Welcome, Guest

Author Topic: pumpkin nectar  (Read 3851 times)

Offline beemad

  • New Bee
  • *
  • Posts: 7
pumpkin nectar
« on: March 13, 2006, 06:50:06 pm »
hi there i thought this would be a good place to ask as i know america grows a lot of pumpkins . do pumpkins produce a lot of nectar as here in the uk i hve been asked about it for my bees to visit .also what is the honey like from pumpkin is it ok to sell by itself or is it the sort of honey that needs blending with something else . kind regards simon

Offline beemaster

  • Site Founder
  • Administrator
  • Galactic Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 6457
  • Gender: Male
  • It is my pleasure to bring the forums to you.
    • http://www.beemaster.com
pumpkin nectar
« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2006, 06:59:53 pm »
Welcome Beemad:

Thanks for registering and welcome to the forums. I've never dealt with pumpins, so I'm no help there - but I'm sure you will get an answer shortly.

Best wishes and have fun here in the many forums.
NJBeemaster my YOUTUBE Video Collection

Please enjoy the forum, and if it has helped you in any way, we hope that a small donation can be made to support our FULLY member supported forum. You will never see advertisements here, and that is because of the generous members who have made our forum possible. We are in our second decade as a beekeeping forum and all thanks to member support. At the top right of every page is a donations link. Please help if you can.

Offline beemad

  • New Bee
  • *
  • Posts: 7
pumpkin nectar
« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2006, 04:14:49 pm »
come on chaps you telling me noone on here takes their bees to pumpkin fields im only intrested in the nectar source from pumpkins as a uk farmer has asked me about it .
regards simon

Offline Michael Bush

  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 19835
  • Gender: Male
    • bushfarms.com
pumpkin nectar
« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2006, 05:05:41 pm »
I don't have any first hand knowledge but as I understand it the pumpkins will definitely benefit from the bees.  I don't thing the bees benefit that much from the pumpkins.
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
-------------------
"Everything works if you let it."--James "Big Boy" Medlin

Offline Finsky

  • Super Bee
  • *****
  • Posts: 2791
  • Gender: Male
pumpkin nectar
« Reply #4 on: March 18, 2006, 05:48:43 pm »
I can't find is the pumpkin good honey plant. According this catalogue it gives nectar and pollen and whole summer.
 http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2168.html

Pumpkin has a big nectar droplet in it's flower but blowers are few. But I suppose that it is not famous honey plant like canola.

If you move hives there I would try with one first. Soon you see what they carry from site. It depens what other plants are there and are there allready bees enough.  Bees you will se from flowers.

Offline Jay

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 471
pumpkin nectar
« Reply #5 on: March 18, 2006, 06:29:21 pm »
Michael is correct, the bees do more for the pumpkins than the pumpkins do for the bees. Like other members of the cucurbit family, (summer squash and ghourds) pumpkins require bees for pollination. Ten weeks after planting, the first flowers suddenly appear between leaves and tendrils. Each flower blooms for only one day. They start to unfurl just before dawn, and during a four hour period, they open into luxurious velvet bowls. By mid-day, they are on a slow course of folding in on themselves; and by dusk, they are sealed forever.



Every pumpkin plant has two kinds of flowers -- male and female. Both are golden yellow, suggesting the color of the fruit to come. On the surface, males and females look quite similar. However, with a little observation you can begin to tell them apart. The male flowers, which appear first, sit on long thin stems and are more plentiful than females. The females sit closer to the vine and rest like queens on fuzzy round thrones. Bees are the matchmakers, gathering pollen from the center of the males and depositing it inside the female flower while glutting themselves on sweet nectar.


As you may well imagine, with a flower that is only open for one day, you need quite a few plants to do anything for a hive of bees! If you put your hives on a large pumpkin patch with flowers opening daily for a week or more, then you might be able to collect a pumpkin honey!

As for flavor, I love pumpkin pie, and even just the squash itself cooked with butter. So the flavor of the fruit is pleasing to me, and I imagine the honey would be as well. I have never had any however. :D
By the rude bridge that arched the flood
Their flag to Aprils breeze unfurled
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world
-Emerson

Offline Andrew Tyzack

  • New Bee
  • *
  • Posts: 34
    • http://www.thelandgallery.com
pumpkin nectar
« Reply #6 on: March 19, 2006, 06:59:52 am »
Last year my own pumpkins and marrows in the garden all had plenty of flowers, and each flower was infested with little beetles and so pollination obviously wasn't a problem - but I guess your farmer friend will blast the crop to kingdom come with pesticides, creating a dearth of insect pollinators.

Andrew