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Phacelia honey plant is one of the favorite plants in the diet of bees. Delicate lilac buds with long, erect, spine-like petals attract industrious insects. In addition to the fact that phacelia is an excellent honey plant for bees, it is also a popular fodder crop.
Description of honey plant
Phacelia is an annual plant from the Borage family. Some of its species may also be dilchete. The grass grows up to 0.5 m or more. This is a bushy branched honey-bearing crop with a straight stem. The leaves are green, serrated. The flowers are small, pale blue or lilac. The stamens are long, extending beyond the flower calyx, and look like spines.
This honey plant tolerates frost and temperature changes well. But its sharp decrease leads to a decrease in nectar production.
What types exist
More than 80 species of phacelia are known. Some of them are grown as fodder crops, fertilizers, and honey plants. There are also decorative types.
The most popular types of honey-bearing phacelia:
- Phacelia tansyfolia - an ornamental honey plant, densely dotted with beautiful small flowers. Its thick, sweet aroma is especially appreciated.
- Phacelia twisted - a half-meter plant with small (5 mm in diameter) flowers. They form a wave-like curve at the ends of the stems. This species blooms from early June to late September. It is used as an ornamental and honey plant.
- Phacelia bell-shaped – a low crop, no more than a quarter of a meter long. The flowers are medium in size, approximately 3 cm, the petals are collected in the shape of bells. Their color is intense purple and blue. This type of phacelia is used as an ornamental plant and as a honey plant.
Advantages of growing phacelia as a honey plant
Phacelia is a honey plant that actively attracts bees with its aroma. It has high honey and nectar productivity. The grass takes root well even in dry soils. The long flowering period, from early June to late September, allows you to get the maximum amount of honey per season.
Application in agriculture
Phacelia honey plant is a good forage crop. It contains substances that promote rapid weight gain in cattle. Also, honey grass is a good preventive measure for various diseases in animals.
Phacelia is sown in fields to fertilize the soil. Its long branched root helps loosen the soil, saturating it with oxygen. As soon as the honey plant crops cover the ground with a thick carpet, they are mowed down and left on the field. Grass clippings release nitrogen and other organic compounds.Next spring, fertile soil is obtained for growing organic vegetables. Honey-bearing phacelia helps reduce soil acidity, changing it to neutral.
Honey productivity
If you plant honey phacelia near the apiary, you can increase the productivity of bees by 5 times. Insects willingly fly to the bright, fragrant buds of the honey plant. Phacelia flowers bloom for bees, luring them with a strong aroma. With a good harvest, from 1 hectare of land sown with a honey crop, you can collect up to 1000 kg of honey per season.
Under unfavorable weather conditions, beekeepers receive from 150 kg of sweet treats per hectare. Even if there are other honey crops nearby, bees will prefer phacelia. The honey it produces is not cloying, aromatic, with a slight sourness. The product is no less healthy than honey from linden, acacia or buckwheat.
Nectar productivity
This factor depends on climatic conditions and the environment in which the honey-bearing phacelia grows. In the first half of summer, the nectar productivity of honey plants is the highest, ranging from 250 kg per 1 hectare of crops.
In the second half of the summer season and in September, this figure drops to 180 kg per 1 hectare of field land. In regions with long warm summers, nectar productivity reaches 0.5 tons per 1 ha. One flower of Phacelia honey produces up to 5 mg of nectar.
Growing honey herb phacelia
Phacelia is an unpretentious plant; it can be sown in the southern regions from early spring to late autumn. Regardless of the climatic conditions of the region, it is best to plant phacelia in mid-May.
What soil is suitable for growing phacelia?
Phacelia grows on any soil, but fertile soils are suitable for good and abundant flowering.There is no need to dig up the soil before sowing; it is only slightly loosened. Honey-bearing phacelia does not tolerate rocky soil saturated with kaolin. For sowing, choose ventilated, well-lit areas.
Honey grass seeds are very small and germinate almost on the surface of the soil, their planting depth is no more than 2 cm. A month before planting, organic fertilizers are applied to the soil. Afterwards it is well moisturized.
Which type do you prefer?
Many varieties of phacelia are excellent honey plants. In central Russia, in Altai, in the Kemerovo region, in the southern regions of the country, beekeepers prefer to cultivate phacelia tansy, bell-shaped, and twisted. These species tolerate the vagaries of the weather well, while their nectar productivity does not change.
When to sow honey plant phacelia
The honey crop is sown as a fertilizer several times a year: in late autumn, early spring, and summer. From the moment of sowing until the grass blooms, approximately 45 days pass. Therefore, you can sow the crop as a honey plant at the end of April or at the beginning of May. The air temperature should not fall below + 7 °C.
Rules of care
Honey-bearing phacelia is an unpretentious crop that does not require special care. It grows and blooms well in the sun; in bad weather, nectar formation slows down. The plant does not like excess moisture. If the summer is rainy, the soil must be loosened regularly.If you feed the soil with organic additives before planting, the growth of the honey plant will accelerate, its buds will be larger, and the flowering period will be longer.
Collection and preparation of seeds
Seed material is collected from phacelia planted in early spring. The growth and flowering stage must occur in a timely manner and in full. As soon as the honey plant fades, seed pods filled with high-quality seed material ripen in place of the buds. Seeds obtained from spring-sowed melliferous crops are larger and of higher quality than those obtained later. They remain viable for 3 years.
How to determine the maturity of a seed pod:
- Changing the color of the spikelet to a darker one.
- The seed pod has turned brown by more than half.
- When you touch it lightly, the seeds begin to fall out.
It is important not to miss this moment, otherwise the honey grass will begin to lose seeds and self-seeding will result. If you collect the seed pods earlier, you will have to dry and shell them yourself. When collected early, the seeds quickly deteriorate, are defective, and have poor germination.
The collection of ripened spikelets of honey plants is carried out with gloves, since a dry plant can injure the skin of the hands. The seed pods are cut with pruning shears or scissors and placed in cardboard boxes. Seed harvesting is done in dry, sunny weather. When damp, they quickly deteriorate.
After collection, the honey grass seeds are dried, spread on paper in one layer. The grains should be in the shade, in a well-ventilated area. Drafts should be excluded: honey plant seeds will simply fly apart.
The dried seed pods are placed in canvas bags and threshed with sticks. Afterwards, the contents are sifted through a large sieve or fanned.The husk will separate and the seeds will fall onto the litter. They must be collected in fabric bags and stored in a cool, dry room.
Beneficial properties of phacelia honey
Beekeeping products from phacelia are not inferior in quality to linden honey. The honey grass product, collected at the end of summer, has good taste and a delicate floral aroma. Its color is light yellow, transparent, and over time it can acquire a greenish, blue or whitish tint. Immediately after collection, the consistency of honey is viscous and thick, and over time it crystallizes.
The calorie content of the sweet product is 304 kcal per 100 g. It contains sucrose and fructose, enzymes, and water-soluble vitamins.
The sweet product is recommended for use by people during periods of difficult physical and mental stress, recovery from illnesses and operations.
Phacelia honey has the following qualities:
- painkillers;
- calming;
- wound healing;
- calming;
- general strengthening;
- antipyretic.
It is used for gastritis with low acidity, for diseases of the ENT organs, including tuberculosis. Phacelia honey is indicated for dysbacteriosis, liver diseases, and cholelithiasis.
Phacelia honey will strengthen the immune system and supply the body with essential microelements: manganese, zinc, potassium, iron, calcium.
When regularly taken on an empty stomach, phacelia honey with warm water can increase the acidity of the stomach, hemoglobin in the blood, immunity, and normalize sleep. If you start consuming honey 1-2 months before the start of the cold season, you can prepare your body, strengthen it and protect yourself from most harmful viruses.
Conclusion
Phacelia honey plant is a favorite plant of modern beekeepers. It develops in any weather conditions in the vicinity of various flower stalks. Bees enjoy feasting on its fragrant blue flowers, filled with spicy nectar. Honey obtained from phacelia has healing and strengthening properties; it is consumed during colds and to strengthen the immune system.
