Caraway
A spice crop that opens white umbels in its second year; the open nectar is easy for bees, and fields give good late-spring support.
- Nectar
- Medium
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 0,3-1 m
- Life cycle
- Biennial
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Caraway is a biennial member of the carrot family, grown for its seed. In the first year it forms a leaf rosette; in the second year it produces white or pinkish umbels. In the carrot family the nectar lies exposed on the swollen disc in the centre of the flower, so honey bees and many short-tongued insects use it easily.
Flowering
It flowers between May and June, for about 3-4 weeks at field scale. It gains value in the transition between the spring and summer flows.
Honey and pollen
It is not common as a monofloral honey; it contributes to mixed spring honey. Its pollen contribution is moderate.
Note for the beekeeper
In the Netherlands and central Europe it is sown as a field crop; in Turkey it also grows wild in the moist mountain meadows of eastern Anatolia. Bee pollination is known to have a positive effect on seed yield; placing hives along the edges of large fields benefits both grower and beekeeper.