Honey plants, their varieties and characteristics. Rosehip - honey plant, forest shrubs - honey plants Whorled sage - Salvia verticillata L
And nectar. In this article we will provide a list of the best honey plants, supplementing it with photos with names.
Trees and shrubs
Trees and bushes that are high-quality honey plants include the following:
- . This is a very popular honey plant, which is distributed everywhere. Its flowering period begins in July. quite large, can reach 1 ton from 1 hectare of plantings.
- . The tree is classified as a garden tree. Excellent honey plant and pollen plant. Flowering usually occurs in May. It is characterized by relatively low productivity, within 10 kg per 1 hectare of pure plantings.
- . It is considered one of the most common honey plants. The predominant number of species grow as shrubs (eared willow, ash willow, three-stamen), some grow as trees (brittle willow, white willow). loves damp areas and grows well near bodies of water. This plant is an early spring flowering plant. Productivity can vary between 10-150 kg/ha.
- . This is a garden tree that grows in almost every garden. Flowering begins in the first half of May. The productivity of honey collection can be about 30 kg per 1 ha.
- . It grows as a small tree or as a shrub. The flowering period begins at the beginning of summer and lasts until its end. High-quality honey can be collected within 20 kg from 1 hectare.
- . This is a wild plant. It usually grows as a shrub, in rare cases as a small tree. It is very widespread because it has no special requirements for climate conditions. The first color can be seen in early June. The productivity of this honey plant is 20 kg/ha.
- . It is a very valuable and medicinal honey plant. It grows wonderfully in forests, especially in log houses and clearings. Blooms in June. You can collect up to 100 kg of tasty food from 1 hectare.
- . As the name suggests, this type of plant grows in private plots. It has the appearance of a bush. The flowering period covers almost the entire June. It is a very good honey collector, since 200 kg of sweet product can be collected from 1 hectare.
- . It is not easy to call it a honey plant, since this plant produces quite a bit of nectar. It begins to bloom in early spring, when the snow has not yet completely melted. A wonderful pollen carrier. It is thanks to spring that they actively replenish their reserves.
- . This low tree grows both in forests and parks. It often grows in garden plots. Blooms in late spring. You can collect up to 40 kg of sweet product per hectare.
- This is a garden tree that can yield more than 40 kg per hectare. The productivity period begins in May and lasts about 10 days.
- . This bush can be found in almost all summer cottages. It blooms for a short time, usually in May. Productivity – 50 kg per 1 ha.
- . Small sized honey bush. Grows in mixed and. Begins to bloom at the end of May. If the plantings have a high density, then up to 80 kg of honey can be collected from 1 hectare.
- . This is a common garden honey tree. The productive period begins in May and lasts until the end of June. You can collect relatively little honey from 1 hectare of pure plantings - about 20 kg.
- . This small shrub grows in poor and wild soils. Loves sunny and open areas. The flowering period occurs in the second half of summer. It can produce a lot of nectar. Bribes can reach 170-200 kg per hectare.
- . Depending on the species, it can grow as either a small tree or a bush. Under comfortable conditions, the flowering period begins at the end of May. The plant produces a lot of nectar and pollen. Productivity is about 200 kg/ha.
- . This plant grows everywhere. It is often confused with common dandelion. Blooms from July to early September. Productivity is usually within 80 kg/ha.
- . This flower belongs to the early honey plants. Productivity is relatively low, usually within 30 kg/ha. However, coltsfoot is very valuable because it has a number of medicinal properties and also produces pollen in addition to nectar.
- . It can rightfully be considered one of the most widespread plants on the planet. It begins to bloom in early June. It is characterized by a small honey flow, but quite long. The average productivity is 50 kg per 1 ha.
- . She loves moist soils. The flowering period is from June to September. Bribes can reach up to 120 kilograms per hectare.
- . She loves to grow near ponds or in moist soils. Blooms actively from June to September. Given favorable conditions, bribes can be very large - up to 1.3 tons per hectare.
- . Such honey plants grow very well in shaded areas and love moist soil. The process of active flowering falls in June-September. The harvest is as large as that - up to 1.3 t/ha.
- . This is a field plant, perennial. The bribe is within the range of 110 kg per hectare. Cornflowers bloom from June to September.
- This is a plant from the family. Loves moist soil. Blooms in May-June. Productivity can reach up to 100 kg per hectare.
- . This plant is an early honey plant, as it blooms in April-May. They grow exclusively in deciduous and spruce forests. Productivity can vary between 30-80 kg per hectare.
- This plant is very common in forests. Blooms in early spring. It produces little nectar, but can produce pollen abundantly.
- Yellow and white sweet clover. This plant blooms in May and continues to bloom until the end of summer. If the plantings are provided with proper care, the bush can grow up to 2 m in height. The color of the flowers depends directly on the type of plant. Sweet clover will suit almost any type. It tolerates heat calmly and grows well from seeds. Honey from this plant is considered the most valuable, so it is not for nothing that many beekeepers actively grow it.
In order to grow yellow or white clover yourself, you should definitely seed it, this will help the sprouts grow faster. It is recommended to plant in early spring or before the onset. It is important to guess the time of sowing so that the sprouts have time to break through before the onset of cold weather. The productivity of a honey plant can reach 270 kg of honey per hectare. 
- . You can grow both pink and white clover for bees. Flowers may seem inconspicuous at first glance, but they are very loved. The plant grows wonderfully in an area where there is a lot of foot traffic. He is not afraid of either rain or changes in air temperature. The only thing that will be very harmful to clover is the shade. It is important to provide him with good access to sunlight. Clover honey is white in color, has a strong aroma, and is also very rich in nutrients. From one hectare of land sown with clover, you can collect up to 100 kg of honey. This plant should be sown in August. To grow pink clover per hundred square meters of land you will need 5 kg of seeds, for white clover - 3 kg of planting material. Seeds should not be planted deeper than 1 cm into the ground after planting and should be watered abundantly. The first shoots usually appear within just two weeks. The flowering period will take the entire summer, so growing clover is very profitable for the beekeeper.
- . This plant is native to Asia. It begins to bloom in July and continues until the end of autumn. Flowers pink or lilac. To grow it on your site, you can use seeds or simply divide the bush. Seeds cannot be buried too deeply; the maximum depth should be about 0.5 cm, otherwise they simply will not germinate. Landing should be carried out in an easy
Herbs and flowers
In addition to trees, there are also many herbs and flowers that are also excellent honey plants. The most common honey plants are:
Did you know? A sandwich with honey, consumed in the morning after the holiday, can help relieve discomfort due to a hangover, as it removes alcohol from the body.
Specially sown honey plants
Experienced beekeepers, in order to get a good harvest of a sweet product, practice sowing honey plants themselves. This way you can select those plants that will grow well in the selected area. And in this way you can significantly increase the amount of honey collected.
The best honey plants for bees and popular ones for growing yourself are:
Honey plants are plants from which bees obtain pollen and nectar, which they use to produce honey and. The vast majority of flowering plants are honey plants; their number in our country exceeds a thousand.
But not all of them have practical value for beekeeping. In addition, honey made from nectar collected from different plants has different properties. The main and most famous honey plants include buckwheat, linden, acacia, clover, garden trees and shrubs.
Varieties of honey plants in depending on the time of year
All plants bloom at different times. Therefore, with some degree of convention, we can divide all honey plants into spring, summer and autumn.
Spring trees include apple trees, plums, pears, coltsfoot, willow, currants, cherries, white acacia, hawthorn, and maple. For summer - buckwheat, linden, sunflower, white clover, angelica, alfalfa. And for autumn - heather, mint, chist.
Bees collect nectar and nectar from flowers. But not all plants can provide both of these components for making honey. Good sources of them are acacia, buckwheat, willow, linden, clover, fireweed.
From plants such as hazel (hazel), rose hips, poppy, aspen, birch, alder, corn, rye, cedar, sedge and some other bees can only collect pollen, since these plants secrete nectar in negligible quantities. Some plants, on the contrary, produce only nectar and do not produce pollen at all. These include vetch, cotton and female willow plants.
Special honey plants
A special feature of this group of plants is that their flowers produce huge amounts of nectar. They are specially sown near the apiary in order, firstly, and secondly, to make it easier for the bees to collect nectar.
The most common special honey plant is borage, or borage. This annual plant blooms from June until autumn. Their flowers produce a lot of nectar, the production of which increases in warm weather. With a sufficient number of bee colonies, one hectare of borage can produce up to eight hundred kilograms of honey per season. Moreover, the final product will be in no way inferior to other types of honey. 
Echinops (you can get up to a ton of honey per hectare), phacelia (up to 400 kg), lemon balm (up to 200 kg), bruise (up to 500 kg), catnip (up to 300 kg), white sweet clover are also used as special honey plants (up to 500 kg).
Poisonous honey plants
There is a whole list of plants that are poisonous to bees. These plants include hemlock, foxglove, and oleander.
And from the nectar of some plants, bees make so-called “drunken honey.” First of all, these are wild rosemary, datura, azalea, mountain laurel, aconite, rhododendron and others. After consuming such honey, a person may experience impaired consciousness, diarrhea or vomiting, as well as cramps in the limbs, itching and disturbances in the functioning of the heart. An interesting fact is that such honey is absolutely harmless for the bees themselves.
Far Eastern State Humanitarian University
"Varieties of honey plants"
Performed:
2nd year student 521gr.
Geraskina Valentina
Checked:
Simonova Olga Nikolaevna
Khabarovsk 2009
Introduction
Field honey plants
Literature
Introduction
Honey plants, a large group of plants from which bees collect nectar and pollen; beekeeping food supply. Various glandular structures in plants that produce nectar - nectaries - are located deep in the flowers, sometimes hidden in special thickenings of the sepals or petals. Less common on stems, leaf petioles, stipules and bracts. The amount of nectar produced by one flower varies greatly among different species. To obtain high honey yields, beekeepers must, based on local conditions, introduce crop rotation of special honey-bearing crops in apiary areas, as well as plant ornamental plants. In some areas there may be interruptions in the flowering of honey plants, so the beekeeper’s concern is to provide the bees with a food supply in the apiary area in the summer. The beekeeper should plant honey-bearing trees and shrubs in the immediate vicinity of the apiary, which bloom sequentially, in order to eliminate fall-free periods. For example, if a gap is found in the bribe, it is filled by sowing honey plants such as phacelia, borage, and snakehead in the apiary areas, or buckwheat, mustard and other honey crops are sown at different times. In order to provide bees with a bribe in the early spring, phacelia and mustard are sown before winter, and, for example, winter vetch together with rye produces an excellent honey harvest in early June.
Mixed crops are often used, which are also of great importance in agricultural practice. Thus, gardens, berry fields and herbs will provide a good harvest already at the end of April, and in March - late sowing of phacelia, white acacia and sainfoin, spring sown phacelia will provide honey harvest by mid-June. It is very profitable to sow free areas with sweet clover. White sweet clover, an excellent honey plant, blooms 65 days after sowing and blooms until hard frosts. Its nectar is colorless, transparent, with a high sugar content - more than 45%. The apiary area does not have to be located near the apiary. It can be divided into several points and used in different years in different places, depending on meteorological conditions and the intensity of flowering of honey plants.
Classification of honey plants
About 80% of plant pollination is carried out by honey bees. On the territory of Russia there are more than 1000 (according to other sources - 3390) species of honey plants, but only those that produce nectar that is available to bees in sufficiently large quantities are valuable for beekeeping. There are many medicinal plants among honey plants. The nectar taken from them imparts healing properties to honey. However, the advantages of any one type of honey over others are small. Honey plants can be classified by flowering time, by the nature of the bloom and by habitat.
Flowering times vary:
spring honey plants - coltsfoot, apple trees, pears, cherries, willow, maple, white acacia, etc.;
summer - white clover, linden, sunflower, sainfoin, etc.;
autumn - mint, heather, chistets, etc.
According to the nature of the bribe, plants can be divided into three conditional groups.
Pollen-bearing plants , allowing bees to collect only flower pollen and not secrete nectar at all (hazel, poppy, rose hips, birch, aspen, alder, poplar, fir, spruce, pine, cedar, corn, rye, fescue, sedge, hemp, quinoa, etc. .). These plants have mostly inconspicuous flowers, devoid of bright corollas. They are visited by bees when they are in great need of pollen. Some of the wind-pollinated plants can also be classified as pollen-bearing plants, such as elm, oak, and grapes, which, although they have nectaries, produce nectar in small quantities.
Nectar pollen feeders, allowing bees to simultaneously collect nectar and pollen.
Nectar-pollen-bearing plants include all the main melliferous plants, for example, acacia, willow, linden, buckwheat, white clover, fireweed, etc.
Nectar plants, that provide bees with nectar collection only, such as common vetch, which has extrafloral nectaries, or female willow plants, whose flowers produce only nectar. The vast majority of insect-pollinated plants are essentially nectar-polleniferous, attracting bees with both nectar and pollen.
Plants that provide bees with only one nectar are very rare. Such pure nectar bearers may include, for example, cotton, the pollen grains of which, due to their spiny nature, cannot be glued into lumps and
folded into baskets.
According to their habitat, depending on the type of land where honey plants grow, they are divided into:
forest trees - honey plants
forest shrubs - honey plants
herbaceous and dwarf forest plants - honey plants
honey plants of meadows and pastures
honey plants fields
honey plants of gardens and vegetable gardens
honey plants widespread everywhere
honey plants sown specifically for bees.
Honey-bearing and pollen-bearing forest trees
Birch - Betula L.
Norway spruce - Picea abies (L.) Karst.
Goat willow (bredina) - Salix caprea L.
Maple - Acer L.
Linden - Tilia L.
Aspen - Populus tremula L.
Common mountain ash - Sorbus aucuparia L.
Scots pine - Pinus sylvestris L.
Poplar - Populus L.
Bird cherry - Padus avium Mill.
Birch - Betula L.
A tree of the birch family (Betulaceae) with smooth white bark up to 20 meters high, forming pure and mixed stands. The most common are two related species - drooping or warty (Betula pendula Roth), and fluffy (Betula pubescens Ehrh). The warty birch leaves are triangular or rhombic-ovate, and the young branches are covered with resinous warts. Downy birch leaves are ovate or rhombic-ovate, rounded or heart-shaped at the base; young branches without warts, fluffy. The trunk bark is smooth. In Russia, birch plantations are in third place by area after larch and pine. For beekeeping, birch produces mainly beebread. It blooms from early May to June. Bees collect pollen from it, and sometimes suck birch sap from wounded trees.
Norway spruce - Picea abies (L.) Karst.
Tree of the pine family (Pinaceae). Spruce is a monoecious plant, heterosexual, reaching a height of 30-40 meters, with a pointed crown. The bark is gray, peeling off in thin scales on old trees. The branches are somewhat drooping, young branches are longitudinally grooved and slightly pubescent, the needles are dark green, tetrahedral, 20-25 mm long. Mature cones are cylindrical, brown-chestnut, shiny, 10-16 cm long, 3-4 cm in diameter after opening. Seed scales up to 25 mm long and 18 mm wide. Harvest years are repeated every 4-5 years, less often in the north. In other years, fruiting is either absent or very weak.
Blooms in May. Anther cones produce a lot of pollen, which bees use. To prepare propolis, bees take resin from spruce, which has bactericidal properties and is widely used in traditional and official medicine.
Goat willow (bredina) - Salix caprea L.
Belongs to the willow family (Salicaceae). Very widespread in our country. It grows in the form of trees or shrubs in low areas, along the banks of rivers, reservoirs and in swamps. Goat willow is a dioecious tree 6-10 meters high with greenish-gray bark. The branches are thick and spreading. The leaves are ovate-oblong, dark green, tomentose below. Men's earrings are yellow, the pistillate earrings are long. The fruit is a capsule. It blooms early, in April-May, before the leaves appear, when there are no other honey plants in the forest. Flowering duration is 20 - 25 days. In favorable weather, bees willingly collect pollen and nectar from it. In the Non-Black Earth Region, willow is the main supplier of nectar and bee bread in early spring. Willow produces a good, sustainable honey yield almost every year. 23.4-31 grams are released from one plant. sugar, and the total honey productivity from 1 hectare of thickets is 100-150 kg
Maple - Acer L.
Tree of the maple family (Acegaceae). The total area of maple plantations in our country is also very large. The most common is the Norway maple - Acer platanoides L. The height of the trees reaches 20-25 meters.
Maple is durable, lives 150-200 years or more. Winter-hardy. In the wild it bears fruit from 15-20 years, in plantations - from 30-35 years. Norway maple blooms in May, before the leaves appear or simultaneously with their appearance. It is a good honey plant, but during its flowering the weather is often cold, so bees are not always able to collect nectar. In good, warm weather, they actively visit maple flowers. Flowering duration is 7-10 days. In terms of the abundance of nectar secretion (in favorable weather), maple occupies one of the first places among woody plants. Honey productivity reaches 150-200 kg per 1 hectare of continuous thickets. Maple honey is delicate and tasty.
River maple grows in the Primorsky Territory. It blooms for 7-10 days.
Honey productivity per 1 ha. - 200-250 kg.
Linden - Tilia L.
A tree of the linden family (Tiliaceae) up to 20-40 meters high. The trunk is covered with dark brown bark with a wide branched crown. The leaves are alternate, rounded or with a heart-shaped base, finely toothed. The flowers are pale yellowish, fragrant, collected in small corymbose inflorescences - semi-umbrellas. The axis of the inflorescence bears a large tongue-shaped yellowish-green bract 3-9 cm long, which plays the role of a lionfish. The corolla and calyx are five-membered, with many stamens fused into 5 bundles. The fruit is a rounded one-two-seeded nut.
Due to its high shade tolerance, small-leaved linden generally grows under the forest canopy, forming shrub thickets 3-5 meters high, thus creating undergrowth and undergrowth in mixed plantings. Small-leaved linden is a winter-hardy tree. Durable, lives 300-400 years. Large specimens of both small-leaved and large-leaved linden (Tilia platyphyllos Scop.) are found everywhere in gardens and parks, in courtyards and on the streets; both in groups and individually. Beekeepers rightly call the small-leaved linden the queen of honey plants. One adult tree, under favorable weather conditions, can produce up to 10-16 kg of honey during flowering, and 1 hectare of continuous thickets - 500-1000 kg. Amur linden and Manchurian linden grow in Primorye and the Amur region. They bloom in July for 13 - 15 days. Honey productivity - 700-1000 kg.
Linden honey is transparent, light amber in color. It contains a lot of minerals, trace elements, organic acids, vitamins A, B and C, so it has increased medicinal properties. Linden honey has a delicate aroma, a pleasant taste, and is one of the best varieties. In our country, linden honey has been an export item since the 10th century. However, honey collection from linden trees is not always reliable, especially in non-Black Earth conditions. Due to frequent rains, high humidity and cold weather during linden flowering, nectar is not released by flowers or is released very weakly. In some years, a large amount of honeydew, a molasses-like sugary secretion, appears on linden leaves.
Linden honey has a positive effect in the treatment of colds. The medicinal properties of honey largely depend not only on its enrichment with enzymes, but also on the properties of the plants from which the nectar was taken.
Aspen - Populus tremula L.
Dioecious root sucker tree of the willow family (Salicaceae), 10-25 meters high with smooth gray bark. The leaves are long-petiolate, ovate-rounded, notched-toothed. Staminate and pistillate flowers are collected in separate earrings. In Russia, aspen is in sixth place in terms of prevalence. Grows everywhere. It blooms in late April - early May, before the leaves bloom. Hairy catkins 4-15 cm long look like caterpillars. Bees collect pollen from aspen flowers, and glue from the buds, which is processed into propolis.
Common mountain ash - Sorbus aucuparia L.
This is a small tree of the Rosaceae family, 6-15 meters high, or less commonly a shrub. The bark is gray, smooth, young branches are fluffy. The buds are shaggy-hairy. Leaves with stipules, alternate, imparipinnate, with 4-7 pairs of leaflets. Leaf petioles are more or less densely hairy. The leaves are oblong-lanceolate, entire at the bottom, serrate at the top; matte green above, grayish below. The inflorescence is a thick shield up to 10 cm in diameter. The flowers are five-membered, with a strong scent of bitter almonds. The petals are white, round, 4-5 mm long. The fruits are almost spherical, juicy, with a remaining calyx at the top, bright, orange-red. Rowan is winter-hardy. It tolerates frosts below 40°C. It blooms in late May - June for 5-10 days. In dry, warm weather, rowan flowers are readily visited by bees, collecting nectar and pollen. From 1 hectare of plantings you can get 30-40 kg of honey. Honey collected from mountain ash is reddish in color, very aromatic, coarse-grained when candied, and is highly valued.
Scots pine - Pinus sylvestris L.
Belongs to the pine family (Pinaceae). Pine is one of the main forest-forming species, occupying vast areas in both the European and Asian parts of Russia. Grows in pure and mixed forests. The tree reaches 30 - 40 meters in height and has a straight trunk and a rounded crown. The bark of old trees is reddish-brown with cracks; higher up on the branches, it is yellowish and flaky. The needles are arranged in pairs, bluish-green, somewhat curved, rigid, 4-7 cm long, stored on shoots for 2-3 years. Young buds (future shoots) are ovoid-conical, resinous, densely covered with brown, spirally arranged, tightly pressed to each other lanceolate, pointed, fringed scales, glued together with protruding resin. Male cones are numerous, yellow, collected at the base of the current year's shoots, female cones are reddish, single or sessile, 2-3 on short legs curved downwards. After fertilization, the cones grow, become woody, and mature within 18 months. The seeds are elongated-ovate, 3-4 mm long, with a wing, the length of which is 3 times the length of the seed. A wonderful pollen carrier. Pollen is a good protein food, so bees actively collect it to make beebread.
Poplar - Populus L.
Belongs to the willow family (Salicaceae). Various types of poplar are quite widespread in the parks. The most common are silver poplar (P. alba L.), black poplar (P. nigra L.), balsam poplar (P. Balsamifera L.) and laurel poplar (P. laurifolia Ledeb.). Plants are dioecious.
They bloom in early May before the leaves appear. The anthers are red in color and secrete a lot of pollen, which bees collect to produce beebread. The buds of poplars (especially black, laurel, and balsam) have a shiny, continuous resinous coating, are sticky, and fragrant. The sticky substance is collected by bees to make propolis. The seeds ripen in June and are carried by the wind over long distances.
Bird cherry - Padus avium Mill.
Belongs to the Rosaceae family. Of all the species, the most common bird cherry in our country is the common bird cherry. It grows everywhere in the European and Asian parts of Russia. Prefers fresh or excessively moist soils, prevailing along the banks of rivers and lakes, on forest edges, clearings and watersheds. Bird cherry is a tree or large shrub of the Rosaceae family, from 2 to 10 meters high. The bark is matte, black-gray, on young branches cherry-brown with whitish-yellow lenticels. The inner layer of the bark is yellow with a characteristic almond odor. The leaves are alternate, oblong-elliptic, thin, short-petiolate, serrated, acute, glabrous, 6-12 cm long and 2-6 cm wide. The flowers are white, fragrant, on peduncles, collected in dense drooping racemes 8-12 cm long. Fruits - spherical small, sweet, astringent black drupes with a diameter of 8-10 mm. Blooms in May for 10-12 days. The fragrant flowers of bird cherry attract bees. In good weather, they produce up to 20 kg of honey from 1 hectare of continuous thickets. Beekeepers place fresh twigs or leaves of bird cherry in a bee nest on top of the frames as a good remedy against fungi, microbes and some bee pests.
HONEY-BEARING FOREST SHRUBS.
Common barberry - Berberis vulgaris L.
Common elder - Sambucus racemosa L.
Gray blackberry - Rubus caesius L.
Viburnum viburnum - Viburnum opulus L.
Common raspberry - Rubus idaeus L.
Common lilac - Syringa vulgaris L.
Rosehip (dog rose) - Rosa canina L.
Common barberry - Berberis vulgaris L.
A perennial thorny shrub of the barberry family (Berberidaceae), 1-2.5 meters high. In culture it is found throughout the Non-Black Earth Region. The root system is taprooted, powerful, and branched. Woody perennial shoots (4-48 on one bush) extend from the thickened root collar. The shoots are smooth, ribbed or furrowed. In the axils of the leaf spines there are shortened leafy shoots bearing bunches of leaves. The leaves are thin, membranous, 3-6 cm long and 1-2 cm wide, ovate-lanceolate. The fruit is a juicy, sour, berry-shaped single leaflet, 9-10 mm long, from purple to dark red.
It blooms in late May - June for 15-20 days. The flowers are small, yellow, collected in drooping racemes. Bees willingly visit barberry bushes, collecting nectar and pollen. From 1 hectare of barberry plantings, bees produce 80-200 kg of golden, aromatic and tasty honey.
Common elder - Sambucus racemosa L.
A strongly branched deciduous shrub 1.5-5 meters high with grayish-brown bark and brownish-violet shoots with a white and then light brown core of the stems. The leaves are opposite, compound, odd-pinnate, with five to seven oblong-elliptical, serrated, pointed leaflets. The flowers are greenish, then yellowish-white, with a sphenoletal corolla and a calyx with five teeth. There are five stamens, a pistil with three stigmas and a semi-inferior ovary. The flowers are collected in an ovoid, upward-protruding panicle. The fruits are bright red fleshy berries of unpleasant taste with several yellowish seeds. It blooms in spring, simultaneously with the leaves blooming, annually and abundantly for 15 days. On warm days, bees take pollen and partly nectar from elderberries.
Gray blackberry - Rubus caesius L.
A perennial shrub of the Rosaceae family, 50-150 cm high, with creeping, spiny shoots covered with a white coating. The leaves are trifoliate, with rhombic-ovate leaflets. The flowers are white, with many stamens and pistils, collected in thyroid racemes. The fruits are black drupes with a bluish coating. It grows in clearings, forest edges, sparse forests, and along river banks. Grown in gardens. Blooms in June-July. Bees collect nectar and pollen from it. Honey productivity of 1 hectare of continuous thickets is 20-25 kg. The honey is light, transparent, and pleasant to the taste.
Viburnum viburnum - Viburnum opulus L.
Shrub of the honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae) up to 3 meters high with brownish bark. The twigs, petioles and lower surface of the leaves are gray. The leaves are opposite, three- and five-lobed, coarsely toothed, almost glabrous, fluffy underneath. The flowers are white, five-petalled, with a wheel-shaped corolla, the marginal ones are much larger than the middle ones, collected in shield-shaped semi-umbrellas. The fruits are oval, bright red, berry-shaped. Winter-hardy. Not picky about soil. It grows along river valleys, the banks of lakes and swamps, on damp forest edges, clearings, and clearings. Shade-tolerant. Often found in the undergrowth of deciduous and mixed forests. It is grown in household and garden plots, gardens and parks. Blooms in June for 15-30 days. The flowers are collected in a thyroid inflorescence. It is a honey plant and provides nectar and pollen to bees. The marginal white flowers are asexual and serve to attract insects. Nectar is secreted in the middle flowers at the base of the style. From 1 hectare of thickets you can get up to 15 kg of honey.
Common raspberry - Rubus idaeus L.
A shrub of the Rosaceae family, with a perennial rhizome and erect cylindrical shoots, 50-200 cm high. In the first year of life, the shoots are green, fluffy, with thorns. In the second year, they become woody, lose their thorns, bloom, bear fruit, and after fruiting they dry out, and new shoots form from the rhizomes. Raspberry rhizomes are woody, sinuous, creeping in a 10-20 cm layer of soil. The leaves are alternate, the lower ones are imparipinnate, with 5-7 leaflets on the petioles, the upper ones are trifoliate with wide stipules adherent to the petiole. The flowers are white with a pubescent greenish-gray calyx, the lobes of which are bent downward when fruiting, collected in small paniculate-thyroid inflorescences emerging from the leaf axils. Petals are white, spatulate, erect. The fruits are crimson-red, spherical-oval polysperms, 12-13 mm long, 10-14 mm wide, easily removed from the white cylindrical-conical receptacle. The drupes are small (about 3 mm), juicy, velvety-fluffy.
It grows in burnt areas, forest clearings, in sparse mixed forests, on forest edges, among bushes, and in ravines. Blooms in June-July for 25-40 days. The flowers secrete nectar and contain a lot of pollen. Bees are extremely active in visiting raspberries. With good, warm weather and sufficient air humidity, nectar production increases, which improves honey collection. There are years when honey production from raspberries during the day reaches 2-3.5 kg per family (100-200 kg). Raspberry honey is light, very aromatic, has excellent taste and medicinal qualities, and belongs to the highest grades.
Common lilac - Syringa vulgaris L.
A common ornamental shrub 2-8 meters high with heart-shaped leaves and lilac or white small fragrant flowers collected in pyramidal panicles, of the oilseed family (Oleaceae). In cultivation it is found everywhere in gardens and parks.
Blooms in the first half of June. Flowers produce a lot of nectar. However, their structure - a kind of narrow funnel 8-10 mm long, at the bottom of which there is nectar, does not allow bees to reach it with their proboscis, so some beekeepers believe that lilac is not a honey plant. Under favorable weather conditions, lilac flowers secrete nectar so intensely that the flower funnel is almost half filled. In such years, bees very actively visit lilac flowers. It also happens that to extract nectar from lilacs, bees use holes in flowers made by bumblebees.
Rosehip (dog rose) - Rosa canina L.
Dog rose is a shrub of the Rosaceae family, reaching a height of 1.5-3 meters, with curved, less often almost straight branches and with green or red-brown bark, usually without a bluish bloom. The thorns are strong, sickle-shaped, sparse or scattered on the main stems, sometimes almost straight, abundant on flowering branches, flattened at the expanded base. The leaves are 7-9 cm long, green and bluish, glabrous, sometimes with sparse short hairs along the main shaft, compound, odd-pinnate, with five to seven ovate, glabrous, sharply serrate leaves. The flowers are usually pale pink, white or hot pink. The ripe false fruit is large, 15-26 mm long, broadly oval, less often almost spherical, sometimes elongated-oval, smooth, bright or light red, with characteristic pinnately incised, bent down sepals that fall off when the fruit ripens. The inner walls of the fruit are dotted with numerous bristly hairs, among which there are numerous hard, stony fruits - nuts. After the sepals fall off, the throat of the receptacle is closed by a pentagonal platform. It is found both in the wild and in gardens and parks. They plant it as a hedge along the roads. Eight species of rose hips grow in the Non-Black Earth Region. In addition to the common one, which is the most common, there is the May rose, or cinnamon rose (R. Majalis Herrm) and the wrinkled rose (R. rugosa Thunb). Rose hips bloom from June to August. Bees visit flowers very actively. Many reference books on honey plants indicate that rose hips provide bees mainly with pollen. The nectar of one rose hip flower contains from 2.2862 to 4.1184 mg of sugar, which contains 51.46% fructose, 47.12% glucose and 1.42% sucrose. Rosehip honey is colorless, has a pleasant aroma, and does not crystallize for a long time.
Herbaceous and shrubby forest plants
Lingonberry - Vaccinium vitisidaea L.
Ivan - narrow-leaved tea - Chamerion angustifolium (L.) Holub.
Lungwort - Pulmonaria obscura Dumort.
Blueberry - Vaccinium myrtillus L.
Lingonberry - Vaccinium vitisidaea L.
A small evergreen shrub of the heather family (Ericaceae), 5-20 cm high. The leaves are alternate, leathery, obovate or elliptical with a curled edge, shiny, with blackish dotted glands below.
The flowers are white with a pinkish tint, regular, collected in drooping clusters at the ends of last year's branches. The corolla is bell-shaped, four-toothed, the calyx is four-parted with short triangular sharp lobes. The fruit is a round, initially white-green, red berry when ripe. Distributed everywhere. It grows mainly in pine forests, less often in deciduous forests. Lingonberries bloom in late May - early June. Flowers are actively visited by bees. In terms of honey productivity, lingonberries are inferior to blueberries. From 1 hectare of continuous thickets, bees produce up to 20 kg of honey.
Ivan - narrow-leaved tea - Chamerion angustifolium (L.) Holub.
A perennial herbaceous plant of the fireweed family (Onagraceae), 60-120 cm high with erect, cylindrical, slightly branched stems. The leaves are alternate sessile, lanceolate, pointed, dark green, bluish-green below, the flowers are purple-pink, collected in a long terminal raceme. Corolla with four petals. The calyx is deep, four-parted, has eight stamens, a pistil with a four-parted stigma and lower ovary. The fruit is a long tetrahedral pod-shaped capsule. The seeds are numerous, with a fluffy white tuft. Quite widely distributed throughout the Non-Chernozem Zone. It grows in forest clearings, burnt areas, peat bogs, along railways and highways, along the edges of reclamation canals. Often forms continuous thickets. In many places it is one of the main honey plants. In terms of distribution and honey productivity, it has no equal.
Blooms from June to August. Bees are very active in visiting this flowering plant.
The honey productivity of fireweed is high and, depending on weather conditions, amounts to 120-600 kg per 1 ha. Fireweed honey is transparent, greenish in color, and turns white upon crystallization. It has a delicate aroma and high taste.
Lungwort - Pulmonaria obscura Dumort.
A perennial herbaceous plant of the borage family (Boraginaceae), 20-30 cm high. The stem leaves are dark green, oblong-ovate, narrowed at the base, pointed at the apex. The corolla is funnel-shaped, pinkish-reddish at the beginning of flowering, then reddish-violet. The fruits are small, smooth, shiny nuts. Thanks to the rich color range, the inflorescences are clearly visible and actively visited by bees.
Lungwort blooms in April - May. It is valuable because it blooms in early spring, when there are very few flowering honey plants in nature. Nectar is released mainly in the early stages of flowering, in young pink flowers. The plant is characterized by relatively high nectar productivity. The honey productivity of lungwort is 30-75 kg per 1 hectare of flowering plants.
Blueberry - Vaccinium myrtillus L.
A low-growing branched shrub of the heather family (Ericaceae), 15-40 cm high. Underground shoots (stolons) branch in the soil in different directions up to 1-2 meters, forming bushes of different ages of one plant. The stem is green, gray at the base, erect with sharply ribbed bare branches. The leaves are small, thin, oblong, shiny, bright green, alternate, ovate, falling off in the winter, 1-3 cm long, 0.6-1.8 cm wide. The flowers are spherical, small, pinkish-white, with greenish-orange , sometimes with a delicate lilac tint, 0.4-0.6 mm long, with a fused corolla, drooping, one or two on short pedicels. Located singly in the leaf axils. The corolla is pitcher-shaped or hemispherical with a serrated limb. There are ten stamens, a pistil with a lower ovary. The fruit is a spherical blue-black round berry with a remnant calyx 6-13 mm in diameter, usually covered with a bluish waxy coating. The pulp of the berries is reddish-purple. The taste is sour-sweet, pleasant, astringent. Undemanding to soil. It grows mainly in coniferous and mixed forests, less often in small-leaved forests, in moderately humid and humid areas. even in swampy soils. Pine forests are often completely covered with blueberry thickets. Blueberries bloom in late May - early June for 10-15 days. The flowers are pinkish. On warm days, bees actively visit the blooming blueberry, collecting a lot of nectar from it. A strong bee colony, under favorable weather conditions, produces up to 2.5 kg of honey per day from blueberry bushes. Honey production of blueberries varies sharply from year to year and amounts to 25-180 kg per 1 ha. Honey from blueberry flowers is light, with a reddish tint, very aromatic, and pleasant to the taste.
Meadow and pasture honey plants
Meadow cornflower - Centaurea jacea L.
Meadow geranium - Geranium pratense L.
St. John's wort - Hypericum perforatum L.
White clover (creeping) - Trifolium repens L.
Pink clover - Trifolium hybridum L.
Dandelion - Taraxacum officinale Wigg.
Meadow cornflower - Centaurea jacea L.
A perennial herbaceous plant of the aster family (Asteraceae), 30-100 cm high with a straight, branched, ribbed, rough stem. The lower leaves are lanceolate, notched-incised, the stem leaves are sessile, linear-lanceolate, rough. The diameter of the flower basket is 1-2 cm. The flower baskets are single, large, the involucres of the baskets are ovoid, with a brownish membranous fringed edge. Flowers in baskets are lilac-purple or lilac-pink, the marginal ones are funnel-shaped, sterile, the middle ones are tubular, bisexual. The fruits are elongated ovoid achenes with a rudimentary pappus. It is found mainly in meadows, forest clearings, forest edges, sometimes on the outskirts of fields, vegetable gardens, and among crops. Blooms from the second half of June to September (40-70 days). It is a good honey plant, especially in the north of the Non-Chernozem zone of Russia in the second half of summer. Bees take nectar and pollen from it. Meadow cornflower can produce up to 110 kg of sugar in nectar per 1 hectare. Cornflower honey is thick and of good quality.
Meadow geranium - Geranium pratense L.
Geraniums are perennial herbaceous plants of the geranium family (Geraniaceae), 20-60 cm high with opposite palmate leaves and purple-lilac flowers with five separate petals and ten stamens. The flowers are collected in axillary multi-colored semi-umbrellas, less often single. All parts of geraniums have the scent of essential oils. They are found in most of Russia, except for the Far North and Far East. There are several types of geraniums. Geraniums grow in bushes, forests, meadows, and ravines. Blooms in June - August (50-60 days). Honey productivity of continuous thickets is 20-50 kg per 1 ha.
White clover (creeping) - Trifolium repens L.
A perennial herbaceous, fairly common plant of the legume family (Fabaceae) with creeping rooting shoots 10-25 cm high. The leaves are compound, trifoliate, with obovate leaflets. Small flowers of the moth type are collected in spherical white fragrant heads on long peduncles. It is found everywhere in Russia. Grows in pastures, pastures, abandoned fields and meadows. Grows well in highly compacted soil along roads, trails, and streets. It blooms from late May - early June throughout the summer.
The flowers secrete a lot of nectar, which is accessible to bees, unlike red clover, and are actively visited by them. The production of nectar by plants depends on soil moisture and air temperature. Temperatures above 20-25°C, with high relative humidity, promote better nectar release. Honey production averages 50-120 kg per 1 ha. The honey is light, transparent, aromatic, with good taste. Refers to the best varieties of light honey. When crystallized it turns white.
Pink clover - Trifolium hybridum L.
A perennial herbaceous plant of the legume family (Fabaceae), 30-80 cm high with an erect stem. The leaves are compound, trifoliate, with rhombic-elliptical leaflets and lanceolate pointed stipules. The flower heads are spherical, pink-white, fragrant, on long peduncles. Its corolla is initially pale pink or almost white, later becoming pink. Distributed everywhere. It grows in meadows, fallow fields, among crops, in vegetable gardens, along the banks of rivers and lakes. It is a more productive, reliable and strong honey plant than the white one. Blooms from June to September. Late flowers produce less nectar. The productivity of pink clover is higher than white clover and, under favorable conditions, is 100 - 125 kg per 1 ha. Honey from pink clover is the same as from white clover - transparent, aromatic, with good taste.
Dandelion - Taraxacum officinale Wigg.
A common perennial herbaceous plant of the aster family (Asteraceae), up to 40 cm high with a thick taproot, weakly branched root and a densely hairy neck. The leaves are lanceolate or oblong-obovate, planar-incised, rarely almost entire, numerous in the basal rosette. There are several flower arrows. The flower stem (arrow) is 10-30 cm high, leafless, fist-shaped, with one flower basket at the top. The basket is large, with numerous ligulate bright yellow flowers. The fruits are achenes with flakes, which when ripe form a fluffy grayish-white ball. It blooms almost the entire growing season - from spring to autumn. Bees visit it most actively during mass flowering, in May - June, collecting pollen and nectar. In Non-Black Earth conditions, it often remains the only honey plant for some time. Dandelion produces up to 50 kg of honey per hectare. During the period of mass flowering of this plant, the supply of nectar and pollen by bees sometimes reaches 3 kg per day per bee colony. Dandelion honey is dense yellow in color, thick, and crystallizes quickly.
Field honey plants
Sarepta mustard - Brassica juncea L.
Buckwheat - Fagopyrum esculentum Moench.
Annual sunflower - Helianthus annuus L.
Sand sainfoin (sainfoin) - Onobrychis arenaria (Kit.) Ser.
Sarepta mustard - Brassica juncea L.
Sarepta mustard is an annual herbaceous plant of the cruciferous family, 60-200 cm high. The main root is thin, spindle-shaped. The stem is erect, branched, covered with a waxy coating, pubescent at the base with sparse bristly hairs, sometimes glabrous. The lower leaves are green, petiolate, slightly pubescent, lyre-shaped, pinnately dissected. The upper lobe is large and oval. The flowers are yellow, collected in a rather loose corymbose or racemose inflorescence. The fruits are pods 2.5-6 cm long and 2-3.5 mm wide, almost tetrahedral. It is cultivated as an oilseed crop in the southern and middle regions of the European part of Russia. Cultivated in fields. Blooms in May - June. Honey productivity - 35-150 kg per 1 ha.
Buckwheat - Fagopyrum esculentum Moench.
An annual cereal crop from the buckwheat family, up to 1-1.2 meters high, forms 8-10 lateral branches. By the time they ripen, the stems turn red. The leaves are simple, alternate, heart-shaped-triangular with a trumpet (a dry membranous tube encircling the stem). The flowers are regular in shape, small, bisexual, white or pinkish-white, collected at the ends of the branches in corymbose inflorescences, with a simple perianth, consisting of a five-parted corolla and 8 stamens, at the base of which there are 8 nectaries. Each flower lives for 1 day. The fruits are triangular achenes. Blooms in summer for up to 30-45 days. It produces nectar best and is visited by bees in warm, humid weather. Adapted to cross pollination. Up to 1.5 thousand flowers are formed on one plant. Russia ranks first in the world in terms of planting area (up to 2 million hectares) and grain harvest of this crop. One flower releases 0.044-0.358 mg of sugar in nectar per day. The most valuable honey plant. Honey productivity reaches 70-200 kg/ha. In the forest-steppe zone of the European part, in Altai, and in a number of regions of Kazakhstan, buckwheat provides over 50% of commercial honey.
Annual sunflower - Helianthus annuus L.
An annual crop of the Compositae family. Forms a thick stem up to 2-3 meters high. The leaves are petiolate, large, up to 35-40 cm long, the lower ones are opposite, the upper ones are sessile. The inflorescence is a multi-flowered basket with a diameter of up to 30-40 cm, surrounded by an involucre. The flowers are different: marginal - large, ligulate, asexual; middle - tubular, bisexual; both are yellow in color. The corolla is five-toothed. The flower has 5 stamens with free filaments, but with fused anthers. The number of flowers in a basket ranges from 500 to 3000. Each of them lives for two days; on the first day the anthers function, on the second - the stigmas. The nectary is located around the style. Blooms in July - early August for 30 days. Bees willingly visit flowers to collect nectar and pollen. At the same time, their body is abundantly covered with pollen. It is the most important honey crop, providing the main honey harvest, as well as replenishing pollen reserves in the nests of bee families. Honey productivity is 40-50 kg/ha.
Sand sainfoin (sainfoin) - Onobrychis arenaria (Kit.) Ser.
A perennial herbaceous plant of the legume family (Fabaceae), 30-60 cm high, with a tap root. The stems are numerous and erect. The leaves are compound, odd-pinnate, with thirteen to twenty-five leaflets, with membranous triangular-lanceolate pointed stipules. The leaflets are oblong-lanceolate, silky underneath. The flowers are moth-type, bright pink, collected in thick spike-shaped racemes. There are ten stamens, one pistil, with a superior ovary. The fruit is a round, nut-shaped, single-seeded, jagged, spiny bean with a network of veins. It is found wild in the central zone of the European part of Russia and in the southern part of Siberia. Cultivated as a forage plant in many areas. It grows in meadows, along river banks, on slopes and gravelly places, along forest edges and bushes. Cultivated in the fields. Blooms in May-June for 20-25 days. The honey productivity of sainfoin reaches 280 kg per 1 ha.
Honey plants of gardens and vegetable gardens
Japanese quince - Chaenomeles japonica (Thunb.) Lindl. ex Spach.
Hawthorn - Crataegus L.
Common cherry - Cerasus vulgaris Mill
Common pear - Pirus communis L.
Edible honeysuckle - Lonicera edulis Turcz. ex Freyn.
Garden strawberry - Fragaria ananassa Duch.
Zucchini (common pumpkin) - Cucurbita pepo L.
Cabbage - Brassica oleracea L.
Onion - Allium cera L.
Homemade apple tree - Malus domestica Borkh.
Japanese quince (Japanese chaenomeles) - Chaenomeles japonica (Thunb.) Lindl. Ex Spach.
A low-growing, beautifully flowering shrub or tree of the Rosaceae family, 1.5-5 meters high with dark gray scaly bark. The leaves are ovate, dark green, pubescent below. The flowers are solitary, large, pinkish-white, with a five-petalled corolla, many stamens, one pistil with five styles fused at the base and a lower five-locular ovary. The fruits are oval-spherical or pear-shaped, slightly ribbed, yellow, aromatic, with a sweetish, very tart pulp. The seeds are reddish-brown, with a slimy skin. It blooms in late May - early June, after leafing. Flowering lasts 20-25 days. It is a good honey plant. The fragrant pinkish-orange flowers attract bees and provide them with nectar and pollen.
Hawthorn - Crataegus L. Blood-red hawthorn (Crataegus sanguinea Pall.)
A shrub or small tree of the Rosaceae family, 1-5 meters high, with large purple-brown shiny shoots bearing thick straight spines 2.5-4 cm long. The leaves are large, alternate, broadly rhombic, pointed, obovate, three-seven-lobed, serrated , dark green above, much lighter below, hairy on both sides. The flowers are white or pink, small, with an unpleasant odor, in dense inflorescences, collected in corymbose inflorescences. The sepals are five in number, oblong-triangular, the corolla is five-petalled. There are many stamens, they have purple anthers. Pistil with lower ovary. The fruits are blood-red, spherical-ellipsoidal, berry-shaped, with a sweetish mealy pulp, 8-10 mm in diameter, with 3-4 seeds. Prickly hawthorn differs from blood-red hawthorn in gray flowers, bare leaves, small red ovoid fruits with two or three seeds. Hawthorn does not grow under natural conditions. Blooms in June. The flowers are white, sometimes with a pinkish tint, collected in thyroid inflorescences, secreting nectar and pollen. Readily visited by bees. The nectar of one flower contains 2.0367 mg of sugar. The productivity of hawthorn, even in northern conditions, can be up to 80 kg of honey from 1 hectare of thickets.
Common cherry - Cerasus vulgaris Mill.
A tree with gray-brown bark, 3-5 meters high, of the Rosaceae family. Forms a spherical crown with twig-like shoots and branches. The leaves are simple, elliptical, pointed, leathery. The flowers, consisting of a five-part calyx and 5 free white petals, are collected in few-flowered umbrellas on the branches of the previous year's growth. There are 20-25 stamens in a flower. At the bottom of the flower, around the ovary, there is a ring-shaped nectary. It is cross-pollinated by insects, of which bees are the most important. The fruits are red or dark burgundy in color with a smooth surface and have high taste. Blooms at the end of spring: tree for 10 days, plantings for 15-20 days. Each flower lives for about 5 days, releasing 1.5-2 mg of sugar in nectar. In the presence of large plantings, it provides excellent early supply of nectar and pollen, and sometimes partial collection of marketable honey. Honey productivity of plantings is 30-50 kg/ha.
Common pear - Pirus communis L.
A tree up to 20 meters high, sometimes a large shrub of the Rosaceae family with spiny shoots. The leaves are oblong-rounded, short-pointed, leathery, located on long petioles, and turn black when dry. Flowers, collected 6-12 in corymbose inflorescences, are formed from fruit buds formed in the previous year. The perianth is double, five-membered. The corolla is up to 3.5 cm in diameter, snow-white, sometimes pinkish. There are many stamens in the flower; they are purple-pink in color. Nectar-bearing tissue is located in the flower on an open receptacle. There are several thousand varieties of pears, differing in their appearance and chemical composition. In both wild and cultivated forms, flowering is abundant and begins with the appearance of leaves, somewhat earlier than in the apple tree. Trees in plantations bloom for 10-16 days, individual flowers for up to 5 days, releasing about 1 mg of sugar in nectar per day and producing a lot of pollen. Honey productivity of plantings is 10-25 kg/ha. Bees willingly visit flowers, ensuring cross-pollination.
Edible honeysuckle - Lonicera edulis Turcz. ex Freyn.
Berry shrub of the honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae), up to 5 m high. Curly branches with opposite round-oval leaves, green above, bluish below. The upper leaves grow together in pairs at their bases. The flowers are yellowish-white or pinkish, bisexual, fragrant, clustered at the ends of the branches. The corolla is sphenoletal, tubular, widened upward, with an almost two-humped, five-parted limb. The calyx is five-toothed. There are five stamens, adherent to the corolla, a pistil with a lower two- to three-locular ovary. The fruit is a red berry with several seeds. Leaves are entire, opposite. Resistant to climatic conditions of the Non-Black Earth Region and the North-West. Winter-hardy. Blooms in May. Flowering lasts 15-20 days. Bees readily collect nectar from flowers. Honey productivity from 1 hectare of planting reaches 15-30 kg.
Garden strawberry - Fragaria ananassa Duch.
Perennial herbaceous plant of the Rosaceae family. It grows in the form of dense bushes up to 25-30 cm high.
It forms long creeping shoots that take root in the nodes, from which basal long-petiolate trifoliate leaves appear. They go green in winter, but gradually die off under the snow.
By spring, young leaves grow. Long peduncles rise from the bush, branched several times in the upper part. The terminal branches bear flowers that form loose corymbose inflorescences. Stamens and pistils are numerous.
It blooms from the beginning of summer for more than a month. Honey productivity - 10-15 kg per 1 ha. Bees collect pollen and partly nectar from flowers, ensuring cross-pollination. The berries have high taste and dietary qualities.
Zucchini (common pumpkin) - Cucurbita pepo L.
An annual plant of the pumpkin family (Cucurbitaceae). Forms creeping bushy or climbing whip-like prickly-rough, ribbed stems, equipped with branched three to five-parted tendrils. The leaves are alternate, large, hard, five-lobed, on long petioles. Large single unisexual male and female flowers are formed on the same plant and have a simple perianth. The corolla is sphenoletal, funnel-shaped, five-lobed, yellow, on a long peduncle. The male flower has 5 anthers, loop-shaped and fused into a capitate column; the filaments are separated at the base. The nectaries are large and lie deep in the flower. Blooms from mid-summer to autumn. The flowers open early in the morning and close by midday. Female flowers produce more nectar and are visited by bees better than male flowers. The nectar in male flowers is hidden under the arch of fused stamen filaments, which makes it less accessible to insects. However, such flowers provide bees with plenty of pollen. Honey productivity - 30-40 kg/ha.
Cabbage - Brassica oleracea L.
Biennial vegetable plant of the cabbage family (Brassicaceae) or
cruciferous vegetables (Cruciferae). In the first year of cultivation, it forms a low, up to 50 cm high, stem with a rosette of large, fleshy, succulent leaves and a productive part - a head of cabbage, used for food. In the second year, tall, highly branched stems with pale yellow flowers collected at the ends of the branches in a raceme develop from the uterine seeds. Flowers with double perianth, four-parted. There are 6 stamens in a flower. At the base of the flower, between the ovary and short stamens, there are 4 nectaries. Blooms in summer, for 20-30 days. Cabbage seeds are important for beekeeping, as they are a good source of nectar and pollen.
Honey productivity - 20-50 kg/ha.
Onion - Allium cera L.
An annual or biennial vegetable bulbous plant of the onion family (Alliaceae), 60-100 cm high. A plant with a cylindrical stem, bluish-green tubular leaves and small whitish flowers with a simple perianth, collected in a simple capitate umbel. The flower has 6 stamens fused with the perianth petals. At the base of the ovary there are nectaries that abundantly secrete nectar. There are many varieties of onions. Blooms in mid-summer for 20-25 days. Bees willingly visit flowers in warm and hot weather, collecting a lot of nectar and pollen from them. Honey productivity is 70-100 kg/ha. Fresh honey has an onion flavor, which usually disappears later. Nectar and pollen collected from onions have a toxic effect and can cause the death of bees and weakening of bee colonies, especially in winter.
Homemade apple tree - Malus domestica Borkh.
Fruit tree of the Rosaceae family, 3-12 meters high. Branches with ovate, pointed, crenate leaves, glabrous or downy below. The flowers are fragrant, white-pink, with many stamens, with a lower five-lobed ovary. The fruits are juicy, varied in color and taste.
It blooms in the second half of May - early June for 10-15 days. Bees collect nectar and pollen from flowers. Spring honey collection promotes intensive growth of bee brood. Honey productivity, depending on conditions, variety, place of growth and other reasons, is 15-40 kg per 1 ha.
Honey plants are ubiquitous
Common thistle (lanceolate) - Cirsium vuldare (Savi) Ten.
Valerian officinalis - Valeriana officinalis L.
Mouse pea - Vicia cracca L.
Burdock (burdock) - Arctium L.
Common coltsfoot - Tussilago farfara L.
Motherwort - Leonurus cardiaca L.
Common thistle (lanceolate) - Cirsium vuldare (Savi) Ten.
A hard-thorny biennial plant of the aster family (Asteraceae).
Distributed throughout the Non-Chernozem Zone. It grows along roads, near homes, in gardens and pastures.
The stem is reddish-brown, ribbed, 60-150 cm high. The leaves end in spines. The baskets are large and spiny. The flowers are bisexual.
The corolla is lilac-purple. Blooms from July to autumn. All species of this plant produce nectar and are good honey plants. Honey productivity reaches 90-130 kg per 1 hectare of thickets. Variegated thistle (C. heterophyllum (L.) Hill), which also has a fairly high honey productivity (up to 130 kg per 1 ha), grows everywhere, as well as bristly thistle (C. setosum (Wild.) Bess.), thistle (C Oleraceum (L.) Scop.) and thistle (C. palustre (L.) Scop.).
An aqueous infusion of the herb is used for pulmonary tuberculosis and asthma. Crushed fresh grass is applied to wounds, abrasions, and boils. Powdered dry leaves are sprinkled on purulent wounds.
Valerian officinalis - Valeriana officinalis L.
A perennial herbaceous plant of the valerian family (Valerianaceae), 1.2-1.8 m high with a small vertical rhizome and numerous underground shoots.
The bush develops several furrowed, erect, tubular stems.
Stem leaves are opposite, sometimes alternate or collected in whorls of 3-4. The lower and middle ones are on petioles, the upper ones are sessile, imparipinnate. The flowers are fragrant, small, bisexual, with a double perianth, white, pale purple or pinkish, collected in large apical and axillary corymbose or paniculate branched inflorescences. The corolla is funnel-shaped, with a five-lobed bend.
The flower has 3 stamens. In the first year of life it forms a rosette of leaves, from the second year - flowering stems. There are the following types of valerian: brilliant, swamp, Volga, Russian, shoot-bearing, etc.
It grows scattered almost everywhere, except for the Far North and Far South, in humid places, deciduous forests, and mountain ranges. Blooms almost all summer. Nectar productivity reaches 200-300 kg/ha. Well, sometimes moderately visited by bees to collect nectar and a small amount of pollen.
Mouse pea - Vicia cracca L.
A perennial herbaceous glabrous or slightly pubescent plant of the legume family (Fabaceae), 30-150 cm high with a climbing ribbed stem. The stems end in branched tendrils, with the help of which they cling to the support and are held in a straight position. The leaves are compound, pinnate, with five to twelve pairs of leaflets up to 3 cm in length, ending in a branched tendril. The leaflets are lanceolate or linear-lanceolate. Stipules are 6-10 mm long; on the lower leaves they are semi-arrow-shaped, on the upper leaves they are linear, often whole. The flowers are small, moth-type, with a double perianth, blue-violet in color, collected in long one-sided multi-flowered racemes. The calyx is shorter than the corolla. The flower has 10 stamens, one of which is free, and 9 are fused with threads into a tube. The nectary ring is located at the base of the ovary. The beans are oblong, flattened, black. The seeds are spherical, brownish-black. It is a polymorphic species (has many forms). It is found in the European part of Russia, in Western and Eastern Siberia, in the Far East along the middle reaches of the Amur. It grows in forest, floodplain and steppe meadows, in sparse forests, in thickets of bushes and in gardens. Blooms in June for 30-40 days. In warm weather with sufficient rainfall, it is well visited by bees to collect high-quality nectar and pollen. Pea thickets produce 185-370 kg/ha of sugar in nectar.
Burdock (burdock) - Arctium L.
Biennial weed plant of the Compositae family, 60-180 cm high. The leaves are large, gray-tomentose underneath. In the first year of life, the plant produces only a root and a rosette of leaves, in the second - a flowering stem with inflorescences and fruits. The involucre of the baskets consists of many subulate or linear-lanceolate leaves. Flower baskets are almost spherical, collected at the ends of the branches in the form of scutes. The most common is large burdock - A. lappa L., small burdock - A. minus (Hill) Bernh. and felt burdock - A. tomentosum Mill. They grow like weeds in vacant lots, in garbage places, near homes, in vegetable gardens, orchards, etc. It blooms in July and August. Lilac-purple flowers produce nectar and pollen well. Bees willingly visit them. The honey productivity of continuous burdock thickets is on average 100 kg per 1 ha. The honey is aromatic, very viscous, dark in color, and pleasant to the taste.
Common coltsfoot - Tussilago farfara L.
A perennial herbaceous plant of the aster family (Asteraceae) with a powerful branched creeping underground rhizome that produces short flower stems in early spring, bearing one flower basket each, consisting of yellow reed and tubular flowers. The baskets are single, 2-2.5 cm in diameter, drooping after flowering. Achenes 3.5-4 mm long with a vein of white hairs. After flowering, several large rounded basal leaves develop, bare and green above, white-tomentose below. The lower surface of the leaf, if applied to the body, warms, and the upper surface cools, hence the name “coltsfoot”. It grows along embankments of railways and highways, in ravines, gravel pits and in bare places. Flowering stems and shoots of coltsfoot develop in early spring, when there is still snow. It blooms in April, in the Non-Black Earth Region and in the North-West it is the earliest honey plant. Blooms for 30-40 days. When the weather is favorable, bees actively collect nectar and pollen from flowers. The honey productivity of this plant is 13-22 kg per 1 hectare of continuous thickets.
Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) - Leonurus cardiaca L.
A perennial herbaceous plant of the Labiatae family, 50-100 cm high, with a short oblique or almost vertical woody rhizome, turning into a tap root, densely planted with adventitious roots. The root system is located shallow in the soil. The stems are green, often reddish-violet, erect, branched in the upper part, tetrahedral, ribbed, hollow, covered with protruding long hairs or curly hairs along the ribs, 50-200 cm high.
The leaves are petiolate, opposite, gradually decreasing towards the top of the stem, dark and bright green above, with a grayish tint below. The flowers are small, pink, equipped with subulate hairy bracts, forming a long spike-shaped inflorescence at the ends of the stems and branches. The corolla is pink or pinkish-violet. The fruits are coenobia, breaking into 4 parts (nuts). Blooms in July - August (60-70 days). It is actively visited by bees. The honey productivity of the plant in the European part of Russia reaches 300 kg per 1 hectare. Motherwort honey is light, thick, with a yellowish tint.
Honey plants sown specifically for bees
This group includes plants that do not grow or are rarely found in their natural state, but are good honey plants and are sown specifically for honey collection.
Oregano - Origanum vulgare L.
Melissa (lemon balm) - Melissa officinalis L.
Common bruise - Echium vulgare L.
Phacelia - Phacelia Juss.
Whorled sage - Salvia verticillata L.
Oregano - Origanum vulgare L.
Perennial herbaceous melliferous and essential oil plant of the Lamiaceae family (Labiatae), 30-60 cm high with an oblique rhizome. The stems are straight, tetrahedral, reddish, branched at the top, softly hairy. The leaves are petiolate, opposite, oblong-ovate, entire. The flowers are small, light purple or lilac-pink, vaguely two-lipped in the axils of dark red bracts, collected in a corymbose paniculate inflorescence. The entire plant is covered with hairs and is strongly fragrant. The fruit splits into four round brown nuts. Grows in sunny places, on dry sandy soils, among bushes, on forest edges. Blooms from July until the first frost. The flowers secrete nectar well and are actively visited by bees. Honey productivity from 1 hectare of continuous sowing is 80 kg. The honey is aromatic, amber in color, with a greenish tint.
Maral root (Leuzea safflower) - Rhaponticum carthamoides (Willd.)
Maral root (Leuzea safflower) - Rhaponticum carthamoides (Willd.)
A perennial rhizomatous herbaceous plant of the aster family (Asteraceae), 100-180 cm high. The underground organs of the plant have a specific odor and consist of a horizontal dark brown branched rhizome with numerous thin, hard roots up to 20 cm long.
The rhizome forms from 5 to 20 vegetative shoots, with a rosette of 3-4 large, petiolate leaves, 60-100 cm long, 6-21 cm wide. The leaves are pinnate. Generative shoots, usually 1-2, have hollow, ribbed, cobwebby or almost bare stems 100-150 cm high, with smaller sessile leaves. The baskets are apical, solitary, 4-8 cm in diameter. The flowers are tubular, bisexual, five-membered, violet-pink. Achenes are ellipsoidal, gray-brown ribbed, 6-8 mm long, 3-4 mm wide, with a short fringed edge. It reproduces by seed and vegetative methods, but vegetative propagation predominates. In its natural state it grows in alpine and subalpine meadows of Altai, Kuznetsk Alatau, Sayan, Transbaikalia. In cultivation, it can be successfully grown in all areas of the Non-Black Earth Region, since this plant is winter-hardy. Blooms in June. The seeds ripen in August. Flowering lasts 15 - 20 days. Bees take nectar and pollen from flowers. The honey productivity of the plant depends on meteorological conditions and is 83-120 kg per 1 ha.
Melissa (lemon balm) - Melissa officinalis L.
Perennial herbaceous rhizomatous soft-pubescent essential oil plant of the Lamiaceae family, 45 - 90 cm high, with a pleasant lemon scent that attracts bees. Stems are tetrahedral, branched. The leaves are opposite, ovate, crenate-serrate, pubescent. The flowers are irregular, two-lipped, white. The calyx is bell-shaped. There are four stamens, a pistil with a four-parted upper ovary and a long style. The fruit consists of four small ovoid nuts enclosed in a calyx. It grows among bushes, along forest edges, and in weedy places. It is cultivated on plantations of medicinal and essential oil plants.
Blooms for 30-40 days. The flowers secrete nectar very well. The honey productivity of lemon balm is 130 - 200 kg.
Common bruise - Echium vulgare L.
Biennial plant of the borage family (Boraginaceae), 30-90 cm high.
The stem is erect, 30-50, sometimes 90 cm high. The entire plant is covered with hairs. Leaves are lanceolate, 5-10 cm long. Leaves are sessile, linear-lanceolate. The flowers are beautiful, small, funnel-shaped, bright blue (pink buds), collected in curls and then in paniculate inflorescences. The fruits are brownish nuts. It grows as a weed among cultivated plants. In the wild, the bruise is common in the south, where it is found in continuous masses in uncultivated and weedy areas. In northwestern conditions it blooms from June to September. The flowers secrete nectar and pollen very abundantly and are actively visited by bees. From one hectare of bruise you can get 250-300 kg of honey. Honey from the bruise is of very high quality, light amber in color, has an excellent taste and does not crystallize for a long time.
Phacelia - Phacelia Juss.
The most common in our country is the mountain ash phacelia (Ph. Tanacetifolia Benth.) - an annual herbaceous plant of the waterfolia family (Hydrophyllaceae). The first blue flowers appear 30-40 days after
sowing Bees are very active in taking nectar and pollen from them. The honey productivity of phacelia is 120-500 kg per 1 hectare of continuous crops. Honey is light green or amber, has a pleasant aroma and delicate taste.
Whorled sage - Salvia verticillata L.
A perennial plant of the Lamiaceae family, with a height of 20 to 100 cm. The root is powerful and woody. The stem is simple or branched, pubescent. Leaves are ovate or heart-shaped. The flowers are lilac-pink or violet-blue, arranged in whorls. It grows in dry meadows, near housing and outbuildings, along railways and highways, and along embankments.
Blooms in July. Bees are very active in collecting pollen and nectar from them. The secretion of nectar is sometimes so abundant that one-third of the corolla tubes are filled with it. Honey productivity up to 300 kg per 1 ha. In the Non-Chernozem Zone, this plant provides only supporting honey production. Sage honey is amber in color, transparent, and of high taste.
Nectar productivity of honey plants
Approximate nectar productivity of the main honey plants (according to M.M. Glukhov, 1974; E.T. Klimenkova, L.G. Kushnir, A.I. Bachilo, 1981; A.S. Nuzhdin, 1991)
| Apricot | 25 |
| White acacia | 350 |
| Yellow acacia | 75 |
| Cherry plum | 35 |
| Anise | 75 |
| Watermelon | 12 |
| Aster | 30 |
| Marsh rosemary | 87 |
| Basil | 55 |
| Barberry | 200 |
| Amur velvet | 260 |
| Bottomless | 150 |
| Euonymus warty | 5 |
| European euonymus | 110 |
| Broad beans | 6 |
| Field thistle | 185 |
| Thistle river | 75 |
| Hogweed | 110 |
| Hawthorn prickly | 16 |
| Cowberry | 20 |
| Budra ivy-shaped | 15 |
| Mountain beetle | 275 |
| Medicinal initial letter | 114 |
| Valerian officinalis | 66 |
| meadow cornflower | 194 |
| Cornflower blue | 39 |
| Vatochnik | 500 |
| Woad dyeing | 40 |
| Common heather | 200 |
| Veronica longifolia | 295 |
| Veronica Dubrovnaya | 23 |
| Common vetch | 9 |
| Garden cherry | 45 |
| Volovik | 100 |
| Swamp geranium | 31 |
| Meadow geranium | 192 |
| Gledicia | 200 |
| Blueberry | 21 |
| Snake knotweed (crayfish) | 42 |
| Adonis, cuckoo blossom | 30 |
| Mouse peas | 69 |
| White mustard | 100 |
| Sarepta mustard | 91 |
| Black mustard | 151 |
| River gravity | 255 |
| Buckwheat | 105 |
| Pear | 20 |
| Loosestrife | 117 |
| Biennial white clover | 200 |
| Annual white clover | 116 |
| Sweet clover | 103 |
| Angelica silica | 116 |
| Oregano | 58 |
| Melon | 24 |
| Angelica officinalis | 295 |
| Blackberries in the forest | 33 |
| Blackberries in the garden | 31 |
| Creeping tenacious | 80 |
| Tatarian honeysuckle | 147 |
| Edible honeysuckle | 22 |
| Zhoster laxative | 52 |
| Swamp chickweed | 19 |
| Chickweed average | 43 |
| St. John's wort | 47 |
| Zelenchuk yellow | 46 |
| Wild strawberry | 13 |
| Snakehead | 225 |
| Goldenrod | 53 |
| White willow | 79 |
| Goat willow | 38 |
| Willow brittle in planting | 22 |
| Brittle willow on the floodplain | 58 |
| Willow myrzifolia | 16 |
| Holly willow | 10 |
| Ash willow | 46 |
| Purple willow | 19 |
| Willow bluish | 20 |
| Willow tristamen | 8 |
| Eared willow | 20 |
| Ivan-tea on peat bogs | 600 |
| Istod ordinary | 16 |
| Hyssop | 180 |
| Viburnum common | 18 |
| Marsh marigold | 14 |
| Cabbage | 70 |
| Kenaf | 40 |
| Kermek | 50 |
| Dogwood, pork | 36 |
| Cotoneaster brilliant | 172 |
| Clover white | 100 |
| Mountain Clover | 23 |
| Red clover | 255 |
| Clover | 90 |
| Clover pink | 115 |
| Norway maple | 200 |
| Field maple (black maple) | 1000 |
| Ash maple | 50 |
| Great salsify | 167 |
| Spreading bell | 6 |
| horse chestnut | 25 |
| Coriander | 250 |
| Field bark | 65 |
| Catnip | 290 |
| Gooseberry | 50 |
| Buckthorn brittle | 137 |
| Brittle buckthorn in the undergrowth | 94 |
| Autumn kulbaba | 91 |
| Sesame | 40 |
| Kupir forest | 180 |
| Lespedeza | 230 |
| Small-leaved linden | 700 |
| Cobwebby burdock | 89 |
| Bulb onions | 258 |
| Common toadflax | 131 |
| Buttercup caustic | 15 |
| Creeping buttercup | 10 |
| Alfalfa | 170 |
| Horned frog | 30 |
| Wild raspberry | 215 |
| Perennial daisy | 7 |
| Mariannik oak forest | 55 |
| Coltsfoot | 6 |
| Lungwort obscure | 76 |
| Melissa | 160 |
| Mordovnik | 680 |
| Peppermint | 200 |
| Forget-me-not swamp | 6 |
| Norichnik knobby | 621 |
| Dandelion officinalis | 105 |
| Cucumber | 22 |
| borage | 500 |
| Comfrey officinalis | 326 |
| Biennial Oslinnik | 410 |
| Field sow thistle | 430 |
| Caustic sedum | 122 |
| Fenugreek | 84 |
| spring primrose | 2 |
| Perilla | 40 |
| Peach | 20 |
| Pikulnik | 44 |
| Small rattle | 22 |
| Podbel Dubrovnik | 180 |
| Sunflower | 24 |
| Opened lumbago | 8 |
| Motherwort | 200 |
| Winter rapeseed | 55 |
| Spring rape | 90 |
| Wild radish | 89 |
| Rusyanka | 270 |
| Mountain ash | 34 |
| Ryzhik | 30 |
| Marsh cinquefoil | 152 |
| Cruciferous seeds (turnip, rutabaga, turnip, radish, radish) | 34 |
| Seradella sativa | 24 |
| Swamp core | 24 |
| Serpukha | 276 |
| Sivets meadow | 84 |
| blue cyanosis | 18 |
| Bruise | 325 |
| Swamp skerda | 87 |
| Homemade plum | 26 |
| Common gum | 52 |
| Black currant in the floodplain | 12 |
| Common borer | 160 |
| Saussurea latifolia | 120 |
| Spiraea average | 52 |
| Surepka | 42 |
| Meadowsweet | 5 |
| Meadowsweet six-petalled | 38 |
| Turn | 22 |
| Common thyme | 45 |
| Ukrainian thyme | 48 |
| Cumin | 23 |
| Tubeflower | 89 |
| Yarrow | 24 |
| Pumpkin | 36 |
| Phacelia tansyfolia | 290 |
| Phacelia in mixtures | 79 |
| Thuringian Hatma | 200 |
| Cotton | 150 |
| Chicory | 100 |
| Bird cherry | 20 |
| Cherries | 38 |
| Blueberry | 82 |
| Chernogolovka vulgare | 29 |
| Black root officinalis | 79 |
| Meadow chin | 15 |
| Chingil | 194 |
| Chistets marsh | 59 |
| Chistets straight | 110 |
| Great celandine | 8 |
| Chistyak spring | 14 |
| Meadow sage | 110 |
| Sage whorled | 300 |
| Pink sage | 190 |
| Sage blue | 170 |
| Horehound white | 50 |
| Horehound comb, or Elsholtsia Patrena | 183 |
| Sainfoin | 172 |
| Apple tree | 23 |
| White lily | 280 |
| Purple lily | 56 |
| Spotted lily | 124 |
| Hairy hawkweed | 13 |
| Orchis spotted | 13 |
Literature
1. Deaf in M.M. Honey plants, 7th ed., M., 1974; Amendment S.A., Plants and Bees, M., 1985.
2.V.B. Novikov. Bees, flowers and health.
3. http://bestbees.ru.
4. www.pcheli.ru.
Rose hips are primarily known for their red berries, which are often used in folk medicine. Even if you simply dry them and pour boiling water over them, you can get a delicious fortified tea. At the same time, this shrub is known as a honey plant. And, although its honey productivity is not the highest, it can still be of great importance for the existence of an apiary.
Honey productivity
Rosehip (or wild rose) is a plant that many people know about. Teas, decoctions and infusions rich in vitamin C are prepared from its berries. Its flowers are indeed very similar to roses, and have a strong enough smell that attracts bees. Striped workers are primarily interested in rosehip pollen.
Since there is not too much nectar in flowers and its honey productivity will not allow the shrub to be used as the main honey plant. But in terms of the amount of pollen, this plant has practically no competitors, and it is even recommended to plant it to fully provide the hives with pollen. Good rosehip plantations will help bees make good reserves of beebread, survive the winter well and breed.
The nectar secreted by flowers is enough to produce 12-15 kg of honey per hectare. With special treatment, the indicators can be doubled, but no one will plant large areas with rose hips. To fully provide bees with pollen, it is enough to plant 5-10 bushes. They will provide additional benefits in the fall, when you can pick healthy berries. The honey obtained from such plantings will be just a small bonus.
Average timing and duration of flowering
Depending on weather conditions, this honey plant begins to bloom in late May or early July. Once they appear, the flowers last for about a month before turning into small red berries.
Spreading
This bush has long been growing in the temperate climate zone on all continents of the northern hemisphere. Some species are also common in the subtropical zone. The first bushes were brought to Australia in the 19th century and have now become an important link in the food chain.
Rosehip (dog rose) - Rosa canina L.
Dog rose is a shrub of the Rosaceae family, reaching a height of 1.5-3 meters, with curved, less often almost straight branches and with green or red-brown bark, usually without a bluish coating. The thorns are strong, sickle-shaped, sparse or scattered on the main stems, sometimes almost straight, abundant on flowering branches, flattened at the expanded base. Rosehip leaves are 7-9 cm long, green and bluish, glabrous, sometimes with sparse short hairs along the main stem, complex, odd-pinnate, with five to seven ovate, bare, sharply serrate leaves. Rosehip flowers usually pale pink, white or hot pink. The ripe false rose hips are large, 15-26 mm long, broadly oval, less often almost spherical, sometimes elongated oval, smooth, bright or light red, with characteristic pinnately incised sepals that are bent down and fall off when the fruit ripens. The inner walls of the fruit are dotted with numerous bristly hairs, among which there are numerous hard, stony fruits - nuts. After the sepals fall off, the throat of the receptacle is closed by a pentagonal platform. Rose hips are found both in the wild and in gardens and parks. Rose hips are planted as hedges along roads. Eight species of rose hips grow in the Non-Black Earth Region. In addition to the common one, which is the most common, there is the May rose, or cinnamon rose (R. majalis Herrm) and the wrinkled rose (R. rugosa Thunb). Rosehip blooms from June to August. Bees very actively visit rosehip flowers. Many reference books on honey plants indicate that rose hips provide bees mainly with pollen. The nectar of one rose hip flower contains from 2.2862 to 4.1184 mg of sugar, which contains 51.46% fructose, 47.12% glucose and 1.42% sucrose. Rosehip honey is colorless, has a pleasant aroma, and does not crystallize for a long time.
The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates pointed out the healing properties of rose hips, which are used as a good anti-inflammatory agent. In the 17th century, rosehip flowers and fruits were used to treat scurvy, colds, burns and other diseases.
Rosehip is a storehouse of vitamins. It contains especially a lot of ascorbic acid. In terms of variety and quantity of vitamins, it is significantly superior to many plants. Thus, vitamin C in its fruits is 10 times more than in black currant berries, and 100 times more than in apples. In addition to vitamin C, the fruit contains vitamin P, the high content of which allows the fruit to be used for the treatment and prevention of hypertension, various hemorrhages, rheumatism, etc. Rose hips contain a lot of carotene and organic acids, which are necessary for the human body.
Dog rose hips are used for the production of the drug holosas (a condensed aqueous extract of the fruit with sugar syrup). Holosas is prescribed as a choleretic agent for liver disease - cholecystitis and hepatitis. Carotolin (an oil extract from the fruit pulp) is also obtained from the fruit, which is used externally for trophic ulcers, eczema, erythroderma, etc. Rosehip seed oil is used externally for cracked nipples, bedsores, dermatoses, trophic ulcers of the lower leg, as well as in the form of enemas for ulcerative colitis.
See also
