black oil sunflower

[learning]

I am still trying to figure out what to plant on my 8 acres for the bees. I am thinking of BOS because it would be good for the horse also. Is this sunflower good for the bees?

[ChickenChaser]

http://www.beeculture.com/content/pollination_handbook/sun.html


"Both the pollen and the nectar of sunflower are quite attractive to bees throughout the day (Bitkolov 1961, Free 1964). Nectar is secreted at the base of the floret, primarily during the pollen-producing stage of flowering but to some degree while the stigmas are receptive. Extrafloral nectaries in the bracts and on the upper leaves of the plant are sometimes visited by honey bees, particularly in the afternoon (Free 1964).

Sunflowers are considered by beekeepers to be a fair source of pleasant-flavored, yellow-colored honey (Anonymous 1969, Burmistrov 1965). Furgala (1954a) reported that a colony on scales gained 104 pounds in 15 days while on sunflowers, which he considered an indication that the area was underpopulated for adequate sunflower pollination. Baculinschi (1957) calculated the nectar crop at about 20 lb/acre for the entire flowering period. This is roughly equal to nectar production of cantaloupe, as calculated by McGregor and Todd (1952*). Guynn and Jaycox (1973) reported a yield of 80 pounds of honey per colony when 15 colonies were placed at the center of a 45-acre field of sunflowers. "

Hope this helps!

C.C.

[alexx_v]

Sunflower is pretty good choice. Here we have honey from sunflower. The flow usually is very strong, but that depends on the climate. If you intend to plant with sunflower, please don't use hybrid one, because it make no nectar or pollen. Good luck :)