Comfrey
Bell-flowered plant of damp places blooming May to August; its long corolla suits bumblebees, and honey bees often take nectar through holes they bite.
- Nectar
- Medium
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 0,5-1,2 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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Comfrey is a thick-rooted perennial that grows along streams, in damp meadows and ditches. Its nodding, bell-shaped flowers, purple, pink or cream in colour, secrete plenty of nectar; but because the corolla tube is long, only long-tongued bumblebees can reach the nectar directly. Honey bees also take nectar through holes that short-tongued bumblebees bite at the base of the corolla. Its value for honey bees therefore depends on how many bumblebees there are locally.
Flowering
It lasts from May to August; after mowing it can flower again.
Honey and pollen
There is no monofloral honey. Honey bees also collect pollen; its contribution is moderate.
Note for the beekeeper
The plant contains liver-damaging pyrrolizidine alkaloids; dense planting around the apiary is not recommended. The hybrid comfrey grown in gardens (Symphytum × uplandicum) shows similar properties and should be treated the same way.