A Reason for Being

So, how did this Weblog come into being? Well...

Honey, sometimes you just gotta go for it.

In about one month, this blog will be furiously buzzing with activity over the arrival of some new additions to my family--I am adopting a couple girls (approximately twenty thousand girls, to be more specific) to live with me on my small farm in California. That's right, this weblog is about beekeeping, and bees in general!

This blog came into being as my way of keeping a record for myself so that, one) I have a place to reflect on their natural progression, and, two) to contribute to the growing beekeeping community. We'll wander through bits and pieces of all sorts of information, and hopefully, it'll be both fun and interesting for you and me.

Today's topic is the flower my bees will be focusing on--the Starthistle. Starthistle is, generally speaking, a very hardy weed that grows extremely pokey spines just below the flower for protection.

A worker bee exploring the Starthistle flower

The Starthistle itself (Centaurea solstitialis) is not indigenous to California, though it would appear to be, based on how common it is to ranchland here. It's a middle-eastern plant that migrated its way here on rogue alfalfa bales, and it's largely considered to be a noxious pest. Cows generally cannot eat it, but goats love it, and do not think twice about chomping straight down on the harsh spines. The spines are generally pretty dangerous though, and have been known to cause horses and other livestock to die from consuming it--and it can be a major pain to walk through.

What makes Starthistle so strong is its ability to sink its roots deep in the dry soil to gain moisture. Some of the roots can drop about 6 feet down, which is deep enough to dodge all the other potential competitors. Additionally, the structure of the plant retains water extremely well and suits the plant to survive long periods of time with very little moisture. And, as if that weren't enough of a leg up, the seeds of the Starthistle can remain dormant for as many as ten years--just waiting for a good rain at the right time to sprout.

Unfortunately, all these things add up to a very robust, very invasive species--as of the last estimate that I found, it's suggested that there are about fifteen million acres of Starthistle in the western states, which is about the size of West Virginia.

That's a lot of area to be left to the weeds.

Fortunately, though, the starthistle isn't a worthless plant, and in fact, lots of wildlife really, really benefit from its continued existence, namely, bees! The consensus from beekeepers is that Starthistle is an excellent source of nectar--both for its extended flow (period of time that the bees can visit the flower to collect nectar) and for its rather robust and fertile growing tendencies. It's not uncommon to see expansive fields of starthistle simply humming with bees.

Food for Thought

What's more is the starthistle honey is, in fact, considered a superior honey to plain clover honey; it is thick and flavorful, but has no lingering aftertaste.

Like the old fairytale, bees are spinning weeds into gold; taking a thorny situation and making it something much, much more.

I chose to blog about starthistle first because it represents an ideology I hope to bring up again and again in my blog, and that is the importance of staying positive about life. The title of the blog, Mellifera Plus, is an extension of this goal. That, and, as you may have noticed through reading this post... I really like playing with words.




Well, I think that's enough for today. Until next time,

Hasta pasta!

The Purple Shirt Guy
:)