Saxifrage

Value for beekeeping

The saxifrage genus includes hundreds of species growing in rock crevices, along streams and in high mountain meadows. The flowers are small, open and bowl-shaped, mostly white, yellow or pink; nectar is secreted from a disc, and they are visited by flies, solitary bees and honey bees. As the plants are generally small and scattered, their overall contribution for honey bees is low.

Species in Turkey

More than 20 species occur in Turkey; Saxifraga tridactylites flowers in spring on plains and slopes, while species such as Saxifraga kotschyi, Saxifraga juniperifolia and Saxifraga paniculata flower in early summer in the Taurus Mountains and the mountains of north-eastern Anatolia.

Flowering

It varies between March and July depending on altitude.

Honey and pollen

It is not harvested as a separate honey; it may make a small contribution to highland honey.

Note for the beekeeper

Sowing it as a bee plant makes no sense; its value lies in the diversity of mountain vegetation.