Borage
Prolific nectar plant whose flowers rapidly replenish their nectar during the day; borage seed fields yield a pale honey.
- Nectar
- Very good
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Pollen colour
- Height
- 0,3-0,8 m
- Life cycle
- Annual
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Borage is a Mediterranean annual grown in gardens, along vegetable plots and on a field scale for seed oil. Its nodding blue flowers quickly replenish their nectar after it has been taken, so the same flower is visited many times a day. Nectar secretion lasts from morning to afternoon and continues in mild drought. Its pollen contribution is moderate.
Flowering
Sown in April-May, it flowers from June to September; with successive sowings and self-sown seed, flowers can be seen until October.
Honey and pollen
In England and New Zealand a monofloral honey is obtained from borage seed fields; it is very light in colour and mildly sweet. The pollen loads are greyish white.
Note for the beekeeper
It is one of the best plants for sowing on small plots around the apiary; sowings a few weeks apart extend flowering. The plant contains low levels of pyrrolizidine alkaloids; it is advisable to have honey from large borage fields analysed.