Willow (salix) is one of the earliest spring bee plants. There are many varieties of willow and the shrubs are either male or female. Other names for willows are osier and sallow. The flowers of both sexes give nectar but it is the pollen from the showier male flowers and catkins that is so important to both honeybees and wild bees. The pollen is yellow and plentiful. Willow like to grow on wet land or near water. Siting one’s spring bee yards near willows and alders is one way of assuring the bees can get pollen(protein) at a critical time of year. The pollen is needed to feed the young larvae which will become the new bees as the old “winter bees” die off in March and April. Colony survival and rejuvenation absolutely depends on pollen and willow is a key source. Willow whips root readily in water or even stuck into wet ground. (Don’t stick them near the septic field) I have a Newfoundland beekeeping friend who has planted hundreds of metres of willow hedge as windbreak, boundary marker and feed for his bees. Unofficial factoid: My mother …a garden witch… used to pound pieces of young willow shoots and soak them in water to make a rooting “tea” in which she would soak cuttings of all sorts to promote root growth. The willow is the national tree of Ukraine, and Ukraine, according to Wikipedia, is the beekeepingest country in the world: Beekeeping in Ukraine is a major economic activity. 700,000 people, 1.5% of the Ukrainian population, are engaged in the production of honey. Ukraine is ranked as the number one country in Europe and among the top five countries in the world for honey production, producing 75 thousand metric tons annually[1]. Ukraine produces the greatest quantity of honey per capita in the world.[2]
