Crop Types?

[Pete]

I have looked but cannot find a list of crop types that bees will produce good honey from?

I was wondering if some of the newer (for this area) crops like grapes and olives would be any good? I was think they all fruit so must flower and if they flower, must be good for bees and bees good for them?

I am only very new to beekeeping, but i am really interested and would love to find a way to have more hives.

[bigbearomaha]

I am starting to compile information specifically about crop types best for working bees on. maybe it can be of use to you, though I've only recently begun it.

BBE-Tech-BeeWiki-Working Crops

Big Bear

[Lone]

Hello Pete,

The orchardist next door says bees don't really go for the grapes.  They have mangoes as well, which are mainly pollinated by blowflies.   They hang carcasses around to breed the flies.  Anyway, take care unless you have an agreement with the farm, in case they spray certain chemicals.  A beek here lost hives when a neighbour sprayed the passionfruit.

Lone

[JWPick]

You can check this site out:

http://www.themelissagarden.com/plants.html

You'll need to click on "Click here for Dr. Stashenko's list of honeybee plants." to get the full list. It also shows possible nectar and honey production.

You can also check out the internet for things like "Plants for honey bees" or such. A lot of the sites give flowers and also vegetables.

Hope this helps

[deejaycee]

I was wondering if some of the newer (for this area) crops like grapes and olives would be any good? 

Best of my knowledge olives are wind pollinated and have no requirement for bees - certainly there's no market for bee pollination here for olives.  I doubt it produces any nectar to speak of, and the pollen doesn't seem particularly attractive.  Our main yard borders on a large olive block on one side and the girls just aren't interested in the flower at all, though they do head into the block as it tends to be unmown and have good clover/catsear cover.

Grapes, likewise, are definitely not reliant on bees for pollination and in fact grape growers are a serious cause of bee mortality around here as they don't give a darn what they spray or when, since the bees are pointless to them.  Unfortunately there is often good clover cover in the vineyards, so the girls head in for that and get toasted with spray.

On the other hand, in autumn when the grapes are machine harvested the girls will bring in copious amounts of the grape juice left attached to the stem where the grape has been ripped off and produce an absolutely gorgeous dark raisin flavoured honey.  So rich you'd swear it had actual raisins added to it.  Only happens with machine harvested vines though, as they pluck the individual grapes off, whereas hand harvesting cuts the whole bunch off.

[RayMarler]

Buckwheat
Alfalfa, if they let it bloom before they cut it
alfalfa or clover seed crops, or pastures
Sunflower
Corn pollen, and the excretions of the stalk and leaves... whoops, this is not for honey crop
I'm sure there are many other row crops that bees will do and are leased for, is this what you were looking for?