Mustard seed

[randydrivesabus]

I am looking for some bee friendly (nectar and pollen producing)annuals that I could broadcast seed into a field that has been plowed and disked. So I know I can use buckwheat as I've done so in the past. But what about mustard? It seems like it could be planted pretty early in spring. Is it good bee forage? Whats the difference between Brassica juncea and Sinapis alba? Is one better forage than the other? How does mustard compare to rapeseed for ease of growing and bee forage? I need it to be a plant it and forget it crop.

[brooksbeefarm]

If your goin to sow it and forget it I woud sow a mixture of dutch clover,catnip and sweet clover.The dutch ciover and catnip comes back every year the sweet clover is bi-annual,all three are excellent nectar sources.Good luck.Jack

[cow pollinater]

I think mustard requires consistant moisture to hold bloom for any length of time. For really easy care I'd put out some sunflower seed. It does well without care.

[RayMarler]

Yea, sow the mustard. It comes back every year and starts very early in the spring along with the earliest nut trees here. It will continue blooms until the ground dries out hard.

[dragonfly]

Yea, sow the mustard. It comes back every year and starts very early in the spring along with the earliest nut trees here. It will continue blooms until the ground dries out hard.

It comes back from seed, but not as a perennial.
Bees love mustard flowers, but I have tried planting it in my field, and it doesn't survive nearly as well as in the garden where I can tend it somewhat. The one problem I have with mustard is that the harlequin bugs love it, so I have to battle them during bloom time too.

[tecumseh]

just casually it seems like all the winter greens (mustard, turnups, brussel sprouts and such) when they bolt and bloom in the spring are worked pretty hard by the bees. mustards always had a reputation of being an excellent source of early season pollen. we have a wild version of mustard here that seem to do quite well especially on the lighter soils.

another crop (both domestic and wild) that the bees work quite vigorously is onion.

[karu]

another crop (both domestic and wild) that the bees work quite vigorously is onion.
I had 2 different kinds of chives blooming through spring/summer - the bees lovvvved it.

[Docking]

can you dead head mustard and get it to bloom more?
It would not be hard to mow it back when the blooms slow down.

[Docking]

I have a place where i'm placing my bees that I can plant mustard. Will and area of 25ft. X 100ft. make much difference to a starting up Nuc? I guess what I'm asking is would it be worth planting?