Bee forage plant

White sweet clover is a good forage plant for bees

Phacelia as a bee forage plant

Linden blossom ( winter linden ) and tree bumblebee

A bee forage plant or bee pasture is the name given to plants that bees prefer to produce honey. They are particularly rich in nectar and pollen and are therefore often approached by honeybees .

description

Bee costume plants have for the beekeeping is very important. Many beekeepers use such plants in migratory beekeeping by deliberately setting up their colonies in the areas in which beehives are currently in bloom.

Occasionally, beekeepers plant beehive plants in order to be able to offer their bee colonies sufficient foraging. This is problematic, however, when non- local origins are specifically brought out in the wild. This so-called anointing is forbidden according to Section 40 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act - from March 2020, only local trees and seeds may be planted in the wild (i.e. outside of populated areas and outside of agricultural and forestry areas) . The case study of the giant hogweed shows that this is the case with good reason: This plant was recommended as a forage plant to beekeepers, especially in the second half of the 20th century. The spreading giant hogweed is classified as a problematic neophyte because of the health risks it poses and is targeted in many places. As individual studies have shown, giant hogweed populations often go back to such anointing by beekeepers.

Examples of beehive plants are:

Rapeseed
Phacelia
Buckwheat
Streaky Silphie
Common robinia , which provides the "acacia honey"
Linden tree , which supplies the linden honey , which is particularly beneficial for healing

Crab apple as well as pome and stone fruit trees from the rose family in general

Tansy phacelia

Ruthenian ball thistle

Willow trees and hazelnut bushes are early sources of pollen , ivy a late source

In many of these species, visiting bees is essential for the fruit yield, especially in fruit trees .

The increasing use of garden and balcony plants with double flowers is problematic , as these usually do not offer any nectar or pollen for bees due to the back-grown stamens.

literature

Bodo Schick, Armin Spürgin: The bee pasture . 4th edition. Ulmer , Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1997, ISBN 3-8001-7418-9 .
Bruno P. Kremer: My garden - a bee paradise. The 200 best bee plants. Haupt , Bern 2014, ISBN 978-3-258-07844-1
Günter Pritsch: Bees pasture. Recognize and evaluate 200 forage plants . Kosmos , Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-440-10481-1
Anna Maurizio , Friedgard Schaper: Das Trachtpflanzebuch. Nectar and pollen - the honeybees' main food sources . 4th edition. Ehrenwirth, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-431-03207-9