Fireweed
The famous honey plant of northern forests, spreading on burns and clearings and giving abundant summer nectar; its honey is very pale and mild.
- Nectar
- Very good
- Pollen
- Good
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Pollen colour
- Height
- 0,5-2 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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Fireweed is one of the most productive wild honey plants of the northern hemisphere. After forest fires, felling and in clearings it quickly forms large pink-purple stands. The nectar lies exposed in the centre of the flower and is secreted all day; on warm, humid, windless days the flow becomes markedly stronger.
Flowering
It flowers from late June to September, opening from the bottom of the spike upwards over 6-8 weeks. This long period bridges the midsummer dearth.
Honey and pollen
In Russia, Scandinavia, Canada and Alaska it is produced as a monofloral honey; the honey is almost water-white, mild and sweetly floral. The pollen loads are easy to recognise by their bluish-grey colour.
Note for the beekeeper
In Turkey it occurs locally in the high, moist forested parts of north-eastern Anatolia and the Black Sea region. After a few years, as shrubs and trees return, the stands shrink; following felling areas when planning migration improves yields.