From 1 hectare of plantations, you can get up to 140 kilograms of nectar.
The willow as a honey plant provides a stable early spring flow, which is necessary for the good development of bees after hibernation.
Willow honey is a very rare type of honey product (most of it is used by bee colonies for development).
It has a golden yellow hue. The taste is pleasant and delicate. It crystallizes slowly into a fine-grained white mass.
Useful Properties
Willow as a honey plant is especially valued in folk medicine. Many folk recipes have been written on the basis of willow honey.
This variety is used:
- with sciatica and rheumatism;
- with severe headaches and arthritis;
- in the treatment of skin abscesses.
The product is valuable as an antimalarial, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, hemostatic and antipyretic agent. It has antiseptic and analgesic effects.
