Pasque flower

Value for beekeeping

Pasque flower is a hairy wild flower of dry, chalky grassland in Central and Western Europe that blooms in early spring. Its main contribution for honey bees is pollen; the reduced stamens in the outer ring of the flower secrete only a small amount of nectar. It does not produce a honey crop on its own, but it gives colonies coming out of winter a supply of fresh protein.

Flowering

It flowers from late March to May, before the leaves are fully developed. The flowers open in sunshine and close and droop in cloudy, cool weather, so bees can only visit them around midday on mild, sunny days.

Honey and pollen

The many yellow anthers in the centre of the purple sepals carry plenty of pollen. No honey is produced under its name.

Note for the beekeeper

The fresh tissues of the plant contain the irritant protoanemonin, so livestock do not graze it. Wild populations are protected in many countries; plants should not be dug up from the wild but bought from a nursery for the garden. The species does not occur naturally in Turkey; closely related Pulsatilla species grow in the mountain meadows of north-eastern Anatolia.