Butterbur
A valuable early-spring nectar source on damp stream banks; its flowers open before the leaves in March-April, offering nectar and pollen.
- Nectar
- Good
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 0,3-1 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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Butterbur is a perennial that forms large stands with its thick rhizomes along streams and rivers and in damp woodland clearings. Plants are largely either male or female; male plants offer pollen and nectar, female plants mainly nectar. Nectar secretion is good for such an early season, and bees work it intensively on mild March days.
Flowering
The pink-purple flower spikes appear in March-April, before the huge leaves develop; flowering lasts 3-5 weeks.
Honey and pollen
There is no monofloral honey; all the nectar is used in spring build-up.
Note for the beekeeper
In damp areas such as the valleys of northern Anatolia and the Black Sea region it provides the first nectar flow together with willow. The plant contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids; since no honey is harvested at this time, the risk for honey is low. Because of its spreading rhizome it is not recommended for gardens.