Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
ALMOST BEEKEEPING - RELATED TOPICS => FARMING & COUNTRY LIFE => Topic started by: SerenaSYH on July 13, 2011, 09:29:57 pm
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um, I realize I'm a party crasher :-D since I don't farm, but I found a real cool website about lime bushes. Don't know if any of this is news to anyone but just one lime bush keeping one hive supplied? for the entire season??? Wowwweee!
Link #1: http://thehealingpath.com/OrganicBeekeeping/honey_bee_forage_bee_gardens.shtml (http://thehealingpath.com/OrganicBeekeeping/honey_bee_forage_bee_gardens.shtml)
"Rodale reported one lime bush could keep one hive in nectar all season and one acre of anise hyssop has been said to be enough nectar for 100 hives."
Link #2: http://thisbluemarble.com/showthread.php?t=16244 (http://thisbluemarble.com/showthread.php?t=16244)
A potted dwarf lime bush will sweeten your garden and your house
July 6, 8:14 AM
Lime blossoms--elegant, fragrant, and abundant--on my dwarf
Bearss lime. Photo by Quincy Benton
After hurricanes wiped out lime orchards in Florida, the United States no longer commercially grows limes. Most limes consumed in the U.S. now are imported from Mexico, but you can grow your own at home. If you have sunny spots—both outdoors and in—you have what you need to grow a potted lime tree.
Citrus x latifolia, also known as Tahiti lime, Persian lime, or Bearss lime produces juicy, seedless limes that are less acidic and less bitter than many varieties—perfect for cooking and for beverages. The plant’s blossoms are almost as wonderful as the fruit. Abundant and fragrant, the flowers bring to mind gardenia. The blooms attract bees and butterflies. They are less acidic than key limes and don't have the bitterness that lends to the key lime's unique flavor.
Thanks folks for allowing me to drop in....
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All limes are extremely tender and can not tolerate even the lightest of frosts. Even in Florida they are limited to the extreme southern portion of the state (or the water moderated micro climate in Pinellas county). Yes, a dwarf can be kept on a pot and hauled inside for the winter but dwarf is a misnomer. A standard lime can grow to twenty feet, a dwarf half that. A ten foot potted plant needs some planning for hauling indoors. They also need a sub tropical and sunny location at all times so plan for it. Now careful pruning and a sunroom with humidity and your all set. Just do your research of you want to play with citrus.
There are better choices as all of your citrus provide excellent nectar and honey. Kumquats and satsuma tangerines are far more cold hardy than either limes or lemons, surviving down to the low twenties in some locations. If none of these can tolerate your climate there is always trifoliate orange which is a deciduos inedible orange that survives as for north as Boston.
I spent a few years in the groves as a kid and dearly love citrus. I'm right on the bubble about gambling on cold hardy citrus just south of Atlanta.
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So the claim is that one lime bush will provide enough nectar for a hive for a year? My potted lime hasn't ever had enough blossoms on it to even put out scent let alone attract a bee.
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ohhh, Darn! when I came across that claim, I thought wow, this is so interesting and exciting news just one potted lime being such a great nectar source... Alas! the dangers of being a city girl getting allll of her info online. sheesh :roll: I'm so sorry I wasted everyone's time (sigh).
David thank goodness we've got a citrus expert here, lol! I didn't realize that honeybees liked citrus. On standard sites, I never got this detailed faq so it's cool to know. Usually people only talk about the Juneberries, Almonds, and crabapples. How interesting!
Keeperwannabe, what's odd is that a lot of flowers that don't seem to produce scent, the honeybees love holly, and the Russian sage flowers, not to mention oregano flowers or clover. I'm almost scratching my head and thinking what are these honeybees thinking, lol! what's so "sweet" about these sort of blossoms, lol! It's a stumper....