Rape!

[Monsieur Abeille]

and would be good to only substitute occurrances of the letters making up the complete word, rather than as part of another word - if possible

 

[BKF Admin]

I will sort the mess out this evening..

 

[psafloyd]

The nutritional value of clover is one of the highest there is in the pollen stakes. So your bees should fare well.

If I remember rightly, Ted Hooper is of the opinion that white and preferably wild clover is preferable to red which he says is just sweet.

That said, I'd love to be surrounded by clover, as I love it. Will be using it as a weed suppressant around my hive(s) and if it gives a little bit of nectar on their doorstep, then all the better.

 

[Black Comb]

I think white clover is preferred as the bees can access the nectar more easily.
Red - the bees proboscis is not quite long enough.

 

[rae]

Red - the bees proboscis is not quite long enough.

Yes - bumble bees have a longer one, and love red clover. It is ignored by our honey bees. The bees love the white clover, and we've dumped loads of it on the field along with the sainfoin. Red clover added because it looks nice and we like the bumbles as well.

 

[Mike a]

Yes - bumble bees have a longer one, and love red clover. It is ignored by our honey bees. The bees love the white clover, and we've dumped loads of it on the field along with the sainfoin. Red clover added because it looks nice and we like the bumbles as well.

I believe some Carni's may be able to reach deep enough to gather some of the nectar but I heard some bees (not sure which though) have learnt to adapt and chew a tiny hole in the red clover flower to get to the nectar.

 

[Hombre]

I will sort the mess out this evening..

As the Vikings said, it will have to be pillage next year instead of the alternative. Back to boning up with the regular expressions (REGEX) book then Mark?

 

[taff..]

The nutritional value of clover is one of the highest there is in the pollen stakes. So your bees should fare well.

thanks for posting this


my bees did fantastically well on white clover this year, when the red came out a little while later there was absolutely no increase in stores

 

[lazybee]

Back to the name in question. Colza is a name used throughout Europe (apart from the UK?) it has been called Colza or Cole seed in the past in the UK. Why it has changed to the R-word I have no idea. I personally will stick to Colza and not some north American derivative. Here's an example of the name being used in the past: http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/WindmillsD/st-benets-abbey-drainage.html

 

[oliver90owner]

Colza is a name used throughout Europe

But not for OSR. Close but not the same, according to Wiki.

Regards, RAB

 

[lazybee]

Colza is a name used throughout Europe

But not for OSR. Close but not the same, according to Wiki.

Regards, RAB

Colza IS the generic name used in the rest of Europe. In French: Huile de colza in UK rapeseed oil.

 

[BKF Admin]

I have noticed an increase in the number of growers this year in the uk who are setting up/investing in their own procesing plants for oil extraction for food/biofuel.

Does anyone know what the normal crop rotation is for osr,is it one year in two or one in four ?

 

[keithgrimes]

I have noticed an increase in the number of growers this year in the uk who are setting up/investing in their own procesing plants for oil extraction for food/biofuel.

Does anyone know what the normal crop rotation is for osr,is it one year in two or one in four ?

Its very rare that it is sown more frequently than one year in three. Its useful as a 'break crop' as it adds nourishment to the soil. Our local farmer sows rape, field beans, barley in that order.

 

[lazybee]

Its very rare that it is sown more frequently than one year in three. Its useful as a 'break crop' as it adds nourishment to the soil. Our local farmer sows rape, field beans, barley in that order.

My neighbour does wheat, Colza, Sunflower.

 

[Rosti]

I have noticed an increase in the number of growers this year in the uk who are setting up/investing in their own procesing plants for oil extraction for food/biofuel.

Does anyone know what the normal crop rotation is for osr,is it one year in two or one in four ?

As with Keiths comments, where my girls are is one in 3. OSR, Field beans and a mixed third crop. the beauty of this combo has been that:

• there is always some OSR around for early build-up
• no June Gap, the OSR and field beans over-lap by a couple of weeks
• field beans started mid-may and went over early july
• I did have a gap early August but i think that was as much weather related as a forage gap.

 

[crazy_bull]

Its very rare that it is sown more frequently than one year in three. Its useful as a 'break crop' as it adds nourishment to the soil. Our local farmer sows rape, field beans, barley in that order.

OSR does not add any nourishment to the soil, you have confused OSR with Beans, however you are right in saying it is a usful break crop as it allows for a different range of chemical control of some very tricky grass weeds that are getting increasingly hard to control in wheat (Black grass is the main one) it is easier to control a grass in a broad leaf crop than in another 'grass' crop. It also acts as a disease break for the soil from specific fungal and viral diseases. Some growers follow a 50:50 wheat, osr rotation however the more common is one in 3 or even one in 4 however with the strong osr seed value i guess we may see some closer rotations, which will result in higher disease pressures on the osr, and therefore more chemical applications both on seed and growng crop to keep on top of the fungal problems.

C B

 

[Poly Hive]

FWIW "my" farmer does OSR, field beans, wheat, maize. Not sure why he has maize as he has no cattle.

PH

 

[keithgrimes]

FWIW "my" farmer does OSR, field beans, wheat, maize. Not sure why he has maize as he has no cattle.

PH

according to Wiki (and to my amazement) more maize, by weight, is grown worldwide than any other grain - including rice!!

 

[crazy_bull]

Interesting figures (if you're sad like me anyway!)

Total World course Grain production 2010/11 inc Rice; 2,038 Million Tonnes

of which:

641 Million is wheat

820 Million is Corn (Maize)

125 Million is Barley

452 Million is Rice


Oilseed production of which:

255 Million is Soya

57 Million is OSR

31 Million is Sunflower

 

[Hombre]

Is maize for bio fuel/mass or as a cover crop for game birds?