soybean honey

[jmgi]

I am placing a bee yard in the middle of hundreds of acres of soybeans, what is the color of the honey and what kind of honey would you compare the taste to? John

[jim lyon]

My understanding from those who have raised it is that it is quite light and mild. I have had bees around soybeans for years and my experience is that it is odorless, tasteless and virtually impossible to detect....if you know what I mean. I hope you raise some but I wouldn't get my hopes too high if I were you.

[jmgi]

jim, are you saying that soybeans don't produce much honey? Maybe I don't know what you mean.

[hpm08161947]

He is saying you are not likely to get much honey off of soy beans. Same experience here..... not saying it can't happen, but at least around here it does not seem to happen very often.

[lupester]

I think it has to do with how much water the beans have to produce nectar. I put hives on "bottom beans" in MS. The farmers just flood the fields if they don't get rain. They rotate between rice and soybeans. Our bees build up and put on the honey like crazy. Its by far the sweetest honey I get. Some people ask only for our MS honey.

[mrqb]

sweet very sweet,very light color a totally different kinda floral taste,but actually i have no way of knowing what else is going in hive at same time,there's usually sunflowers or something producing at same time as soybeans

[snl]

I've placed hives in soyfields (non-irrigated) for years...........and have yet to see a drop of honey from them....If they've gathered any they were rather stingy and kept it to themselves..........

[hpm08161947]

Just curious. In the areas that see a soy bean honey flow - what time of the year does the flow generally start?

[khaas15]

The November 2011 issue of Bee Culture had a very good article on soybean honey. I would suggest reading it. Basically, nectar flow from soybeans is not a given and depends a lot on temperature, type of soybean, ...

I would also be concerned with pesticides being applied to the fields where my bees are working. I put a hive on some farmland last year and by fall, lost the hive. Long story but some crop dusting was done in the area and I think it contributed to their downfall.

[summer1052]

I would not put beans there without some serious research. Any type of soybean hybrid created in the last 10 years is very likely to be self pollinating, and with low nectar yields.

The big deal now is Round Up Ready Soybeans -- soybeans that can tolerate having their field sprayed with Round Up, to kill other weeds. Round Up is not good for bees. If the field is sprayed with Round Up when bloom is on, the bees may collect nectar and or pollen that includes Round Up.

It's a tricky thing these days to put a hive on crops that you are not doing yourself.

Good Luck!
Summer

[jmgi]

So it sounds to me like soybeans don't produce much for the bees, if they work them its probably because nothing else is blooming that they like better. Actually I'm not putting them in the beans specifically for its honey, there is alot of other bee forage in the area that interests me more than the beans, it just so happens that there's alot beans grown too. John

[lupester]

Last year on soy which runs from about June 15 - July 15. The farmer calls and says they other people in the area are going to start spraying pesticides. We harvested 41 gallons of honey from 9 hives on the soy. Unfortunately the hives were not built up from our spring since we had a drought. We are getting rain and I plan to kill the soy this year.

The farmers I deal with spray Roundup on the beans when the plants are small to kill the competition...then they don't need any more roundup because the beans choke the weeds out.

[DRUR]

So it sounds to me like soybeans don't produce much for the bees, if they work them its probably because nothing else is blooming that they like better.

Well, yes and no! Let's make some since out of these posts

The November 2011 issue of Bee Culture had a very good article on soybean honey. I would suggest reading it. Basically, nectar flow from soybeans is not a given and depends a lot on temperature, type of soybean, ...

Seems like the research suggests there are different factors such as the type. And also from the posts maybe how much water they get.

I think it has to do with how much water the beans have to produce nectar. I put hives on "bottom beans" in MS. The farmers just flood the fields if they don't get rain. They rotate between rice and soybeans. Our bees build up and put on the honey like crazy. Its by far the sweetest honey I get. Some people ask only for our MS honey.

So lupester, what color were your beans?

sweet very sweet,very light color a totally different kinda floral taste,but actually i have no way of knowing what else is going in hive at same time,there's usually sunflowers or something producing at same time as soybeans

So mrqb, what color were your beans?

I've placed hives in soyfields (non-irrigated) for years...........and have yet to see a drop of honey from them....If they've gathered any they were rather stingy and kept it to themselves..........

So snl, what color were your beans? Seems to me that some have produced honey and it is some of the sweetest best tasting stuff on the face of the earth

I sure wish someone would invite me to put my bees on some of that soybeans in Ms. Hint, hint,

Kindest Regards
Danny Unger

[lupester]

The ones I was on were purple. DRUR...you know we pass through Tyler if you want to put some bees on. I am hoping to get 30 hives there this year.

[lupester]

This was my status from the 1st year I went....its on a post from 2010. Indeterminate beans grow, bloom, grow bloom, where Determinate I think only grow and bloom for a shorter period.

Just an update to what I found out this year in the Delta country. I had good honey gathering on the following Indeterminate Beans:
Group 4 Asgrove 94B73
Group 5 Hornbeck 5525
Group (unknown) Pioneer 95

[Skinner Apiaries]

We made maybe a third on beans this year. But we place small yards on very large acreages.

[jmgi]

We made maybe a third on beans this year. But we place small yards on very large acreages.

Can you give an example of the ratio of hives to acres that you use? Thanks, John

[Skinner Apiaries]

Not really sure, we've been in a 300 acre field with as few as 24 hives, and with several hundred more connecting acres of other beans on nearby farms. We can make a super, not sure about the variables, seems its debatable that certain strains produce honey and other's do not. I believe it has alot to do with soil moisture, but that's a guess. The thing I did not make honey on, was cotton.

[StevenG]

I put 20 hives of varying degrees of strength on a soybean field the past two years. Within a mile, probably 600 acres of beans, all flood irrigated. I try to put them there when the first bloom appears. Flow lasts about 2 weeks, then it stops. I've averaged 50 pounds per strong hive from the beans.
Regards,
Steven

[lupester]

Steve,
I think they call those Determinate beans. From what I heard they grow and bloom once like you state. They have a shorter growing period than the InDeterminate beans. Do they have a crop from the winter they are harvesting before they plant the beans? If they did that would give them less time for the beans to grow, therefore they use the InDeterminate.
I dont understand exactly but I am learning.