More osr around this autumn/winter

[Curly green finger's]

Had to look it up, so I dont know. I believe too much rain in autumn when seeds are planted is more of a concern for farmers around here, and also in spring because it is low above sea level, and creeks are flooding

I think the autumn weather does make a difference to the osr
in southern England there has been trials with combination planting with legume mixes or buckwheat mixed with osr, the idea is the beetle will concentrate on the buckwheat or legumes instead of weakening the osr.
What I've read is this helps but the results are still poor.
Does anyone know any more about the use of the above??

 

[Lottie]

OSR is one of the most profitable crops for farmers here in southern Sweden, so those farmers who earlier didnt are now including it in their 3 or 4-year plan. It is also good for the following crop

Is that Skåne? Lots of orchards there too.

 

[Sanntos]

Is that Skåne? Lots of orchards there too.

Yes and fruit grown in our country are more sought after now f.ex. apple orchards around Kivik are expanding. I remember when they couldn't find someone who wanted to take care of them, all apples sold were produced i Spain and France and other countries.

 

[Amari]

About the same OSR here as previous years, part of an unvarying three-crop rotation (OSR, cereal, sugar beet). It's a good crop for me. I extract before it sets in the comb, store in buckets, then warm to jar soft-set as the months go by. It sells well and I find the honey is of a more predictable quality than the later summer crop. For personal use we prefer buckwheat honey.

 

[Curly green finger's]

About the same OSR here as previous years, part of an unvarying three-crop rotation (OSR, cereal, sugar beet). It's a good crop for me. I extract before it sets in the comb, store in buckets, then warm to jar soft-set as the months go by. It sells well and I find the honey is of a more predictable quality than the later summer crop. For personal use we prefer buckwheat honey.

What do you think of borage honey, my request to sow a couple of fields is being talked about at the moment, also was wondering what else to suggest?

 

[Murox]

What do you think of borage honey, my request to sow a couple of fields is being talked about at the moment, also was wondering what else to suggest?

I have never had pure borage honey but it is a useful plant, it can be chopped/tilled into the soil before flowering or after; The deep taproots and wide fibrous roots break up the soil and aerating it and increasing water percolation, I always 'throw some seeds around' each year wherever I can find some bare soil.

 

[Swn58]

cabbage stem flee beetle

The farm where one of my apiaries is has had to give up growing OSR due to flea beetles.

 

[Murox]

What to sow – taken from an AB1 stewardship list

A seed mix which contains both shorter-lived legumes and longer-lived wild flower species delivers an extended supply of pollen and nectar from late spring through to the autumn for beneficial insects such as bees, butterflies, hoverflies and moths.

You can sow the following example mix on a range of soil types.

Flower species	% inclusion rate
Alsike clover	10
Bird’s-foot trefoil	10
Black medick	5
Common vetch	40
Early flowering red clover	10
Late flowering red clover	10
Lucerne	5
Sweet clover	5
Common knapweed	1.5
Musk mallow	1
Oxeye daisy	1
Wild carrot	1
Yarrow	0.5
Total	100

Sow the seed mix at 15 kg/ha.

On light free draining soils you can replace common vetch with sainfoin.

Avoid short-term mixes that do not include knapweed or mallow as they will not supply pollinators with long-term food sources.

 

[Curly green finger's]

What to sow – taken from an AB1 stewardship list

A seed mix which contains both shorter-lived legumes and longer-lived wild flower species delivers an extended supply of pollen and nectar from late spring through to the autumn for beneficial insects such as bees, butterflies, hoverflies and moths.

You can sow the following example mix on a range of soil types.

Flower species	% inclusion rate
Alsike clover	10
Bird’s-foot trefoil	10
Black medick	5
Common vetch	40
Early flowering red clover	10
Late flowering red clover	10
Lucerne	5
Sweet clover	5
Common knapweed	1.5
Musk mallow	1
Oxeye daisy	1
Wild carrot	1
Yarrow	0.5
Total	100

Sow the seed mix at 15 kg/ha.

On light free draining soils you can replace common vetch with sainfoin.

Avoid short-term mixes that do not include knapweed or mallow as they will not supply pollinators with long-term food sources.

Thanks Murox this season we had
Hairy vetch fields,
White clover, red clover, dead nettle, vetch mix for the pollinators.
By far the best was the Hairy vetch which flowered for a long time.
Our soil type is clay

 

[SixFooter]

Why feed it to the birds that's crazy, your bees have worked very hard to produce it, if I was in your sort of mind set and I'm not!, I would at least give it to friends and family but firstly sell it in bulk?
Im getting asked for buckets I'll come and collect it for free if you like?

Friends and family want liquid honey. I used to cream OSR honey and sell through a farm shop, but since I started selling directly none of it goes. The people who come to my door, don't want OSR honey, creamed or not. I could go back to selling through a shop, I guess, but I do get stuff in return from the bird man. Maybe, strictly, it's bartered, not given away.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Friends and family want liquid honey. I used to cream OSR honey and sell through a farm shop, but since I started selling directly none of it goes. The people who come to my door, don't want OSR honey, creamed or not. I could go back to selling through a shop, I guess, but I do get stuff in return from the bird man. Maybe, strictly, it's bartered, not given away.

Have you thought of selling in bulk?
With 12 hives your going to be producing quite a bit of honey?
Maybe look into selling to a fellow beek in the area.
Edit : maybe new apiary sites?

 

[Amari]

What do you think of borage honey, my request to sow a couple of fields is being talked about at the moment, also was wondering what else to suggest?

Apols for the late reply. I have a few borage plants on my allotment but have never taken hives to a field of it. Wooden Beam on here does and tells me it sells well. To me borage honey is almost colourless and bland and too sweet in taste.

 

[PeaBee]

My dad used to take colonies to the borage in east Yorkshire when there was plenty about (20 years ago) and got some phenomenal yields and it always sold well. Would be at 1 colony per acre and typically large 30acre plus arable fields. I had a few arces of borage cover crop next to one of my appiaries this year. Got a reasonable yield from them but definitely not monofloral clear runny borage, presume there was not enough borage and too much other floral sources around.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Apols for the late reply. I have a few borage plants on my allotment but have never taken hives to a field of it. Wooden Beam on here does and tells me it sells well. To me borage honey is almost colourless and bland and too sweet in taste.

Thanks mate for the reply I asked because I've seen you take hives to crops on here.

 

[Nannysbees]

Since I've had the bees, I have grown from seed serval borders with of borage. In my garden they grow huge with really pretty blue flowers. The bees are all over them. It honey was incredible this year and the feedback was amazing. I also planted a lot of wildflowers, as well as them shooting off to other gardens and down the Vale. The plant seeds itself, and I will be adding to that sewing more plants in the greenhouse.I also know Mrs B's bees has many fields of it.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Since I've had the bees, I have grown from seed serval borders with of borage. In my garden they grow huge with really pretty blue flowers. The bees are all over them. It honey was incredible this year and the feedback was amazing. I also planted a lot of wildflowers, as well as them shooting off to other gardens and down the Vale. The plant seeds itself, and I will be adding to that sewing more plants in the greenhouse.I also know Mrs B's bees has many fields of it.

You haven't just got bee fever you have planting fever brilliant.

 

[Nannysbees]

You haven't just got bee fever you have planting fever brilliant.

You are absolutely right I am hooked on both

 

[Apiarisnt]

Has anyone else noticed alot more osr around this autumn/winter?
It also looks really good at this stage.
I have colonys closer to it than ever.

12.9% increase - provisional figure: Early Bird Survey | AHDB

 

[Moobee]

You are absolutely right I am hooked on both

I’ll bet you check out your neighbours gardens as well to assess what your bees might be foraging on.

 

[Curly green finger's]

I’ll bet you check out your neighbours gardens as well to assess what your bees might be foraging on.

I think we all do that