Ragwort

[Suelin]

Firstly can I say I do not keep bees and no very little about their habits and lifestyle, however I am aware that they appear to be having big problems for no apparent reason, judging by what I read.

I am also aware of the rampage of of the Ragwort plant everywhere, which is highly toxic to stock and to horses and also people. It set me thinking, following a comment from somebody the other day and I quote "I no longer eat British honey due to the amount of Ragwort everywhere"

Can anyone tell me please if there is any merit in that remark. Could the toxins from the plant still be present in the honey? Also, could it be that the bees are being poisoned by this plant, hence the problem with hives that are apparently okay one day and all bees are dead the next.

It is just a train of thought that I had which may be completely hoopy. I am quite prepared to have made the wrong assumption and stand corrected. However if there is some merit what should one be doing about it?

Many thanks for any thoughts.

 

[Bee-Key-Pur]

I have never seen my honey bees on Ragwort....

Brian

 

[harveyzone]

I am also aware of the rampage of of the Ragwort plant everywhere, which is highly toxic to stock and to horses and also people. It set me thinking, following a comment from somebody the other day and I quote "I no longer eat British honey due to the amount of Ragwort everywhere"

Can anyone tell me please if there is any merit in that remark. Could the toxins from the plant still be present in the honey? Also, could it be that the bees are being poisoned by this plant, hence the problem with hives that are apparently okay one day and all bees are dead the next.

There has been some discussion on it here

Reading the thread it sounds like there is not too much to worry about in eating it, but it will not taste very nice.

 

[Adam]

Firstly can I say I do not keep bees and no very little about their habits and lifestyle, however I am aware that they appear to be having big problems for no apparent reason, judging by what I read.

I am also aware of the rampage of of the Ragwort plant everywhere, which is highly toxic to stock and to horses and also people. It set me thinking, following a comment from somebody the other day and I quote "I no longer eat British honey due to the amount of Ragwort everywhere"

Can anyone tell me please if there is any merit in that remark. Could the toxins from the plant still be present in the honey? Also, could it be that the bees are being poisoned by this plant, hence the problem with hives that are apparently okay one day and all bees are dead the next.

It is just a train of thought that I had which may be completely hoopy. I am quite prepared to have made the wrong assumption and stand corrected. However if there is some merit what should one be doing about it?

Many thanks for any thoughts.

There was some research done, I think in conjunction with the Bee Farmers Association which determined their is no health risk. The main reason to avoid it is it's flavour - which is described as bitter. If it's left to granulate, it become more palatable and if mixed with another batch of honey the following year it seems that nobody notices the original bitter flavour.

Adam

 

[BBG]

Ours have it (or did until I pulled it out a day or two ago) within five yards of hives. We have never seen bees on it.

Pull ragwort out when found but ensure stock can't get to drying plant as there is toxicity.

Rhododendron is another toxic honey if enough taken from that plant.

 

[huntsman666]

Ragworth while poisonous to horses simply gives a distasteful honey.

Rhododendron caused a problem in Scotland some years ago (I believe) but is not considered a serious problem.

More detailed information from Google.

 

[BKF Admin]

Some of my hives colect Ragwort every summer.

When extracted it has a bitter aftertaste but this goes when blended with other batches.

As is usual with different tastes I even have had people ask me for "The honey from a couple of years ago you had that tasted much better" (Ragwort)!!

 

[user 6228]

Be careful of associating toxicity of food/forage between one animal to another, and even between different parts of the same plant.

example: Cranberries - possibly medicinal benefit to humans - toxic to cats.
but that doesnt stop someone trying ot make catfood from them.

 

[Skyhook]

Worth bearing in mind that the nectar is produced solely to attract a steady supply of pollinating insects, so would not be in the plants evolutionary interest to have poisonous nectar.

 

[huntsman666]

Correct! I believe chestnuts are toxic to horses yet deer eat them.

 

[greatbritishhoney]

Correct! I believe chestnuts are toxic to horses yet deer eat them.

Horse chestnuts?

 

[Chris Luck]

My fields are full of ragwort where hives are and I've never seen honey bees on it.

This isn't the first time people say that their bees use a plant or flower that my bees never touch even when there is loads of it in their range, or, as in this case, all round the hives, very odd.

Chris

 

[greatbritishhoney]

Lots of ragwort near my apiary. Never seen a bee on it and never had nasty tasting honey.

 

[Suelin]

Thankyou very much people for you expertise and insight. Every day is a school day and I have learned a lot just today. Most interesting indeed.

 

[Skylark]

We have quite a bit of ragwort in fields close to the hive , Ive seen plenty of bumble bees and wasps on the flowers but suprisingly no honey bees.

 

[BKF Admin]

I will take some pics tomorrow of bees on Ragwort..

 

[gavin]

I had one colony this year go mad for ragwort. The woodware is now stained bright yellow. Other colonies were bringing in some ragwort pollen too. At my heather site the farmer spends time pulling all the ragwort plants she can find and I'm really grateful for that. Personally I wouldn't worry about a bit of it but if there was a largely ragwort honey harvest I think that I would feed it back to the bees for winter stores rather than let people eat it.

Some folk have noted that animals will eat the plant when dry but are put off by the taste of the green foliage. Others have noted that fresh ragwort honey is unpalatable but on storage it becomes edible. So if the dry foliage becomes palatable to stock but remains poisonous, is it right that stored ragwort honey that has lost some of its bitterness is OK to eat? I have my doubts. Has anyone read that BFA report?

 

[Suelin]

You put forward an interesting view Gavin. What please is the BFA report? I should like to read it.

 

[Botanist]

It is important to know that there is a great deal of unnecessary panic at large about ragwort at present. The Advertising Standards Authority took action against a range of companies and organisations recently who were exaggerating its toxicity or misinforming people about the law.

These websites give some technical background.

Ragwort Facts
Ragwort, Myths and facts

and for information about the stuff with Advertising Standards

Ragwort the sense and the nonsense

 

[gavin]

Many thanks for that Botanist. I'm a plant scientist myself and should have known much of that.

I'm still unclear as to whether any ragwort-tainted honey harvest is unsafe or not. Found this Suelin but I haven't had time to digest it yet. Maybe this is the report Adam referred to.

http://foodbase.org.uk/admintools/reportdocuments/241-1-412_T01037-FINAL_REPORT.pdf

G.