Wild carrot
Widespread wild umbellifer offering nectar and pollen all summer; seed carrot production depends on insect pollinators including honey bees.
- Nectar
- Medium
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 0,3-1 m
- Life cycle
- Biennial
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The flat umbels of wild carrot are made up of hundreds of small white flowers; because the nectar is exposed, they are heavily visited not only by honey bees but also by flies, wasps and other insects. Individual flowers give little nectar, but the sheer number of umbels provides a noteworthy extra food source in late summer.
Flowering
From June to September on roadsides, fallow land and dry meadows. The plant flowers in its second year and dies after setting seed.
Honey and pollen
No wild carrot honey as such is produced; it is one component of mixed summer honey. Pollen loads are pale.
Note for the beekeeper
Seed production of cultivated carrot requires cross-pollination, and placing hives in the field increases seed yield. However, carrot flowers are not very attractive to bees; if lucerne or sunflower is in bloom nearby at the same time, the bees will move over to it. Pollination contracts should therefore set a correspondingly higher hive density.