# sunflowers



## hartwig (Apr 29, 2009)

More farmers are planting sunflowers to harvest and sell in my area. will bees make any surplus honey off of them. If so what variety is best?


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## ga.beeman (Mar 29, 2009)

here in North Ga. i done real good two years ago and last year was not good. e-mail the company that manufacture the seeds and they can tell you if the varitey they are planting will produce necture or not. my bees look good last year when i put them on the sunflowers but didnt after they came off of them and i lost some of them during the winter. wish some of the guys who have knowledge about bees on sunflowers would put a little info. on here about the pros and cons of sunflowers. it can be good some years ...David ...www.johnstonshoneyfarm.com


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## hartwig (Apr 29, 2009)

I have heard the kind that makes smaller heads is best,but i do not know from my own experience.I have planted giant headed sunflowers in garden an seen very few honeybees working them, mostly bumblebees


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## gmcharlie (May 9, 2009)

I am wondering also, last year for the first time we had some commercial sunflowers grown, (5-600 acres) everthing I have read says they are good for honey, I am pondering moving several hives to that location, but there will be little else nearby for them..


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

I read they aren't very nutritious for the bees. But the bees sure love them.


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## Countryboy (Feb 15, 2009)

Bees can get a lot of pollen from sunflowers, and good nectar and pollen sources in late summer are always good.

I remember reading that sunflower honey is white, but crystalizes so fast it is usually sold as creamed honey.


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## Hobie (Jun 1, 2006)

If you're planting your own, beware of the "pollenless" varieties made for people with allergies.


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## beaglady (Jun 15, 2004)

FYI, some varieties of commercial sunflower seed are treated with Imacloprid. I found this out when I signed up for free seeds through a conservation organization.

I've planted the black oil sunflower seeds that you can buy for feeding birds & ended up with a decent amount of sunflowers. My bees did work them, but I didn't plant enough to consider it a 'crop'.


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## alexx_v (Jun 27, 2009)

First of all, sunflowers give good flow and the bees like to go and collect nectar and pollen.... But it depends much on the sort of sunflowers seeds....it's good no to be hybrid because hybrid sorts don't give nectar... sometimes when the weather is hot the surface of the sunflower blossom becomes very sticky like a glue and that's why you may observe reduction in flying bees... ( from my experience with 1/3) .... here we extract all the honey from sunflower because bees "digest" it very hard at the winter time and it crystallize very quickly (even in comb), it's even better to feed them with sugar syrup if after sunflower flow there's no other flow....

P.S I excuse myself for my English.....


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## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

P.S I excuse myself for my English..... 
Your English is fine. I understand you.
What kind of bee hives do you use?
Ernie


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## alexx_v (Jun 27, 2009)

What kind of bee hives do you use?
Ernie,
I use DB - Dadant-Blath (I'm not sure I spell correctly) ...I think here you call it deep body (mine are with 10 or 12 frames, mostly 12)and supers, one or 2, depends on that how strong is the colony and the flow


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## luvin honey (Jul 2, 2009)

alexx_v said:


> P.S I excuse myself for my English.....


Your English is excellent!

Very interesting thread. I have a lot of sunflowers in my garden, bordering our fields, but I almost never see honeybees on it. Just lots and lots of different kinds of bumbles and other bees.


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