Alsike clover is among the best honey plants in the United States. If you are among the beekeepers that live within the reach of larger fields of this type of clover, consider yourself fortunate because under favorable conditions the crop produces the best honey.
Approximately, an acre of Alsike Clover produces around pounds of honey. The clover does best on clay soils and wetlands. When grown from seeds, it does not take long to bloom but it will not produce many tons of hay like red clover.
The clover produces honey white in color and with a mild flavor. People consider it the best. A single colony of bees can gather up 72 pounds within four days or 18 pounds each day. That takes account of the honey bees consumes. Crimson clover is another type of clover that people grow in the Southern States.
The clover is not hardy in the Northern part and does not bloom earlier like most other clovers. Blossoms are snowy than the red clover or alsike. The clover is an annual bloom and you must plant it each year to enjoy the best yield. The reported honey yields are good and have a similar quality to that of most other clovers. However, most farms do not grow it on a large scale and it is therefore not a known source of quality honey. It stands as third when it comes to honey yields.
The resulting honey has a light yellow color. The white sweet clover and yellow sweet clover are the more valuable and widely distributed crops. The yellow species bloom around two weeks earlier than the white does and therefore you can enjoy a longer honey flow if you plant the two types. Sweet clover produces more honey during the hot and dry summer months, particularly in the Rocky Mountains and Mississippi.
In the East, the honey resulting from the plant has been disappointing and most eastern men believe that the crop is an overrated honey producer. However, people who have witnessed the big flows along the Missouri River and the west praise it. In the West, people grow the sweet clover extensively and the yield is around pounds per colony. On limestone soils of Mississippi and Alabama, the crop yields freely and people report large yields.
In the west, irrigated farms featuring this crop are common too. In Kentucky, Kansas and Nebraska people grow it in large areas. The high acreage of the plant doubles the honey production possibility. White and yellow sweet clovers grow to a height between four and eight feet before they start blooming. They do not produce flowers until the second summer in Prairie stats, sweet clovers are in the list of invasive species and no row crop farmer likes them.
Planting the clover in a large area and failing to bush hog it down or hay it off during the fall; you will be inviting a wildfire if freeze happens to kill it. The seeds can remain dormant for 30 years and the crop faces little competition for the native grasses and plants. To differentiate pure clover honey from the rest, you should rely on the color, scent and flavor.
The honey coming from bees that feed purely on clover has an almost white color. It has a subtle flavor and grassy floral scent. Actually, most of the honey you get in stores labeled as clover honey is a blend of the light colored kinds of honey. Moreover, two different bottles of clover honey, including those from the same farm or manufacturer, are likely to have a different taste. The quality of clover honey highly depends on various factors. The first factor is the time of year the farm or manufacturer collects it.
Sow between March and September into a prepared and firm seedbed as the seed is small and ideally germinates at a shallow depth of 10mm. Or it can be broadcast into sparse lawns. Sowing rate: 2. Subscribe to our email newsletter you can unsubscribe at any time — keep up to date with our products and discounts.
Description Description Fabaceae Forage for Pollinators: Produces Nectar abundantly and Pollen to a great extent, and having a shorter flower-tube than red clover means it is easier for Honeybees and short-tongued Bumblebees to forage, though it will also attract long-tongued bees and Solitary bees such as leafcutter bees Megachile species and mining bees Lassioglossum species.
Ideally, we encourage you to protect, collect, and sow seed from native plants that originate within or near your community. While native plants are ideal, introduced plants are often an irreversible presence in our humanized landscapes. Many of these species can offer copious floral rewards for pollinators. Select introduced plants with caution, however, and carefully avoid invasive or noxious plants to protect native plant communities and the wildlife that depends upon them.
Honey bees frequently collect large amounts of goldenrod nectar prior to winter; other bees use the pollen to provision late-season nests. Goldenrod honey is typically dark, thick, somewhat pungent in aroma, and quick to granulate.
The number of goldenrod species is vast, and it can be difficult to distinguish among them. While western states and provinces lack the sheer abundance of goldenrods found in the East, a locally adapted goldenrod probably exists anywhere you are.
In general, goldenrods thrive in open areas with occasional mowing to remove competition from trees and shrubs. Seaside goldenrod S. Attracts many solitary wasps, fireflies, soldier beetles especially Chauliognathus pennsylvanicus. Specialist bees include mining bees Andrena hirticincta , A. Other specialist bees include Andrena asteris , A. Several dozen different species are found in the U. Lupines include both small annuals and large shrubby perennials.
In the eastern U. This species is the host plant for the endangered Karner blue butterfly Lycaeides melissa samuelis , and the loss of lupine from the landscape has pushed the butterfly close to extinction.
Silvery lupine L. In California, yellow-flowered annual golden lupine L. In rainy areas of the Pacific Northwest, riverbank lupine L. Attracts bumble bees, some mason bees, and occasionally pollen-gathering honey bees.
They include nearly leafless cactuslike plants found in the desert Southwest and swamp-adapted species in the Florida Everglades, as well as the common milkweed growing along roadsides from New England to North Dakota.
The honey of milkweeds is almost white with a very mild flavor and reported yields of 50 to pounds per colony. Butterfly weed Asclepias tuberosa , swamp milkweed A. Attracts many bees, wasps, flies, butterflies such as swallowtails and fritillaries, and even hummingbirds.
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