Getting rid of Japanese Knotweed

[Sr. Tanya]

When I read one of the answers to MrGreenThumbs query about Japanese Knotweed and how it makes the honey smell and taste bad, I had to ask...

Part of our property has a flood area along the stream that has now developed a large area of Japanese Knotweed. This has come down from someone upstream but I would like to know how to get rid of it.

Also, if there is lots of goldenrod and aster around do the bees still bring in the necter from the Japanese Knotweed?? How attractive is it to bees?

Thanks!
Tanya

[purvisgs]

round here (PNW) it is great winter honey for the bees.

just keep cutting it back year after year and it keeps coming back

we "sheet mulched" ours - cardboard and then a heavy layer of wood chips and this drastically reduced the size of the patch

I think the honey actually isn't bad myself and like a location with the stuff nearby if I will be keeping bees there in the fall. would have kept the stuff growing on the land if we could keep it contained but wanted to fight it back for garden space...

it is one of the few decent fall flows that we have round here

[Sr. Tanya]

What does it taste like? Is it as strong as goldenrod?

Tanya

[tlozo]

Japanese Knotweed?? How attractive is it to bees?

They love it and its a good fall crop! I think its a little like buckwheat honey and is good. If you don't like it you can always extract honey from the hives before the Knotweed blooms.

[Sr. Tanya]

It is a late bloomer so I guess it is a good time for nectar to be available. I think our Japanese Knotweed is here to stay anyway. It was just if it messed up the taste of the honey then I'd try to do something about it.

It is a very invasive plant.

Thanks!
Tanya

[Jim Stevens]

Japanese Knotweed honey tastes bad.....KNOT!....I must say it's so smooth with a very light odor and tastes GREAT,no bad lingering aftertaste here,it is somewhat viscous and dark in color. The guys I work with add a couple of spoons of KWH to a cup of hot water and enjoy this drink after lunch.
The reason it would remind one of Buckwheat is because it is a member of the Buckwheat family.
Yes, it makes great fall/winter feed for the Bees.
Like I said, it's VERY Dark so extract it by itself, then clean your Extractor before moving on
to lighter Honeys.
I have a limited access to KW so you can ship me about 6 to 10 acres. : )
Once your customers develop a taste for it, your Bees won't be able to supply enouph.
Oh...did I mention I sell it for $5.00 pr 8oz. and I have a frend in Snohomish Co. who sells it for $8.00 pr 8oz.

[Romahawk]

I wonder if color and flavor are affected by the area where the Knotweed is growing? I know a local bee keeper who has let his farm become over run with the stuff just to get the honey. He says it is a dark amber color and it has a nutty taste like walnuts. He has a large group of Vietnamese that buy all he can harvest. He spent a lot of time this summer scouting out new patches of the stuff, says he can't keep up with the demand.

[BjornBee]

Nothing wrong with a good fall flow to help the bees, or to have a variety of honey.

[Bizzybee]

Powernapper sent me a little of it down from PA about a year ago I believe. What he sent to me tasted like lite molasses kinda, I thought. Black as the ace of spades it was. He said later that what he pulled since then had a lower moister content and completely different flavor (better! you know how beeks are! ) than the original. Maybe the first pull he did was mixed with something else? Still, it was good honey.

Never seen any of it around here, although the range covers the area. Could be that I just haven't looked for it.

Agree with Bjorn, good fall flow can't be beat no matter where it comes from. Better than feeding any day!

[danno1800]

I have customers who wait to get it every year. I can't imagine anyone thinking this honey has a bad taste. I have a yard right in the middle of 4 miles of knotweed along a creek bank. It is blooming in July and August when almost nothing else is around here. The bees work it like crazy. Perhaps the beekeeper who thought it tasted bad had some other nectar source mixed in with it. -Danno

[Sr. Tanya]

Well, all your responses are very encouraging!!

Jim Stevens- Don't have quite that much acreage in JK but am glad to hear how much you like it. Probable about 3-4 acres. And then there is some growing nearby- washed downstream from the same flood probably.

Thanks everyone!
Tanya