Honey Plants of the Forests, Meadows, and Shrub Thickets
Shrubs play a significant role, especially rose hips, caragana, meadowsweet, honeysuckle, barberry, sea buckthorn, and others, as well as tree species such as rowan, bird cherry, hawthorn, and birch.
Common Sage, from the Lamiaceae family. Commonly found in southern Kyrgyzstan, especially in the nut-fruit forest belt on meadow-steppe slopes. In some places, it forms dense thickets, making up more than 50% of the herbaceous layer.
A perennial plant with relatively large reddish-lilac flowers collected in whorls on the stems.
Blooms from July to September. Produces a lot of nectar and pollen. It is eagerly visited by bees. The flowers yield especially high nectar in hot or moderately humid summers. Nectar productivity ranges from 450 kg (in dry summers) to 900 kg (in rainy summers) per hectare.
The honey is golden and pleasant to taste. A valuable honey plant.
Dead Nettle or Turkestan Lamium, from the Lamiaceae family. Grows in gardens and along roads, near settlements, as well as in forest clearings, on forest edges, among shrubs.
This perennial plant has heart-shaped to ovate leaves, a stem up to 80 cm tall, with white flowers arranged in whorls.
Blooms from May to August. Produces a lot of nectar and pollen.
Geranium, from the Geraniaceae family. A perennial plant up to 60 cm tall with palmately divided fragrant leaves and large bluish-lilac flowers. Grows in meadows, forests, on forest edges, among shrubs. In some places, it forms geranium meadows, creating the main mass of the herbaceous layer.
Blooms from June to August. Produces a lot of nectar and pollen.
Twisted Flower, from the Boraginaceae family. Grows in meadows and meadow-steppes, in forests and shrubs almost throughout Kyrgyzstan in the lower and middle mountain belts.
This perennial plant has an upright hairy stem reaching 120 cm in height and alternate broadly ovate leaves. The flowers are greenish-white, turning blue by the end of flowering, collected in a spiral inflorescence.
Blooms in spring from late April to May and early June. Produces nectar at relatively low temperatures (+5—7°).
Nectar productivity is 75—103 kg per hectare. It is a good spring honey plant.
Hungarian Catmint, from the Lamiaceae family. Commonly found in tall grass meadows and meadow-steppes, in forest clearings and edges, as well as in forests and among shrubs almost everywhere, excluding high-altitude areas.
In some meadows and meadow-steppes, it grows so abundantly that it makes up 15—20% of the herbaceous layer.
The four-sided stem of catmint reaches 120 cm in height. The leaves are lanceolate and arranged oppositely.
The flowers are pale violet or bluish-pink. Blooms from June to the end of September. Nectar productivity varies depending on conditions from 100 to 170 kg per hectare.
M. M. Glukhov considers catmint a primary honey plant.
Thin-leaved Vicia, from the Fabaceae family. A perennial plant from 150 to 180 cm tall with pinnate compound leaves and blue-violet flower clusters.
Widely distributed in tall grass meadows, in forests, on forest clearings, along riverbanks among shrubs.
Blooms from late May to June — July. Produces a lot of nectar.
The honey is clear and pleasant to taste.
Coltsfoot, from the Asteraceae family. As soon as the snow melts, golden-yellow flower baskets appear on clay cliffs in the foothills, along riverbanks, by streams, and in ravines. This is coltsfoot. It blooms in April — May, before the leaves unfold. Produces a lot of nectar and pollen, sometimes only pollen.
Since coltsfoot blooms in spring, when there are not enough other honey plants, it becomes particularly important for beekeeping. M. M. Glukhov recommends its artificial cultivation.
Altai Buttercup, from the Ranunculaceae family. A perennial plant up to 60 cm tall with fiery yellow flowers. Blooms in May, June, and July. Produces a lot of nectar. Grows in subalpine and alpine meadows and in forests throughout all regions of Kyrgyzstan. Eagerly visited by bees.
Siberian Scabious, from the Asteraceae family. A perennial plant up to 95 cm tall with baskets of yellow flowers. Blooms in June and July. Produces nectar and pollen. Grows in meadows, in forests, among shrubs throughout Kyrgyzstan. Eagerly visited by bees.
Karelin's Aquilegia, from the Ranunculaceae family. A perennial plant up to 80 cm tall with large purple flowers. Blooms from May to September. Produces nectar and pollen. Grows on forest clearings and subalpine meadows throughout all regions of Kyrgyzstan.
Gray Mustard, from the Brassicaceae family. A grayish plant with white flowers.
Blooms from May to June. Grows in fields, along roads, in gardens, vegetable gardens, pastures, and in waste areas throughout all regions of Kyrgyzstan. A good honey plant.
Hollyhock, known in Kyrgyz as Gulkair, from the Malvaceae family. A perennial plant up to 2.5 m tall with large white flowers. Grows in steppes, on forest edges, among shrubs. Blooms from June to September.
Produces nectar and pollen. Eagerly visited by bees.
In the forest and meadow zone, there are many honey-bearing shrubs and trees. Among them, it is worth noting meadowsweet, caragana, sea buckthorn, honeysuckle, and others.
St. John's Wort-like Meadowsweet, from the Rosaceae family. A highly branched shrub up to 150 cm tall. The flowers are creamy-white. Blooms abundantly in May and June. Produces nectar and pollen. Grows on mountain slopes, among shrubs, in juniper forests, and sometimes in steppes in moist depressions.
Widespread throughout Kyrgyzstan. Eagerly visited by bees.
Caragana, from the Fabaceae family. These are thorny shrubs with pinnate compound leaves and yellow flowers.
They grow among steppes and deserts. Some species are found on forest edges and in river valleys. In the Central Tien Shan and Issyk-Kul basin, they form vast thickets. Eagerly visited by bees.
Barberry with Varied Petals, from the Berberidaceae family. A shrub up to 2 m tall. Blooms in May and June. Produces nectar and pollen. Grows along river valleys and on mountain slopes in the forest and tall grass meadow belt throughout all regions of Kyrgyzstan.
A good honey plant.
Sea Buckthorn, from the Elaeagnaceae family. Widely distributed in Kyrgyzstan. Grows along river valleys, streams, and lakes, forming impenetrable thickets locally known as "dzherganak." Sea buckthorn grows as a shrub or small tree. The stems are abundantly covered with thorns. The plant is dioecious. The flowers are small and inconspicuous: male ones are yellowish, female ones are greenish, located singly on the stems. Blooms abundantly from April to June, producing nectar. It is a good honey plant.
Tian Shan Rowan, from the Rosaceae family. A tree 3—5 m tall, at the upper limit of its distribution it grows as a shrub. Blooms in June and July. Produces nectar and pollen. Common in forests and among shrubs throughout Kyrgyzstan. A good honey plant.
Tatar Honeysuckle, from the Caprifoliaceae family. A shrub 1—3 m tall with pink flowers. Blooms in May and early June. Produces nectar and pollen. Grows among shrubs on forest edges, along river valleys in forests.
A honey plant.
Sanguine Hawthorn, from the Rosaceae family. A small thorny tree. Blooms in May. Produces nectar and pollen. Grows along river valleys and on mountain slopes in the belt of woody-shrub vegetation in the Small and Large Kemin, Kyrgyz, Chatkal, Fergana, Alai, and Turkestan ranges.
Curved Birch, from the Betulaceae family. A medium-sized tree. Blooms in April and May. Produces pollen and birch sap. Bees collect pollen and propolis. Grows in the valleys of mountain rivers throughout all regions of Kyrgyzstan. Eagerly visited by bees.
Among herbaceous plants in forests and among shrubs, one can find norichnik, bluebell, and others.
Norichnik with Stone Flowers, from the Norichnikov family. It grows on forest edges, among shrubs, and sometimes in meadow-steppes. Especially characteristic of the Kyrgyz ridge, Large and Small Kemin. It grows alongside common oregano, catmint, and other honey plants.
Norichnik with stone flowers is a herbaceous plant with a four-sided stem, reaching 80 cm in height; ovate-heart-shaped leaves are arranged oppositely. The flowers are greenish-gray with a brownish-red tint. Nectar is secreted at the base of the ovary. Blooms from April to June. Eagerly visited by bees.
Caucasian Bluebell, from the Campanulaceae family. Grows in forests. Especially characteristic of the spruce forests of the Kyrgyz ridge, Small and Large Kemin, and Tereskey Ala-Too. It is also found among shrubs in shady places, especially in the mountains of Northern Kyrgyzstan.
Caucasian bluebell is a herbaceous plant up to 100 cm tall with a panicle of bright blue flowers. Produces a lot of nectar and pollen. Blooms in June and July. During this time, it is eagerly visited by bees.