Common vetch
A common forage legume whose stipule nectaries offer nectar even before flowering, supporting spring colony build-up.
- Nectar
- Good
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 0,3-0,8 m
- Life cycle
- Annual
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Common vetch secretes nectar not only from its flowers but also from the dark-spotted extrafloral nectaries on the underside of its stipules. Honey bees cannot always get into the deep flowers easily, but they forage freely on these nectaries. Its pollen value is moderate.
Flowering
It flowers from April to June; in forage fields sown as a mixture with cereals, flowering lasts 3-4 weeks. Autumn-sown crops come into flower earlier than spring-sown ones.
Honey and pollen
A single-source vetch honey is rarely obtained; it gives spring mixed honey a light colour and a mild flavour. Because the extrafloral nectaries are already active before flowering, they give colonies an early and steady flow.
Note for the beekeeper
Where vetch-barley or vetch-oat mixtures are grown, it is useful for spring build-up. If it is cut early for hay or green manure, the flow stops abruptly; talking to the farmer about the cutting date and asking for spraying to be done in the evening reduces losses.