The weed honey plant is a wild herb that does not have a clearly defined area. Such grasses are found everywhere, penetrating into personal plots, vegetable gardens, agricultural fields.
Many are considered dangerous weeds, displacing other types of vegetation and capturing new territories at high speed. Particular attention is paid to their destruction, especially when growing crops on an industrial scale.
The content of the article
- 1 The benefits of weeds for apiaries
- 1.1 Division into groups
- 2 Plants overview with photos
The benefits of weeds for apiaries
Moreover, many weeds are famous for their honey productivity. From them you can get not only a supporting, but also quite a decent commodity bribe.
Given that agricultural land in endangered villages is not properly cultivated, the beekeeper can rely on wild-growing weeds.
In field conditions on fertile lands, they occupy vast areas, and bloom for a long time – on average 1-2 months.
Among them there are also their own record holders for nectar productivity (in brackets are the bribe per hectare of grass stand):
- muzzle (up to 600 kg);
- deaf nettle (up to 500 kg);
- catfish (up to 400 kg);
- motherwort (up to 300 kg).
Division into groups
Conventionally, weeds can be divided according to territorial affiliation. There are species growing:
- in the central and southern regions;
- in the middle and southern zone, Siberia;
- in the southern regions;
- found everywhere.
This division, as noted above, is very arbitrary. With the same varying success, weeds can be classified into varieties growing in wet meadows and arable lands, salt marshes and marshes, in semi-deserts and dry steppes, among shrubs and woodlands, on hills and in ravines.
But this does not mean at all that this or that species will not climb into wastelands, areas along roads and fences, abandoned inconvenient lands in a completely different region.
Plants overview with photos
Mordovia, belonging to the Aster family, is distributed in the central and southern regions. Only two of its species are of interest to bees: common and ball-headed. Mass flowering of grass is observed for 20 days in July, August, early September (depending on the area). Nectar productivity per hectare of thickets is up to 600 kilograms.
Read: Ball-headed bogeyman as a melliferous plant
Lamb (another name for “deaf nettle”) found everywhere. In beekeeping, two varieties are valued: purple and white. The grass blooms in July, releasing nectar until September (an average of two months). Nectar productivity up to 500 kilograms. This weed is often found near dwellings, in vegetable and garden plots. And the purple variety also grows on mountain slopes and deciduous forests. It is recommended to bring apiaries to places of mass growth of grass.
Kotovnik Is a perennial representative of the Labiate family, which is more common in the central and southern regions. Blooms in March, April for thirty days. Nectar productivity from 150 to 400 kilograms. The nectar is collected mainly from two types of grass: mint and lemon. The lemon variety is easy to confuse with lemon balm, but its twigs maintain an upright position (do not droop to the ground), the leaves are pointed, the flowers are smaller and they are located at the tips of the shoots.
Motherwort grows everywhere, blooming from July to September (on average, 30-35 days). As a honey plant, two of its varieties are interesting: 5-lobed and cordial. The herb is used in folk and traditional medicine. Shows nectar productivity up to 300 kilograms.
Read: Motherwort as a honey plant
Linen common – a tall herbaceous perennial with yellow flowers, belonging to the family of Noricidae. Found in Siberia, as well as in the southern and middle zone. Blooms from July to September for 20-25 days. It is referred to as a minor melliferous plant, although the bribe from this herb is quite tangible for the apiary – up to 200 kilograms. But the structure of the flowers does not allow the bees to take away all the secreted nectar.
Sowing cornflower (blue) found everywhere. This plant belongs to the Asteraceae family. Differs in erect stems branched in the upper part. All branches are crowned with blue baskets of inflorescences. They bloom in July, emitting pollen and nectar until the first decade of September, even in dry summers. Nectar productivity is from 50 to 100 kilograms. Flowering lasts an average of one month.
Knapweed (spreading) – the closest relative of the field cornflower with pale pink or white inflorescences, growing mainly in the southern regions. Blooms in mid-summer for 1,5 months. Withstands drought well – hot weather does not affect nectar production. Nectar productivity is from 50 to 200 kilograms.
Tatarnik (another name for “prickly onopordum”) – up to 1,5 m tall herbaceous biennial from the Asteraceae family. It is found more often in the middle lane. Its leaves are thorny, and the flowers are white or purple, grouped in large baskets. Blooms in July and August for 20-25 days. The average productivity for honey is 100 kilograms (according to other sources, up to 500 kg).
Sneep – a perennial representative of the celery family, found everywhere. It is distinguished by its high furrowed stem, trifoliate leaves on elongated petioles, small flowers grouped in complex umbrellas. Blooms from May to June (only about a month). The continuous herbage provides a bribe of 200 kilograms.
Read: Sleep like a honey plant
Thistle – a representative of the Aster family, numbering more than thirty varieties of grass. In beekeeping, two types are valued: curly and hooked. Both are thorny biennials, ubiquitous and blooming in the second half of summer to early fall. Average nectar productivity is 100 kilograms. Pollen collection – up to 2,4 kg per plant.
Bodyak – a perennial representative of the Compositae family, found everywhere. Most of all it is in wet meadows and in the undergrowth of conifers, mixed forests. Blooms in May or July, August, depending on the region. Differs in purple or pale purple inflorescences. Provides the apiary with pollen and nectar for 1-1,5 months. Nectar productivity from 100 to 140 kilograms.
Osot – perennial with a high erect stalk and yellow corymbose panicles of inflorescences. It grows everywhere, blooming from mid-July to the second decade of September. Provides apiaries with late-summer support bribes. Average nectar productivity is 100 kg, maximum – up to 350-380 kg.
Read: Sow thistle as a honey plant
Burdock (another name for “burdock”) – a ubiquitous biennial belonging to the Asteraceae family. He loves damp places: river coasts, gullies, wastelands, roadside areas, territories near housing. Differs in high (1,8 m) peduncles, crowned with lilac-purple baskets. Blooms in July, August for 40-45 days. Average nectar productivity is 100 kilograms.
Aster smooth (saline) – a representative of the family of the same name with bushy tall stems, growing in marshy areas and on salt marshes. Blooms in the middle of summer for one month. Shows nectar productivity from 40 to 100 kilograms from each hectare of thickets.
Common rape (another name for “rape”) – a weed belonging to the cruciferous family. It is found everywhere, preferring damp places: lake, river coasts, arable land, meadows. Reaches a height of 50-60 cm, has basal lyre-shaped leaves and golden-yellow corollas of flowers. Blooms in May, releasing nectar until the first decade of August. Due to its pleasant aroma, flight bees willingly work on the plant. Nectar productivity is 35-40 kilograms.
Read: Rape as a honey plant
Pikulnik (another name for “gills”) – an annual weed from the family of the lacustrine plants. It grows everywhere, capturing fields and vegetable gardens, found in clearings and wastelands. All five plant species, which are late honey plants, are valuable for apiaries. They bloom from June to early September. Nectar productivity in solid grass stands from 50 to 70 kilograms.
Wild radish (also called “field”) – an annual belonging to the cabbage family. The closest relative of the oilseed variety cultivated in the fields. The grass has a tall winding stalk, lyre-shaped lower leaves, yellow, white, less often purple-white 4-petal flowers. Blooms in July and August for 20 days. Nectar productivity from 20 to 30 kilograms.
Mother and stepmother – a valuable early flowering plant that blooms even before the snow melts. Flowering lasts an average of 40-45 days. Continuous thickets of grass can be found along highways, railway embankments, on sandy slopes and hills, and on the shores of water bodies. This medicinal weed plant has beautiful bright yellow baskets. The collected pollen (pollen) will have the same shade. Average nectar productivity is 30 kilograms.
Read: Mother and stepmother as a honey plant
Field bindweed (popularly “birch”) – a perennial representative of the family of the same name, found in the southern regions. Often litters fields, vegetable gardens, orchards, berry fields. Differs in a thin curly stem of the creeping type. Its white-pink flowers are shaped like the head of a gramophone. They exude a pleasant, delicate aroma that attracts pollinating insects. Bloom from July to August. In the conditions of the Kuban, bee colonies bring up to 3 kilograms of honey from this herb per day.
Dandelion, belonging to the Aster family, although it is considered a medicinal herb, it can cause trouble for gardeners. Dandelions spread quite quickly thanks to the light airy seeds carried by the wind. The basal toothed leaves of the honey plant take up a lot of space, hindering the development of cultivated plants. Blooms en masse in April, May, early June, providing collection of pollen (pollen) – up to 3 kg per day, and nectar – from 14 to 50 kg for the entire flowering period.
Read: Dandelion as a honey plant
Plantain – a perennial herb from the family of the same name that grows well in humid places. Often found in gardens, berry fields, near human habitation, in the fields. Differs in wide ovate leaves in the root part, bare stems-arrows with nondescript panicles of inflorescences. Excretes pollen abundantly from May to September.
Sagebrush – a perennial that has taken a fancy to wastelands, borders of fields, vegetable gardens, roadsides. There are two varieties that emit pollen well: bitter and ordinary. The grass has many erect stalks, 3-separate gray-green leaves, small baskets of yellow or reddish inflorescences. The twigs smell characteristic. The taste of the juice is pungent and bitter. The weed blooms in July, August, being a source of pollen for bee colonies. The border in the combs is light or grayish yellow.
Weed species of vegetation have enough diversity to provide bee colonies with a noticeable amount of nectar and pollen for the apiary – among them there are spring, summer and autumn varieties of honey plants.
