Honey trees and shrubs

To ensure uninterrupted harvesting, beekeepers transport apiaries to forests and park areas. Black maple is used as a honey plant and other flowering shrubs. There are good honey plants among the trees. Each climate zone has its own. In the pine and birch forests there are heather and honeysuckle undergrowths. Elderberry and orchard tree grow in the south of Russia.

What affects the taste of honey

The taste depends on the source of nectar. According to its origin, honey is:

• monofloral – collected from plants of the same species;
• polyfloral (mixed);
• honeydew.

Polyfloral honey varieties are obtained by collecting nectar from plants of different species. Bees produce honeydew honey from the sweet dew and sugary secretions of aphids.

The taste is affected by the time of collection; the richest is obtained at the beginning of flowering (from the first pumping). The presence of bee bread and propolis affects the taste. They give the product a bitter taste.A sour taste indicates that the honey did not have time to ripen; it was pumped out before the bees sealed the honeycomb with wax.

What are the benefits of nectar?

Nectar is a sugary liquid secreted by flower glands. In some stone fruits (apricot, cherry), the nectary is not in the flower, but on the petiole of the leaf. Flower nectaries play an important role in beekeeping.

Nectar spreads the aroma, attracting bees to shrubs and trees. When they collect it, they transfer pollen from flower to flower. Pollination occurs, resulting in the formation of fruits and seeds. Nectar promotes seed propagation of plants.

For bees, nectar is a food product. It consists of 3 types of sugars:

• fruit (fructose);
• grape (glucose);
• reed (sucrose).

The energy obtained from sugars is spent by bees on flight activity, nectar processing, and feeding the brood. The nectar contains trace elements, vitamins and even substances with antibacterial properties. They pass into honey, giving it healing properties.

What conditions affect the honey production of trees and shrubs?

The same honey bush can produce nectar with different concentrations of sugars. Its quality and quantity are influenced by external conditions:

• air temperature and humidity;
• illumination;
• rain;
• wind.

For example, when there is a dry wind, the linden tree stops producing nectar; the flowers of other honey trees shrink, making collection difficult. Prolonged rains inhibit flowering. Flowers of trees (shrubs) growing at the edge of the forest produce more nectar. They get more sunlight.

Flowers begin to secrete nectar when the air warms up to 10 °C. Production increases with increasing temperature.When the temperature drops below 10 °C, bribes decrease. Air humidity affects the concentration of sugars and the viscosity of nectar. Optimal ratios are observed at 60-80%. With increased humidity, the secretion becomes liquid and the percentage of sugars decreases.

Classification of honey trees and shrubs

All honey trees are divided into groups. When classifying, the following parameters are used:

• climatic zone of the apiary;
• nature of bribe;
• a place where a shrub (tree) grows.

Bribe quality

Bribery is the collection of nectar by bees. He can be strong and weak. Its quality depends on the strength of the family, the weather and the flowering of honey plants. All honey plants are divided into 3 groups according to the nature of the bribe:

• nectar pollen feeders;
• pollen carriers;
• nectar plants.

Shrubs and trees that do not produce nectar are called pollen bearers; their flowers are inconspicuous and serve to collect pollen. Nectar-bearing plants (trees, shrubs) produce only nectar; nectar-pollen-bearing plants produce both.

By place of growth

All trees and shrubs that produce nectar are classified according to their place of growth. The group of forest honey plants is very diverse. Its composition depends on the type of forest (coniferous, mixed, deciduous).

The best bribes are taken in deciduous forests during flowering:

• hazel;
• elms;
• and you;
• alders;
• linden;
• oaks;
• maple.

In deciduous forests there are many flowering honey bushes:

• buckthorn;
• viburnum;
• wild raspberry;
• dogwood.

Mixed forests give abundant harvests if maple, linden, and willow grow in them. On the edges and in the undergrowth of mixed forests, berry bushes grow, which are good honey plants: bird cherry, rowan, viburnum.

The group of garden honey plants is represented by fruit trees, berries and ornamental shrubs:

• all types of currants;
• varietal raspberry;
• cherry;
• cherries;
• pear;
• Apple tree;
• plum;
• apricot;
• peach.

The productivity of 1 hectare of flowering orchard can range from 10 to 50 kg.

By region

In every region of Russia, beekeepers plan honey collection during the flowering period of the main honey plants. Some of the honey plants in each region are represented by trees and shrubs.

The best honey trees

Flowering trees growing near the apiary provide bee colonies with pollen and nectar. In the spring, bees collect a sticky substance - propolis - from the buds of birch, poplar, alder and other trees. It plays an important role in the life of a bee family.It is a building material, antibacterial and antiviral agent.

Black Maple

Tatar maple (black maple) is found in Altai, Trans-Urals, Western Siberia, and the European part of Russia. Black maple blooms for 2 weeks, the maximum bloom occurs on days 5-7. The structure of the flower makes nectar available. The productivity of this honey plant is 11 t/ha.

The nectar of the black maple tree contains a lot of fructose, so the marketable yield is higher than from the linden tree. Maple honey does not crystallize for a long time. It is light, with a light aroma rich in different shades. The taste is not cloying, very pleasant.

Linden - the queen of honey plants

Western Siberia, Western Europe, the Caucasus are the regions where linden grows. The following varieties are considered the best honey plants:

• Amur;
• Manchurian;
• cordate;
• large- and small-leaved;
• felt.

The productivity of 1 hectare of linden plantings is 0.6-1 tons of nectar. Trees bloom in the middle zone in July, the ten-day period depends on the variety. In the southern regions, linden blooms in June. The duration of flowering of a tree is affected by soil moisture.

With normal rainfall it lasts about 20 days. In unfavorable weather conditions, the tree blooms for no more than 7 days. One bee colony can collect up to 10 kg of nectar per day. Linden honey tastes good, light, aromatic. It crystallizes and becomes a solid, homogeneous mass. It is considered the most healing.

Acacia

Yellow acacia grows in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Altai, Kemerovo, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Tomsk regions. In these regions it is important as a honey plant. Bee families take the main bribe from this bush. Flowering early. It occurs at the end of May - beginning of June and lasts 10 days.

Up to 50 kg of honey is obtained from 1 hectare. Its characteristics:

• yellow color;
• consistency is liquid, viscous;
• the taste is pleasant, there is no bitterness;
• does not crystallize for a long time.

In the Southern regions (Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, Astrakhan, Volgograd, Rostov regions) varieties of white acacia grow. The productivity of this plant is 800 kg/ha. The maximum bribe is taken in the first week of flowering. It lasts 14-21 days.

Chestnut

There are two types of chestnut in nature: seed and horse chestnut. Both types of trees are honey plants. The quality of honey collected from horse chestnut growing in Transcaucasia and Crimea is low. Honey is dark brown, smells weak, and may taste bitter.

A better quality product is obtained by collecting nectar from a subspecies common in Southern Europe. This type of honey is liquid and colorless. It crystallizes quickly and can be bitter. The common or true chestnut grows in the forests of Southern Europe.

The tree blooms for 3 weeks. Bees collect pollen from male flowers and nectar from female flowers. The daily productivity of a bee colony taking bribes from one chestnut tree is 6 kg. The honey turns out to have a pleasant taste, aromatic, and dark brown. Crystallizes after 2-3 weeks.

Sophora

Sophora japonica is a deciduous honey tree. Found naturally in China and Japan. Decorative forms of shrubs are grown in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the southern regions of Ukraine.

Sophora is a good honey plant. The tree blooms in July-August. It lasts a long time and guarantees a good bribe. Nectar productivity of Sophora is 200-300 kg/ha.

The best honey bushes

Honey bushes growing near a stationary apiary improve the honey supply of the apiary.Beekeepers use them to increase the productivity of bee colonies and ensure uninterrupted harvesting throughout the warm season.

Hyssop as a honey plant

Hyssop is grown as a honey plant. Bees collect pollen and nectar during the flowering of the bush. The productivity of a 2-year plantation is 277 kg per 1 ha. It grows over the years. By the 4th year of life of the honey plant it is 789 kg/ha.

The honey productivity of the shrub depends on the varieties of hyssop:

• with pink flowers – 121 kg/ha;
• with white flowers – 116 kg/ha;
• with blue flowers – 60 kg/ha.

Heather

Heather is an evergreen perennial. The shrub grows in the forest area of ​​Polesie and the Carpathians. The honey plant blooms in the 1st-2nd decade of August, providing bee colonies with a bribe almost until October. Up to 200 kg of honey is collected from 1 hectare of heather thickets. A strong bee colony in favorable years produces 20-30 kg of honey during the flowering of the bush.

Honey is viscous, so it is difficult to pump it out. It is dark red, tart, moderately aromatic, and crystallizes slowly.

Sea buckthorn as a honey plant

The beekeeper will not consider sea buckthorn as a honey plant. Controversy continues regarding the honey productivity of this shrub. Most experts classify sea buckthorn as a pollen-bearing plant. In spring, bees collect pollen on the bush. It goes towards the development of the bee colony.

Conclusion

Creating an uninterrupted harvest is the main task of a beekeeper; black maple as a honey plant, other shrubs and trees allow this to be done. The beekeeper forms a honey-bearing base for more than one year, observes local plants (shrubs, trees), and compiles a flowering calendar.

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