Endive

Value for beekeeping

Endive is a close relative of chicory, grown as a vegetable for curly or broad-leaved salad. In normal production the leaves are harvested before flowering, so it is of no importance to bees. In seed-production fields and in plants that bolt in their second year, however, it bears pale blue flowers resembling those of chicory. These flowers open in the morning and close towards noon; in this short window honey bees collect pollen and a little nectar.

Flowering

Seed plants flower from June to August; each head stays open for only one morning, but the plant produces new heads for weeks.

Honey and pollen

It has no honey of its own; its contribution is mainly pollen.

Note for the beekeeper

Endive is largely self-pollinating; even so, bee visits in seed fields can help seed set. Remember that bees can only work it in the morning, and leave spraying until the afternoon or evening.