What honey plants are sown for bees

Honey collection in each specific area requires an individual approach from beekeepers. It is necessary to know the conditions for collecting nectar near your point, and, starting from this information, build work.

Accordingly, honey plants specially sown for bees are a great way to avoid a long period in an apiary without a full bribe.

The content of the article

  • 1 What you need to know
  • 2 Early spring
  • 3 Early summer
  • 4 Summer
  • 5 Late honey collection
  • 6 Sowing dates

What you need to know

Based on local conditions, special crop rotations of plants are created in areas near apiaries. It is also useful to breed ornamental crops that produce abundant nectar.

The task of the beekeeper is to create a fodder base in the summer area of ​​bees, in order to exclude periods with a complete lack of bribe.

The gap in the honey harvest is filled by sowing special crops in nearby territories. They may differ depending on the climatic conditions of the region. We will consider the most productive plants of the forest-steppe and forest zone. That is, honey plants for bees (to ensure long-term and constant honey harvests).

You can read about perennials in a separate article: Review of the best perennial honey plants

Early spring

To provide bee colonies with nectar and pollen in early spring, it is necessary to sow the following herbaceous plants before winter:

phacelia

Phacelia – an unpretentious annual melliferous plant, which is extremely rare in the wild. The grass is unpretentious to the quality of the soil, but it grows better in open, sunny areas. It is sown in 2-3 stages.

As a honey plant, it shows itself perfectly when sown in a mixture with legumes or cereals. Nectar productivity is about 40-60 kilograms per hectare.

The honey harvested from this culture is also valuable for its characteristics as a linden variety. This is a product with a delicate taste and delicate aroma, resembling dough in a sugared state.

Read More: Benefits of Phacelia as a Honey Plant

mustard

Mustard – a valuable oil-and-melliferous plant, drought-resistant, not demanding on the quality of the soil and its moisture content. In temperate climates, two varieties feel best: white and gray mustard, which are not afraid of frost. They are sown in 2-3 terms.

Nectar productivity entirely depends on the sowing time, variety, agricultural technology, and ranges from 53 to 100 kilograms per hectare.

Read: Mustard as a honey plant

Early summer

Early summer collection of nectar is provided by spring crops. For example, you can use a wiki.

vetch

Winter vetch (furry) – a good honey plant in the forest-steppe zone. It is also sown in the Caucasus. It blooms for up to 30 days, providing a stable early summer (supporting) bribe. The culture resists droughts well, unpretentious to growing conditions.

Provides an average of 8-10 kilograms of nectar from each hectare. But with mixed cultivation (phacelia or oats, rye), honey productivity increases to 50 kilograms.

Read: Vika and its importance as a honey plant

sainfoin

Sainfoin – a culture that blooms after orchards and berry fields. Provides pollen and nectar for 1,5 months from mid-May. The most productive are the common and Transcaucasian varieties. The honey plant is sown in spring by the continuous method under corn planted on green fodder, or in strips in combination with perennial grasses or sweet clover.

It was noted that at least three bee colonies should work on one hectare, which noticeably increases the clutch of eggs – such hives become noticeably stronger during the main summer flow.

Nectar productivity is about 40-160 kilograms, depending on the variety.

Read more: Sainfoin and its benefits as a honey plant

Summer

Sowing of near-area plots is very beneficial clover… Particularly attractive to beekeepers is the white variety, which blooms 65 days after sowing and produces nectar almost until frost.

sweet clover

In total, on the territory of the former CIS, there are 11 species of this herbaceous plant. In practice, only two are used: a yellow and a white variety (they are distinguished by the color of the inflorescences). Both are biennial plants. Therefore, beekeepers cannot count on a large annual bribe.

Mass flowering of the yellow and white species occurs in early July. The only difference is that yellow sweet clover gives honey only until autumn, and white – until the first frost (in some regions this is mid-to-late September).

Honey productivity is from 130 to 200 kilograms of nectar per hectare. Large amounts of pollen are also produced. Bees are eager to work on the plant, neglecting other melliferous plants!

Read more: Melilot as a honey plant

Late honey collection

snakehead

Snakehead – an annual oilseed crop specially sown to support late bribe. It shows itself perfectly in the temperate climatic conditions of the European part of our continent. It blooms from mid-July and blooms until early September.

Nectar productivity reaches 180-200 kilograms per hectare of solid plantations.

Read: Snakehead and its meaning for apiaries

borage

Cucumber herb (borage) Is an annual melliferous herb that grows well in the near-zone territories of the south of the European part of our country. The plant is edible – it is used as an additive to salads, first courses.

Average nectar productivity is 110-200 kilograms per hectare.

Read: The benefits of cucumber herb as a honey plant

Sowing dates

When to sow honey plants depends on the type of plant. There are winter and spring varieties, as well as sowing in several stages – 2-3 times per season.

For example, the phacelia seeds are introduced into the soil simultaneously with early spring crops, and then twice more with a break of 10-14 days. It should be borne in mind that the culture blooms en masse 1,5 months after sowing. And the duration of flowering depends on the weather and soil fertilization – on average, from 20 to 60 days.

Cucumber grass can be sown both in autumn and spring in 2-3 terms. The first flowers with early spring sowing appear after 50-60 days.

The same agrotechnics at donnik – seeds are applied to the ground in autumn and spring. In arid regions, early sowing is done by the end of April at the latest! Moreover, the seed does not lose germination for 8-10 years.

Snakehead sown from April to the second decade of May (earlier, if the climate permits). Flowering begins after 60-70 days.

Note: The protected area does not have to be located in the immediate vicinity of the point. It can be divided into small areas in different places, which in different years will be used depending on the weather whims and the intensity of flowering of the honey plants sown there.

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Anna Evans

Author ✓ Farmer

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