Bitter flavour of honey: ?ragwort

[Amari]

The honey I took off in late August has a slightly bitter after-taste which was not present in the spring crop. There was a fallow field with many ragworts near my out apiary. I seem to remember reading that ragwort can explain a bitter taste. Can anyone confirm this please?

 

[Murox]

Yes. I leave ragwort tainted honey for their winter stores.

 

[fian]

St. John's wort and ragwort are not the same plant, or even from the same family, although they can be potentially toxic and leave a bitter aftertaste. The curious thing is that Google Translate does consider it.

 

[Penninetrader]

I remove ragwort anywhere in my area, as far as I was aware it is supposed to be a controllable weed for farmers. Enforcement is unlikely as local authorities have let it grow completely out of control and would require them to serve notices on themselves. Terrible weed

 

[Curly green finger's]

I remove ragwort anywhere in my area, as far as I was aware it is supposed to be a controllable weed for farmers. Enforcement is unlikely as local authorities have let it grow completely out of control and would require them to serve notices on themselves. Terrible weed

The pollinators you see on just one flower is busy our council have left it on the road margins in places good on them, this In turn has helped other wild flowers clover dandelions campanula hog weed willow herbs etc

 

[Erichalfbee]

The pollinators you see on just one flower is busy our council have left it on the road margins in places good on them, this In turn has helped other wild flowers clover dandelions campanula hog weed willow herbs etc

I was going to name a few then I found this in The Guardian. Written beautifully.....

Among the butterflies there are commas, red admirals, meadow browns, common blues, gatekeepers, small heaths and large skippers, their flight a folding-unfolding origami in the air.

Cinnabar Moth caterpillars, like items of lost games kit – a sock, a sleeve – in wasp-stripe warnings of toxicity feed on ragwort leaves. A fantasia of hoverflies, robber flies, solitary bees, bumblebees and beetles feed on ragwort pollen and nectar.

A Harvestman Spider – a full-stop on improbably spindly legs – hunts ragwort visitors, as do the house martins swooping above. A flattened patch is evidence of a deer lay-up; and dusk will be batty with nocturnal tribes. There is more life in one acre of ragwort than a hundred surrounding arable fields.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Terrible weed

For farmers, but not for nature: the summer after the Surrey heath burned in 2022 I found that the first plants to appear were tiny heather shoots and tall ragwort, covered in Cinnabar caterpillars.

 

[Penninetrader]

Ragwort overtakes everything to the detriment of other previously established flowers. The effect on cattle and horses health is not good

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Ragwort overtakes everything to the detriment of other previously established flowers. The effect on cattle and horses health is not good

Not good = bloody fatal for some. It strikes a bit close to home when a friend's horse has to be put down by the vet following ragwort poisoning.

 

[Penninetrader]

Not good = bloody fatal for some. It strikes a bit close to home when a friend's horse has to be put down by the vet following ragwort poisoning.

Depends whether you are surrounded by arable or cattle sheep horses in forming views, for us Ragwort is a big no

 

[WalnutTreeBees]

Depends whether you are surrounded by arable or cattle sheep horses in forming views, for us Ragwort is a big no

I'm currently sitting a stone throw from a horse field which is actually part of a farm that accommodates an equine vets practice. There was ragwort growing in said field with grazing horses all last summer and nobody batted an eyelid. Remind me in 7 months and I'll take some photos for you. The reason for that is because ragwort is only really harmful when it is taken with the hay cut and eaten dried. Horses won't eat it in the green, just like they don't eat any number of other highly poisonous plants that they might encounter. And in fact sheep can graze green ragwort without a problem, so you're quite misinformed there too.

Ragwort overtakes everything to the detriment of other previously established flowers.

This is completely false. If it were the case then the countryside would be covered in Ragwort and not much else. Like any plant, ragwort will do well in soils that suit it, but it is a wildflower like any other. It is a particularly beneficial wildflower owing to the fact that it's in bloom to the end of summer when most others have gone over.

 

[Penninetrader]

I'm currently sitting a stone throw from a horse field which is actually part of a farm that accommodates an equine vets practice. There was ragwort growing in said field with grazing horses all last summer and nobody batted an eyelid. Remind me in 7 months and I'll take some photos for you. The reason for that is because ragwort is only really harmful when it is taken with the hay cut and eaten dried. Horses won't eat it in the green, just like they don't eat any number of other highly poisonous plants that they might encounter. And in fact sheep can graze green ragwort without a problem, so you're quite misinformed there too.

This is completely false. If it were the case then the countryside would be covered in Ragwort and not much else. Like any plant, ragwort will do well in soils that suit it, but it is a wildflower like any other. It is a particularly beneficial wildflower owing to the fact that it's in bloom to the end of summer when most others have gone over.

If you reread your own post you will observe your biased haste has led you to miss where the danger lies, Ragwort is a danger to cattle and Horses plus being totally invasive.

 

[JamezF]

If you reread your own post you will observe your biased haste has led you to miss where the danger lies, Ragwort is a danger to cattle and Horses plus being totally invasive.

The actual facts don't appear to support such a view despite what is quite forcefully put about by "interested" parties such as the British Horse Society.

Horses and cattle won't tend to eat ragwort unless it's in over-grazed pasture. It doesn't spread far and much prefers to grow in bare ground. The biggest problem seems to be when it gets mixed with hay. Even then however, it won't necessarily be fatal as long as the amount consumed is sufficiently small that the animal's body can beak down the toxic metabolites into harmless compounds (a bit like paracetemol in humans, perhaps?).

This site covers the reality in painful detail.

James

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Enforcement is unlikely as local authorities have let it grow completely out of control and would require them to serve notices on themselves.

nothing whatsoever to do with local authorities. The only legislation to cover this is the weeds act 1959 further covered by the ragwort control act 2003 which did nothing to clarify or reinforce the matter. If anything the only person who can serve a notice is the agriculture minister or his minions, in fact legislation is pretty nebulous and has very little teeth at all.

Ragwort is totally invasive

nonsense

 

[Penninetrader]

nothing whatsoever to do with local authorities. The only legislation to cover this is the weeds act 1959 further covered by the ragwort control act 2003 which did nothing to clarify or reinforce the matter. If anything the only person who can serve a notice is the agriculture minister or his minions, in fact legislation is pretty nebulous and has very little teeth at all.

nonsense

Clearly the stuff is everywhere, so as I said it is a controllable weed. And also as I said it is dangerous to livestock.

 

[Penninetrader]

The actual facts don't appear to support such a view despite what is quite forcefully put about by "interested" parties such as the British Horse Society.

Horses and cattle won't tend to eat ragwort unless it's in over-grazed pasture. It doesn't spread far and much prefers to grow in bare ground. The biggest problem seems to be when it gets mixed with hay. Even then however, it won't necessarily be fatal as long as the amount consumed is sufficiently small that the animal's body can beak down the toxic metabolites into harmless compounds (a bit like paracetemol in humans, perhaps?).

This site covers the reality in painful detail.

James

I have no idea how invasive it is in your area but in mine it is now everywhere especially along road verges adjacent fields etc. We are a livestock area and our fields produce silage and winter hay. Our farmers deem it a danger so I will take their advjce.

 

[Swarm]

Ragwort is certainly opportunistic, it seems to be capable of growing anywhere and most roadside verges and roundabouts around here are a yellow glow as it seems to be the most common plant other than grass.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

as I said it is a controllable weed

and what is that supposed to mean?