A 'virtual' farm...?

[Haughton Honey]

I was day-dreaming down at one of my apiaries the other day (as is the norm) and was mulling over a theoretical scenario.

What if I had had the fortune to inherit a 300 acre piece of fertile farmland on the western side of these isles and I decided to plant honey-producing crops across the land, with the intention of hosting perhaps 80-100 hives for 'local honey production.

I envisaged some willow copses, OSR, borage, fruit orchards, pasture with high red and white clover and chicory content, field beans.....

It's an interesting conundrum.

What would you sow or plant that rotated a good source of differing pollen and nectar during the season and to what ratios?

 

[mbc]

Phacelia and borage would be top of my list for the fields and the usual mix of willow , blackthorn, hawthorn and sycamore in the hedges witha mixed wildflower wide verge.

 

[For want of a better word]

View attachment 7581

A few 100 acres or even better hectares of Ferula hermonis could make you a fortune... possibly the native black bee's honey would be selling for more than mankuna.................if they collected pollen and nectar from it !!!!

 

[enrico]

A forest of prunus, sweet chestnut, horse chestnut, lime, a few sycamore and no ash!!!

 

[drstitson]

don't forget Acacia.

 

[enrico]

And acacia

 

[Luminos]

Alder Buckthorn.
And Holly...

 

[REDWOOD]

Bell heather and ribes

 

[Haughton Honey]

Interesting thoughts.

Shouldn't the immediate focus be on 'annuals' though, and then hedgerows and then the specimen trees that can take years years to mature?

 

[Haughton Honey]

Phacelia and borage would be top of my list for the fields and the usual mix of willow , blackthorn, hawthorn and sycamore in the hedges witha mixed wildflower wide verge.

Does phacelia produce a lot of nectar mbc? Never come across it before.

 

[victor meldrew]

Alder Buckthorn.
And Holly...

I have an Alder, I've never seen bees working it . It's a large mature specimen loaded with catkins in season. , maybe the bees have richer pickings?
In Winter time, the gold finch love the tiny dark orange seeds
VM

 

[Into the lions den]

Nice idea, but unfortunatley to get a sufficient succession of forage to last the season you do not have enough area for that number of hives OR too many hives for the area...........needs to be truly exception yielders. As others have mentioned, long term, acacia has the highest nectar potential per unit area of any plant...............and of the cover crop plant borage is the daddy..............sow 50 acres a week, and once it 'goes over' turn it in and sow again. Any plant can however be fickle. Phacelia is great but more fickle than borage.

 

[smithhive]

First job might be a soil analysis. Some plants yield vastly different amounts of nectar depending upon the soil they are growing in.

Admittedly I only have two first hand experiences of this but they are quite dramatic.

In 2006 (my best ever honey year) most of my bees were on borage on chalk soil and they yielded 100 lb + each. The best site had 32 hives, each of which did 6 full supers each. Only one borage site was on non-chalk soil and they did less than a super apiece.

For about a dozen years I had a permanent site situated under an avenue of limes. Total lime honey production = zero. The reason,I think, was acidic soil. Rhodedendrons were growing at the base of the trees, a sure sign so I am told, of acidic conditions. I have had large takes of lime honey at other sites.

 

[Luminos]

I have an Alder, I've never seen bees working it . It's a large mature specimen loaded with catkins in season. , maybe the bees have richer pickings?
In Winter time, the gold finch love the tiny dark orange seeds
VM

Ah, different tree, I think - Alder Buckthorn = Frangula Alnus; Alder = Alnus Glutinosa

 

[mbc]

First job might be a soil analysis. Some plants yield vastly different amounts of nectar depending upon the soil they are growing in.

Admittedly I only have two first hand experiences of this but they are quite dramatic.

In 2006 (my best ever honey year) most of my bees were on borage on chalk soil and they yielded 100 lb + each. The best site had 32 hives, each of which did 6 full supers each. Only one borage site was on non-chalk soil and they did less than a super apiece.

For about a dozen years I had a permanent site situated under an avenue of limes. Total lime honey production = zero. The reason,I think, was acidic soil. Rhodedendrons were growing at the base of the trees, a sure sign so I am told, of acidic conditions. I have had large takes of lime honey at other sites.

Good point, well made.

 

[susbees]

First job might be a soil analysis. Some plants yield vastly different amounts of nectar depending upon the soil they are growing in.

Quite so. Phacelia here produces pollen. Somewhere I read it needs 45cm good soil to give decent nectar. That so ain't gonna happen here!

 

[BeeNice]

Manuka only and get top price!!! if you would grow?
Nice subject.
Steven

 

[blackcavebees]

View attachment 7581

A few 100 acres or even better hectares of Ferula hermonis could make you a fortune... possibly the native black bee's honey would be selling for more than mankuna.................if they collected pollen and nectar from it !!!!

Then you could out do Finman and go to 4 brood boxes, and sky scraper hives, all down to a bit of stimulation in the brood nest

 

[For want of a better word]

Then you could out do Finman and go to 4 brood boxes, and sky scraper hives, all down to a bit of stimulation in the brood nest

Some, I am afraid, do not get my sense of humour....... !


Dr S.... The Crown at 'Ferriss is under 1 fathom of dirty ditch water!

 

[beebreeder]

I am surprised nobody has mentioned sainfoin, when that yields the crop is unbelievable, I could sell as much as I can generate, a truly unique honey