When fountain hits your lilliputian corner of the human race , you know it . The sun shifts , and the tune literally buzz with life : Native bees , honeybee , butterfly , WASP ( they ’re good , too ) and hummingbird make full the airwave . To us , abundance and rankness has returned to the Earth , and it feel near .
But there ’s a concealed human race we do n’t see : the one where bee struggle to see food . In very early spring , before the day get blistering and the ground becomes ductile , there ’s still danger afoot for honeybees . commend , honeybees are not native to North America , so every year when the existence awakens , they are strangers in a unusual state once again . Overwintered hives might be very low on love stores , and while the universe is warm enough for activity , it might not be quick enough to have ample amount of blooming forage from which bees reap ambrosia .
Enter the dandelion , arguably one of the American homeowner ’s most dreaded natural lawn ornaments . This fantastically potent medicine herb ( for insects and humans , alike ) has long been considered a pot and thus inhabited gardeners ’ naughty listing . Setting aside any divergence we might have about the dandelion , one affair is for sure : It ’s one of the best and early sources of food for our Apis mellifera .
Here are a few other fun facts about the plucky , tenacious blowball :
1. The Dandelion Is Also a Transplant
Like the Apis mellifera , the dandelion is n’t native to North American . It ’s believe that European settler lend the works for its medicative design . Once in the soil , it unfold apace .
2. Dandelions Reproduce on Their Own
Dandelions are essentially self - fertilizing . They transmit out viable seeds with only one plant , signify the presence of a single blowball root means it will finally spread , growing clone of itself with its own seeds .
3. Dandelions Have Medicinal Uses
Dandelions are a diuretic , something that causes the increase passing of urine and is used to handle high descent pressure and kidney disease , among other things . In fact , the French name given to the plant , pissenlit , mean to wet the bed . This is one of the many medicinal uses for the blowball .
4. Dandelions Are Nutritious
These bright and felicitous yellow sodomist are improbably nutrient . All part of the plant ( leaves , roots and flowers ) are comestible , and contain copious amounts of Vitamins A and K as well as calcium , magnesium , and iron . The works ’s exceptionally long taproot can be broil and crunch up and used as a second-stringer for coffee .
5. They Can Bloom Twice a Year
blowball prime most abundantly in the spring but , in certain part of the continent , also bloom again in dip . When the works does bloom , the flower remains open during the day and close at night for the continuance of its blush .
So , countersink aside your differences with the blowball . Once a gardener or homeowner make the transition to beekeeper , that mortal lead off to look at the blowball a little other than . In addition to their own medicative purposes , dandelions are important food source for our bees , so do n’t hold back . Let them open far and all-embracing . cull up a puff , and give it a blow !
