There are many plants from which bees collect nectar. Buckwheat and acacia are known to many, but much less is known about the properties of the honey plant. At the same time, the grass is used as fodder, used as green manure, enriching the soil with nitrogen, and has medicinal potential. Details about the properties of this amazing plant will certainly be useful and interesting to farmers.
Agricultural significance and description
Oriental goat's rue, or galega, is a perennial (up to 10 years) herbaceous plant. Belongs to the legume family.It is of southern origin and grows wild in the North Caucasus. Varietal varieties of goat's rue reach a height of 140-200 centimeters.
A herb with a straight hollow stem, leafy and branched, the plant bushes, each bush contains from 10 to 15-18 stems. Each of them is covered with large, complex, odd-pinnate leaves (5-6 pairs), which do not fall off when the plant dries out. The leaves are pubescent along the edges.
The inflorescence is in the form of a straight multi-flowered raceme, with large flowers of purple, bluish or white hue. The openness of the flowers and the shallow location of the nectaries make the plant attractive to bees and an excellent honey plant. The raceme usually contains from 20 to 75 flowers.
The fruit is in the form of a brown bean. Goat's rue seeds are large, greenish in color during the collection period, and acquire a brown color during storage. Galega is a plant with a powerful taproot with numerous lateral branches. The root goes into the soil to a depth of 50-70 centimeters. Under the ground, 3-4 buds form on the stem, which in the spring ensure the growth of the perennial. Over time, goat's rue plantings thicken.
Galega grows well in open sunny areas and does not tolerate shade. Grows on chernozem, loamy, sandy loam soils. Drained peat bogs and floodplain areas are suitable for it. The best type of soil for the plant is considered neutral. It grows worse on poor and acidified soils.
The grass serves as green food for farm animals, contains carotene, ascorbic acid, minerals necessary for animals, and enhances milk production. Used for making silage, haylage and hay. The plant has high productivity.Make 2-3 mowings of grass per season, depending on the region of sowing. Under optimal conditions, the amount of green mass ranges from 30 to 70 tons per hectare, increasing annually, the mass of hay produced is 15-17 tons per hectare.
The plant is not afraid of cold weather and tolerates drought well. In snowless winters, it can withstand temperatures down to -23-25 °C. A significant layer of snow allows the plant to survive in frosts down to -35-40 °C. The grass is used as green manure. Galega loosens the soil with its powerful roots and saturates it with nitrogen. At the same time, the condition of the soil improves. Mown green mass is an excellent natural fertilizer.
Agricultural technology of culture
It is better to sow the plant after row crops or grain crops or forage grasses. The seeds are planted 1.5-2 centimeters into the soil. Before sowing, a phosphate-potassium fertilizer complex is applied to the soil.
Important: when sowing goat's rue, do not use nitrogen fertilizers, since the plant is nitrogen-fixing.
Sowing is carried out in the last ten days of April or the first ten days of May, depending on the region. Before sowing, seeds are scarified (the hard outer shell is opened to speed up germination). In addition, they are treated with Nitragin or Rezotorfin (bacterial preparations).
Seeds are sown in a row or wide-row (if the area is significantly clogged) method.Seed germination occurs at temperatures from +6 °C, they remain viable for 7-8 years.
Honey productivity and nectar productivity of the plant
During the flowering period, bees can collect up to 50-100 kilograms of nectar from 1 hectare of plantings. In the morning and until noon, the opened inflorescences of galega attract bees with a strong, persistent aroma. Galega flowering lasts about 1 month. From open plants that are convenient for collecting nectar and pollinating flowers, striped workers can collect up to 100-110 kilograms of honey per 1 hectare.
The plant provides bees with pollen and nectar. The resulting honey has a shade from light yellow to orange, depending on the accompanying honey plants.
This honey is used:
- to strengthen the immune system;
- increasing lactation during breastfeeding;
- in cosmetology, when using masks for skin and hair, anti-cellulite wraps;
- as a diaphoretic.
A monofloral product is not obtained from goat's rue.
Flowering period
Galega blooms at the end of May. Flowering continues for a month. To make full use of this period, you can mow the plant for silage at the end of flowering. Then the agricultural producer will receive full benefit from it as a honey plant and can use the green mass to prepare feed for farm animals. Early flowering provides bee colonies and brood with valuable protein food.
Medicinal properties
The tops of the flowering goat's rue and the leaves of the grass have healing powers. Galega has diuretic properties, anthelmintic and hypoglycemic effects, and is used for colds and as a diaphoretic. The decoction is consumed 1 tablespoon 3-4 times a day.
Oriental goat's rue is a valuable and easy-to-cultivate fodder crop that can provide food for livestock, help beekeepers collect an excellent harvest of honey, and alleviate a person's condition from a cold. Therefore, the benefits of this unpretentious herb are obvious, and it is becoming increasingly popular among agricultural producers.
