The Future is Abundant
A Guide to Sustainable Agriculture

Back to the Table of Contents

Bees

Michael Pilarski

Beekeeping fits well into a diversified agroecosystem. Insects, primarily bees, are the only means of pollination for many crops. Colonies of bees nearby will increase yields where such crops are grown. Along with their important role in pollination, bees provide honey, pollen, royal jelly, beeswax, and a valuable substance called propolis, which is used in producing an antibiotic.

Beekeeping is already an important industry in the Northwest, with over 300,000 hives in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and British Columbia. Although the bloom in some areas is fairly well utilized, there is still room for expansion. Landowners can consciously increase the amount of bee forage on their properties by "beescaping" or planting a carefully selected combination of flowering plants.

The best beescapes are composed of a mixture of farmland, meadows and open woodland which contain an abundance of legumes, herbs, wildflowers, fruits and berries. People who have studied the economics of beescaping say that it is not economically sound to plant farmland to plants whose sole purpose is bee forage. Many of thte best bee plants, however, also have value for other purposes. For example, fruit and berry producing plants are excellent sources of nectar and pollen. Black locust trees are heavy nectar producers and are potentially valuable sources of hardwood. Many culinary and medicinal herbs, such as anise hyssop, borage, thyme, lavender, rosemary, sage (Salvia spp.), lemon balm, catnip, and several other mints are also favored by bees. Many of these herbs have blue flowers, the most effective color for attracting bees.

Bees will range for a two mile radius from the hive. However, since they prefer shorter hauls, production can be much higher if sufficient forage is closer, particularly when the weather is unsettled.

Beescaping requires plant diversity, since bees need to have a succession of bloom throughout the season. Bees begin working early in the spring and continue until the last of the hardy flowers have withered in early winter. Pollen is important throughout the year because it is the food used for rearing brood. Nectar is the source of honey. Some bee plants produce pollen only, while others produce both pollen and nectar.

There are three main periods of bloom to consider in designing beescapes:

Early Spring Bloom. Availability of early spring bloom can affect honey yields for the whole year. The hive is weak after the winter and needs to build up strength. The success of early spring brood rearing also determines how well the hive will be able to utilize nectar during the main honey flow. Trees, especially willows and maples, are often the principal source of spring food. In some areas bees rely heavily on the sweet exudations of cottonwood buds.
Summer Bloom. The main nectar flow occurs in the long, hot days of late spring and summer when hives are strong. Given fine weather and a plentiful supply of nectar plants, a hive of bees can produce up to 40 pounds of honey per week. Since one hive will produce 70 to 120 pounds of honey in one year, the bulk of the year's crop can be made in just 2 or 3 weeks of ideal conditions. Some of the best summer-blooming honey plants are black locust, sagebrush, buckwheat, anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum), white clover, alfalfa, sweet clover and many other legumes and mints. Anise hyssop is a special favorite of bees and has one of the longest bloom periods in the mint family.
Autumn Bloom. Sufficient autumn bloom is necessary for the bees to go into the winter in strong condition, reducing the chance of winter kill. Some late-blooming bee plants include the asters, garden hyssop (Hyssop officianalis), heartsease, borage, buckwheat, goldenrod, and wild sunflower.

Beekeeping can be practiced almost everywhere in the Northwest, but the Interior region is generally more favorable than the Maritime because there are fewer rainy days and because the hotter temperatures induce higher nectar production. There is often a shortage of bloom in the Maritime lowlands during the main nectar production time, so some beekeepers move their bees to the Interior or to the mountains in summer to take advantage of the fireweed, huckleberry, heather and other plants prevalent in clearcut, burnt over and alpine areas.

The Future is Abundant A Guide to Sustainable Agriculture

Bees

Michael Pilarski

The Future is Abundant
A Guide to Sustainable Agriculture