# Soy bean blooms



## kejramer (Jun 6, 2009)

Anyone in the Triad area of Norht Carolina know if bees use Soy bean blooms for honey? I have soy bean fields close by that have not bloomed yet.
Need them if the use them not that the rain has stoped.
Thanks
Keith


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## brooksbeefarm (Apr 13, 2008)

A member in our bee club takes his hives to soy bean fields. He said it depends on the variety of soy beans, that they work some varieties better than others. Jack


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## Terri (Apr 14, 2003)

I asked this queston on a farming board.

They replied that MOST types of soybeans are not pollinated by bees, though some are. My own bees never showed any interest in the soybean field across the road, worse luck! That would have been AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Ross (Apr 30, 2003)

I have made decent honey off of beans the last two years. Tomorrow I'll see how I did this year.


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## ChickenChaser (Jun 6, 2009)

I have read that the long season types are the ones that can produce nectar (honey). This was also noted at our local meeting last month - and bloom color was also considered an indicator. The speaker was unsure which was which, though! :s

Might want to check here: http://www.beeculture.com/content/pollination_handbook/soy.html


Tony


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## BuzzinBerries (Mar 8, 2009)

All I can say is that the farmer driving the combine in the field next to the hives on our property last fall said that the harvest counter went up the closer he got to the side of the field with the hives and the counter went down as he drove away from them. Soybeans are not dependent on bees for pollination but some varieties produce nectar that the bees can use. This was a great thing to have happen because now this farmer will make certain that he does not spray insecticide on this field when the soybeans are blooming so as not to kill the bees that got him several more bushels per acre last year.


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## kejramer (Jun 6, 2009)

I did a search on Soy beans and bees. Read the article Tony linked. My local been fields are in different stages of growth; I will take a walk and look for blooms and bees to see what I can find. Went for a walk month ago and found a feral hive. Going to try a swam trap in the spring.
Keith


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## wcubed (Aug 24, 2008)

In northern Ala. my bees worked purple-blooming and ignored white-blooming. Others have reported exactly the opposite. Both colors have both terminate and indeterminate blooming. The indeterminate bloom for the period of plant growth from quite small to full grown. The determinate doesn't bloom untill the plant is full grown and blooms all at once. Bang - it's over. For obvious reasons, the bees produce more on the longer blooming varieties. No way to guess on a young bean field.

Walt
Free advice is often overpriced.


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## Ross (Apr 30, 2003)

I pulled honey from soybeans today, and the bees were still on the flow. The flowers I saw were purple. Last year I pulled honey from white flowered beans. I believe they are blooming later this year. Could be the variety, could be the weather.


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## KG5S (Aug 12, 2008)

The keepers around here say soybeans are great for their production !


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