What to plant??

[Rob]

I am looking for ideas as to what I should be planting in the area that my hives will sit. This past summer we did alot of tree removal to reclaim some land for more hay fields. I sectioned off an area of about two acres in this area where there are treelines to the west and north for shelter. Since I had rather large equipment in there chipping the trees, the land is fairly uneven and rough so I will run the disc and harrow it smooth this coming summer. I'm looking for ideas as to what I should be planting that would benefit the bees. Hopefully northern beeks might be able to steer me in the right direction. So, if you had a choice and could plant, what would it be..... 

[LazyBkpr]

If I intended to keep it mowed, i would plant dutch clover and dandelions.. Seriously!  if its not going to be mowed...   Birdsfoot Trefoil, Sainfoin, a smattering of buckwheet, and a choice of other sweet clovers (white or yellow) or crimson clover..   Mow/bail this at the end of the year and feed it to the critters.

[Ray4852]

dutch clover

[Rob]

Interesting Scott, I had not given any though to wether I would be mowing or not. There is also an abundance of goldenrod that I keep bush hogging every summer but I am slowly turning most of those fields into more hay. I am mostly surrounded by corn and beans so not much for the taking in there. Lot's of good ideas. Keep em coming..

[LazyBkpr]

I have neighbors that spray their lawns for dandelions.. or, i should say USED to spray...   Strange that the number of dandelions jumped by an order of magnitude after the spraying??
   Funny thing, that when the spraying stops the number of Dandelions in their yards diminishes...




   you can BUY packs of ten thousand dandelion seeds CHEAP   

[Rob]

...... I can see a small ocean of yellow in my future mixed with some white clover.

[riverbee]

rob,
just throwing out some ideas for you. we have 80 acres in a river valley, farm land, corn and soybeans. in the past 5 or 6 yrs, because of droughts and floods, our wildflowers, native plants and non native plants have been wiped out or are not the typical expected blooms.

we asked one of our lease farmers to plant soybeans only.  we took back one half acre field from a lease farmer and planted native pollinator species, ie, something blooming all season long. did the same with the other lease farmer, but a buffer of a about a half acre of what he now plants (soybeans). we cleared out the overgrown tree line on that section. in the tree line were/are berry bearing bushes that have come back. we also plant a small amount of buckwheat, and a small amount of clover in different areas.

i guess what i am saying is, if you can, try to plant, if you can,  something the bees can benefit from all season long or a variety of, not a one time shot..... not just clover, not just buckwheat, not just dandelions. plant a variety if you can of plants that bloom season long.

we also applied for and received a grant from the usda to restore parts of our land or plant for pollinators. these plants bloom all season long, long road ahead of us on this, it is still in the works.

[pistolpete]

Dandelions are imortant for getting the bees going in the spring, but I don't much care for the honey from them, it's somewhat sharp.

White sweet clover is a great honey producer.  It grows in the empty commercial lots around town and my bees collect a good crop from it.  It is, however, a fairly invasive introduced species. 
 
Alfalfa is where I get most of my honey from, and the honey is light and does not crystallise for quite a while.  The bonus is that it flowers for several months and you can mow it for hay at the end of August.   

 Bees also collect a great deal of their honey and pollen from trees (often preferring trees to flowers), so with a mixed woodland scenario you should do well.

[pistolpete]

One other thing that you may not realise: bees pretty much ignore the first 50 yards around their hives.  I guess they like to stretch their wings before getting down to business.  So you don't really have to devote time to the bee yard itself.

[Jen]

Hi Rob, all of the above and throw in some Lavendar, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme 

[Rob]

rob,
just throwing out some ideas for you. we have 80 acres in a river valley, farm land, corn and soybeans. in the past 5 or 6 yrs, because of droughts and floods, our wildflowers, native plants and non native plants have been wiped out or are not the typical expected blooms.

we asked one of our lease farmers to plant soybeans only.  we took back one half acre field from a lease farmer and planted native pollinator species, ie, something blooming all season long. did the same with the other lease farmer, but a buffer of a about a half acre of what he now plants (soybeans). we cleared out the overgrown tree line on that section. in the tree line were/are berry bearing bushes that have come back. we also plant a small amount of buckwheat, and a small amount of clover in different areas.

i guess what i am saying is, if you can, try to plant, if you can,  something the bees can benefit from all season long or a variety of, not a one time shot..... not just clover, not just buckwheat, not just dandelions. plant a variety if you can of plants that bloom season long.

we also applied for and received a grant from the usda to restore parts of our land or plant for pollinators. these plants bloom all season long, long road ahead of us on this, it is still in the works.

I agree Riverbee, I'm doing my homework on this right now. I would like to plant some berry bearing bushes along the treelines. Just researching what I should be going for and I agree that different flowering times would be beneficial. Thanks for the great ideas, cheers.

Dandelions are imortant for getting the bees going in the spring, but I don't much care for the honey from them, it's somewhat sharp.

White sweet clover is a great honey producer.  It grows in the empty commercial lots around town and my bees collect a good crop from it.  It is, however, a fairly invasive introduced species. 
 
Alfalfa is where I get most of my honey from, and the honey is light and does not crystallise for quite a while.  The bonus is that it flowers for several months and you can mow it for hay at the end of August.   

 Bees also collect a great deal of their honey and pollen from trees (often preferring trees to flowers), so with a mixed woodland scenario you should do well.

Thanks Pistol Pete, I will try to aim for a mixture of plantings. Luckily I have several fields of alfalfa fairly close by. I tend to not plant it as it is a little too hot for my horses. I also have a good selection of woodland in the surrounding area so hopefully I should be good. Thanks.

[Rob]

Hi Rob, all of the above and throw in some Lavendar, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme 

Simon and Garfunkel....that brings back alot of memories 

What the heck, we'll throw all that in their too.....Holy guacamole Jen, it's going to be a bigggg garden. 

[riverbee]

cheers back rob,
this planting stuff can get overwhelming, so maybe start out with what you can, and go from there and plan for the future a little at a time. this isn't always easy, soil content, sun exposure, etc....except for those plants that grow anywhere, anytime, under any condition...........

[Jen]

Hey Rob, first off I don't have acreage like you do. But I do have a pretty good size yard. Where ever I travel or walk, if I see lavendar or Rosemary or Thyme, the bees are All over it! Not only that but these savory herbs are like medicine to the bees, help them have a good immune system. And there is my two cents   

[Rob]

cheers back rob,
this planting stuff can get overwhelming, so maybe start out with what you can, and go from there and plan for the future a little at a time. this isn't always easy, soil content, sun exposure, etc....except for those plants that grow anywhere, anytime, under any condition...........

Thanks riverbee, it is overwhelming. I will start small and try to plan it carefully. Those plants that grow anywhere that you are referring to in my area are milkweed and goldenrod. Feels like I spend most of my summers beating them down..    Take care.

[riverbee]

we do get a phenomenal amount of milkweed and goldenrod rob. to be honest, the goldenrod gets my bees through winter months and then some, so try not to beat that stuff down too much.........
if you cussed it before, you won't cuss it so much with keeping bees.....

[Rob]

Hey Rob, first off I don't have acreage like you do. But I do have a pretty good size yard. Where ever I travel or walk, if I see lavendar or Rosemary or Thyme, the bees are All over it! Not only that but these savory herbs are like medicine to the bees, help them have a good immune system. And there is my two cents   

Interesting......what I may do is build a raised bed very close to the hives and plant exactly that. Natural medicine for the bees, can't go wrong with that. 

we do get a phenomenal amount of milkweed and goldenrod rob. to be honest, the goldenrod gets my bees through winter months and then some, so try not to beat that stuff down too much.........
if you cussed it before, you won't cuss it so much with keeping bees.....

Your right riverbee, I may look at it a little differently from now on. That stuff grows and spreads like wildfire so i always try to stay on top of it but now I may not try so hard. 

[riverbee]

it does grow like wildfire rob.  difficult thing for us, we are in a forest management program, we are supposed to eradicate all the non-native species...........
some of the non native species growing is what my bees forage on and get them through summers and winters sometimes.

we have eradicated some, but do our best to 'control' some of the more invasive species to please the county.  japanese bamboo is an example.  shhh, the county thinks we got rid of it all.........

also, we have a pipeline going through the property, all sorts of clover, the goldenrod and many other asters and plants, just grows thick....... its good forage for the bees (and other wildlife/birds).  the pipeline comes through every few years to mow that down.....it just increases the growth and the bloom. if it weren't for this strip through the land, 50 yards from the center, not sure what my bees would survive on the last few years. 

[pistolpete]

What no one has mentioned yet: for two or three hives you really don't need to plant anything.  Sounds like you're not in an area prone to drought, or surrounded by monoculture.  Your bees will find plenty of forage within their 2 mile radius.   If you had 15 or 20 hives on your property, a few acres of good forage would make a big difference, but for now I'd urge you to spend your money and energy elsewhere.

[Bakersdozen]

...... I can see a small ocean of yellow in my future mixed with some white clover.

It was my understanding that dandelion wasn't that nutritious for honey bees.  Can't go wrong with white clover though.  Alfalfa is good as well.  How about sunflowers?   Is there an agricultural college near that you can ask this question?  Maybe papakeith has some ideas.