Hi all, I have a 1 acre grass paddock beside my house that I just top with a flail mower to keep tidy but am now wondering about putting in a crop that would provide nectar for honey production. Ideas in my head range from a dedicated crop like Borage or Sunflowers, to a complete wild flower meadow. Something that will look nice, but predominantly something with maximum nectar yield.
We grew OSR this year for the first time (elsewhere) and I was amazed at the crop of honey I've taken off it so far, I did an extraction at the weekend and got 12kg of honey after only 2 weeks foraging.
Anyway, if you had a field available for the bees, what would you do with it? And how many hives could 1 acre of land feasibly support? I am only on one hive at the moment but aiming to get up to about 4 in total.
TIA.
Hi,
Hi all, I have a 1 acre grass paddock beside my house that I just top with a flail mower to keep tidy but am now wondering about putting in a crop that would provide nectar for honey production. Ideas in my head range from a dedicated crop like Borage or Sunflowers, to a complete wild flower meadow. Something that will look nice, but predominantly something with maximum nectar yield.
We grew OSR this year for the first time (elsewhere) and I was amazed at the crop of honey I've taken off it so far, I did an extraction at the weekend and got 12kg of honey after only 2 weeks foraging.
Anyway, if you had a field available for the bees, what would you do with it? And how many hives could 1 acre of land feasibly support? I am only on one hive at the moment but aiming to get up to about 4 in total.
TIA.
hi,
You’ve had some great advice on this thread so far. I’ve developed a wildflower meadow , now with over 40 species of perennial wildflowers and c20 species of fine meadow grasses. It’s in year 11. A long term plan because I felt passionate about the loss of key habitats - a legacy for our pollinators and wildlife rather than a quick fix max nectar source. I’m sorry that just doesn’t happen. If I look at my honey analysis the meadow contributes but not hugely. However it is a wonderful place for all pollinators - solitary bees, moths, butterflies, bumbles, bats; curlews and lapwings fly overhead, hares and ground nesting birds live there too. I see honeybees collecting pollen early from ribwort plantain and from species like birds foot trefoil but their tongues are not long enough for red clover that the bumblebees so enjoy
For max nectar the sort of flower crop that would deliver, is specific varieties of old fashioned white clovers, the type you still find in rural Ireland and wales. Or, ‘flatlands’ agricultural flower crops such as borage, phacelia, possibly non native sunflowers. Not really your situation and would mean killing off the paddock and starting again
Maximum honey….look at the National honey monitoring scheme - main sources nationally come from agricultural crops - field beans, OSR or native fruit, flowers and shrubs - blackberry, wild cherry ; or trees such as sycamore or horsechestnut. Again not really your paddock unless you selectively planted flowering trees around the edges. Takes time c4/5 years minimum before large enough to give a good source of nectar
Piet Oudolf style late summer non native perennial on native prairie meadows have been mentioned. Stunning but mega expensive to create in a large scale - New York skyline planting cost thousands. My borders of non natives are not a huge nectar source but a fab source of pollen diversity and I see so many other pollinators enjoying them, pollen diversity is so crucial for honeybee health
In conclusion, your goals unfortunately do not match the paddock situation without considerable work and cost. Even then 1 acre will not make a huge difference to your honey crop. I can’t recall the source but I understand 1 colony of bees requires 1 acres of forage (assuming that was continually available).
If I were you, I’d reflect on what enjoyment you could create from the paddock for you, your family and possibly other wildlife, whilst planting more flowering trees and shrubs elsewhere or around the edges. Why not put in a native flowering hedge instead around it - blackthorn, hawthorn etc, the bees would enjoy that and birds too.
As the saying goes ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’. It’s quite rewarding to have a longer term vision and to get there slowly.
Good luck!
