Can bees make honey from soybeans?

[ram]

I am a new beekeeper and my hives were unable to make any honey this year. I am now having to feed them and I am concerned about them being able to survive the winter. A local farmer has a couple of large fields of soybean planted a few miles down the road. I was wondering if it would be worth it to move my hives over there when they start blooming?

[hpm08161947]

Yea - I have been wondering the same thing. I am surrounded by soy beans. I have been told 'Maybe" - depends on the variety of soybean as well as the weather when they are in flower - so guess I really do not know, but from the looks of the soybeans I should know in a coupla weeks.

[ram]

Yeah, I have heard conflicting stories too, asked the farmer what type of soybean he planted and he laughed and said they are plain old soybeans!

[beeman]

We make soybean honey from time to time. It requires high heat and humidity to produce. It should have a light green tint. It is never a significant source of honey but it may keep your hives going.

[hpm08161947]

Well - we certainly have the high heat and humidity - not too sure about the light green color though..... looks like a fine stand of beans and probably gonna start to flower soon..

[ChickenChaser]

You might have seen this:

http://www.beesource.com/forums/show...light=soybeans

The speaker at our bee meeting - when he referred to long season beans - said if the plants were already growing good...knee high or so (mid-June in Alabama)...they were likely long season type. Short season type just planting or will be soon. Might ask the farmer where he bought the seed...check with supplier on type. Could save you a useless move.

Ram - do you have the ability to plant even a small area of buckwheat? Garden spot? 1/2 acre weed patch or so? Maybe that farmer happens to have a "corner" or fallow area that he would plant for you if you provide the seed and a little fuel money. If he likes honey - you might even strike a future deal there.

The stuff will emerge in 4-5 days and be in full bloom in about that many weeks...with ample moisture, of course. The bees love it! (I just sowed my third patch for the year)

BTW-how many hives are you trying to feed?

Tony

[gmcharlie]

chicken Chaser is correct it depends on the Beans..... Our honey flow is so bad here I staggerd teh been seeding to give longer flower open time... ( I have beens on 3 sides of me)

[ram]

I have 2 hives and my Father has 2 more but his were well established and were able to collect more Poplar honey than mine. Here in central NC, that seems to be the only bloom that has produced so far this year.

I had heard that buckwheat made a good dark honey but will have to search for a field to plant it in.

[beeman]

Well - we certainly have the high heat and humidity - not too sure about the light green color though..... looks like a fine stand of beans and probably gonna start to flower soon..

I should have been more clear, the honey will have a light green tint to it. Sorry.

[hpm08161947]

Here in SE NC I have 3 hives and 1 nuc, with 20 acres of beautiful Soybeans in the backyard - Pretty sure they are the long season variety with harvest most likely in early Nov. So from what I read here it sounds like there is hope.

[ChickenChaser]

HPM - let us know how it turns out for you. Hard to beat first hand experience!

[Ross]

I pulled soybean honey yesterday and the girls are still on the flow.

[Ted n Ms]

I have bees about 1/2 mile from soybeans. The beans have a purple bloom and bees are on them. Seems to be a good honey flow.
.

[KDM]

I use to get 2 or 3 supers of soy bean honey in south east Mo.a season. The indeterminant beans are better than the determant beans they keep on blooming and the determant ones only bloom a short while. The honey was very light & good quality. However in southern illinois i have yet to get any.

[ram]

Thanks for all the info, will move them when they start blooming.

[suttonbeeman]

I believe it also depends on soil type. In most years bees make soybean honey in western ky and Missouri. However in areas east of I 65 soybeans typically dont yield nectar....in my area never made a crop. BEWARE SOYBEAN SEED ARE INCAPULATED WITH INSECTICIDE YES THE SYSREMIC INSECTICIDE NEONICTINOIDS! Just a note for possiable problems!

[D Coates]

I'm right next to a 100+ acre field of soybeans. My first year of harvesting honey ('07) they produced a crop for me that was equal to my clover harvest! The soybeans were planted in early May after harvesting winter wheat. The next year I expected more of the same but rain kept the farmer out of the fields until the beginning of July when he planted soybeans ('08). The flowers were the same color (purple) but the bees sat on their respective porches from late July on and completely ignored the late planted soybeans that appeared (to me) to be the same as the '07 beans.

The farmer this year was able to the beans in early this year. They look good so far but haven't started blooming yet. I'm harvesting this weekend as my supers are full from vetch and clover that's now coming to an end. The empty supers will tell the story if the long season beans produce honey or not. We just got a little rain this morning (.50) so they should start blooming shortly. Fingers crossed.