Alexanders

Value for beekeeping

This plant is a robust biennial umbellifer with glossy dark green leaves that grows on Mediterranean coasts, on rocky slopes, around old settlements and castles, along roadsides and in shady scrub. Because it was grown as a vegetable from antiquity to the Middle Ages, it has gone wild on the coasts of Britain and western Europe. The exposed nectar in its yellowish-green umbels is an important source for honey bees and flies very early in the year.

Flowering

It flowers from March to May; on coasts with mild winters it can start in February. It is one of the few umbellifers in flower at this time.

Honey and pollen

It has no honey of its own; it contributes to mixed early-spring honeys. Pollen is also collected and supports colony build-up.

Note for the beekeeper

Its ripe fruits are large and black. In coastal apiaries where it forms dense stands, it helps early spring build-up together with almond and plum blossom.