Spindle

Value for beekeeping

Spindle is a shrub growing at forest edges, in scrub and in hedges in northern Anatolia and Thrace. In its small, greenish-white flowers with four petals the nectar lies on an open disc, so flies, wild bees and honey bees can use it easily. Its pollen contribution is small.

Flowering

It flowers in May–June and stays in bloom for two to three weeks. Because it does not have many flowers, it matters mainly together with other plants in a hedge.

Honey and pollen

No separate honey is produced; its contribution to mixed late spring honey remains small.

Note for the beekeeper

Its fruits, with pink capsules and orange seed coats, are poisonous to humans and animals; no problem is known for honey. Because it is one of the host plants on which the black bean aphid overwinters, it is sometimes unwanted along field margins. In Turkish the name taflan is also used for cherry laurel in the Black Sea region, so the two should not be confused.