canada thistle

randydrivesabus · August 20, 2007, 11:15:03 AM

theres quite bit of this stuff growing in an area about 50'x50'. it has purple blooms that the bees are working quite vigorously. i read that it produces honey that is light in color and similar to basswood honey. anyone else have this growing nearby?
its been very dry here but my bees have been extremely active foragers. we also have a lot of blooming kudzu. i need to check my supers and see what they've been storing.

BlueEggFarmer · August 20, 2007, 11:32:51 AM

We had a good 10 acres worth across the street from us. We got a light yellow color honey that is very mild and pleasant.

Zoot · August 20, 2007, 01:44:37 PM

It's a relative newcomer to MD and everyone's bees seem to love it. Unfortunately it is one of the most vigorous invasive species ever to plague our region. It's a major proplem with livestock among other things; if you don't keep it down or eradicate it completely the burrs can accumulate on horses, goats, sheep, pets, etc and become a time consuming pain for all.

randydrivesabus · August 20, 2007, 02:29:17 PM

unfortunately its in my strawberry patch....the half that i plan to plant next spring. i already eradicated it in the half i planted this past spring by hoeing and pulling. but i'll let the bees enjoy it for now....and maybe i will too.

Zoot · August 20, 2007, 08:33:59 PM

You must have gotten them while they were young. A fairly mature canadian thistle can have ryzhomes out 20 ft or more - then you either need heavy tilling equipment or repeated doses of herbicide in both spring and late summer. It's the only weed I've ever used chemicals on.

Cindi · August 21, 2007, 12:32:01 PM

I have a thistle family that I have cultivated, it sounds like it could be as invasive as the Canada Thistle. This one is called Sea Holly, (Eryngium). I tried to transplant yesterday some of its seedlings that have germinated nearby the mother plants. I cannot believe the deep root on them, couldn't get to the bottom. Transplanted anyways, we'll see if they take off.

I don't dare to let this thistle to self-seed, there are literally thousands upon thousands of tiny steel blue, round thistle heads and I could see my entire property invaded, such as this Canada Thistle that has obvioulsy almost become a "noxious weed", so they call things of this nature. Oh brother, have a wonderful day, beautiful life. Cindi

Zoot · August 21, 2007, 02:19:43 PM

Most plants in the "thistle" family self seed vigorously, the canadian thistle being one of the worst. If you let them go for even one summer you basically need a backhoe to dig them up. The exchange for the occasional interest that my bees have for this plant are far outweighed by it's nuisance factor. WHile I think that the term "noxious" is used far too liberally at times, in this case it's well earned. We suffer from it here due to our habit of having imported hay from out west in years past during our droughts where no hay can be cut here.

ooptec · August 21, 2007, 03:59:53 PM

Spray for it when the flower buds start to form. Earlier application have little or no effect. Round-up is good for it.

cheers

peter

FordGuy · August 22, 2007, 11:44:55 PM

dear God, kill it with FIRE!

ooptec · August 23, 2007, 10:06:54 AM

Kill it with fire? What the heck are you talking about?

cheers

peter

Cindi · August 23, 2007, 01:28:39 PM

Peter, I think he means that his weed should burn in hell. Have a wonderful day, Cindi

Bennettoid · August 23, 2007, 04:45:48 PM

Maybe he's smoking it.

Kathyp · August 23, 2007, 05:08:51 PM

i have the small canadian stuff, but i also have giant thistles. no idea what it is, but the plants can get 5 feet tall and that much around if left unkilled. the horses and deer like eating the buds. the bumble bees love both. my bees don't seem to impressed.

Michael Bush · August 23, 2007, 09:16:16 PM

I love to watch the horses eat the buds. They gently feel around the but with their lips and carefully nip it off with they teeth while they keep their lips back out of the way. Very interesting to see them do it so carefully.

FordGuy · August 24, 2007, 12:20:01 AM

I let one of those things go sometime back, now I' m over run with them!!! and they hurt too. What little nectar comes of them is not worth their cost in man hours. I go and hack each one with a hoe before they can turn to seed. those thistle tops will throw a billion seeds, each one capable of producing it's own new thistle plant. So let me rephrase - kill them with extreme prejudice, and if the seed heads have gone to seed then burn them.