Yellow melilot seeds

Sweet yellow clover, yellow melilot, ribbed melilot and common melilot / Melilotus officinalis - blooms in the first year after sowing. Biennial clover blooms 2-2.5 months after sowing. The flowering of biennial sweet clover lasts for two months; prolonged flowering occurs due to the uneven opening of flowers and a huge number of flowers.

Sweet clover honey is one of the valuable light varieties of honey, as it has excellent taste and it is believed that sweet clover honey has pronounced medicinal qualities. Sweet clover honey is ideal for wintering bees, as it does not crystallize for a long time.

Biennial sweet clover reproduces by seeds; sweet clover does not lose seed germination for more than 10 years.

Sowing of biennial sweet clover begins in early spring and continues until the end of May. Sowing of sweet clover can also be done before winter, if it is necessary for the flowering of sweet clover to begin in the spring. When sowing sweet clover in summer, flowering will continue until frost.

Number of bee colonies per 1 hectare: 4-7.

The more bees there are on your site, the more productive your vegetables will be!

Germination percentage

If the seeds are processed, the germination percentage reaches 90%. The seeds are demanding of moisture. Sowing is done in very early spring or late autumn, but they should not be allowed to germinate before frost.

Seeding rates

They are sown with row sowing - at a rate of 14 kg to 20 kg per hectare, and with wide-row sowing - from 6 kg to 8 kg per hectare.

Bloom

In the first year of life, yellow sweet clover blooms in not very large quantities, but in the second year there is massive flowering, at which time it bears seeds and dies. Flowering occurs from mid-June to September.

Seed storage

The seed should be stored in a dry, dark place, at a relative humidity of 12-13%. Seeds of one reproduction preserve their germination for six to seven years.

Preparing seeds for sowing

Sweet clover seeds are covered with a hard shell on top, so before sowing they need to be scratched so that the seeds quickly begin to gain moisture (scarification). This process can be done at home using sandpaper manually, or you can use a concrete mixer with sandpaper glued to its walls.

15 days before sowing, the seeds must be brought into a warm room and dried. In the first year of life, the sweet clover is mowed, leaving 20-22 cm of stubble, this is optimal for its subsequent development.

Sweet clover seeds are planted depending on the soil, in heavy soils - not deep up to 0.5 cm, in light soils - up to 2.5 cm deep, but everywhere it is very important to prevent the soil from drying out.

Nectar productivity

From one hectare - from 200-300 kg, and in the southern parts of Ukraine - up to 400-500 kg. Bees visit sweet clover crops throughout the day, but they act more energetically in the second half. It has been noted that in suitable weather, sweet clover secretes a significant amount of nectar, which protrudes out in the form of shiny drops, which makes it more accessible to bees.

Value

Sweet clover has a large number of flowers (1 m³ of thickets produces 1 million flowers), and each flower contains up to 0.25 mg of high-sugar nectar. Bees visit this plant in large numbers, collecting a lot of pollen and nectar from it. Sweet clover honey is light, has excellent taste and medicinal qualities, and is considered one of the best varieties. The nectar is transparent and contains up to 45% sugar. Yellow sweet clover also supplies bees with high-quality flower pollen.

Another remarkable property of the plant is the luxurious and very pleasant original aroma from the above-ground part of the entire plant.

Sweet clover is an unpretentious plant that grows well on poor soils, wastelands, on slopes, in ravines, along the edges of roads and fields, increasing their fertility and improving their structure. It tolerates salinity well, is drought-resistant, and winter-hardy.