Bee

A field of blue or purple flowers is still uncommon enough to catch attention and provoke guesses. This is very close to the apiary, so we wanted greater certainty, and set off to investigate. As we paused to chat with neighbours, a car stopped and the curious driver also wondered about the crop. He guessed lucerne (which some countries call alfalfa), then corrected himself to linseed (which is the same species as flax, but a different cultivar)

He is a retired lorry-driver for a grain dealer. They were accustomed to climbing on to loads of cereal grains to inspect the load, apply sheeting etc. He said they were instructed to treat the tiny black linseeds as if they were a load of water - they are completely incapable of supporting any weight, therefore very dangerous when more than a half-metre deep. I didn't know that

I was pretty sure, even from a distance, that his guess was wrong though. The colour is not quite right, and linseed flowers later in the summer. I thought possibly borage, because it is grown locally, or even perhaps Echium - Vipers bugloss - the bees would love either. In fact, it turns out to be another of their favourites: Phacelia. And it is not, as I thought, a struggling crop with yellow weeds growing through it - it is actually sown as a mixture of Phacelia, mustard and a vetch that I think is 'hairy vetch', with rather pretty, deep red flowers

This is not a crop to feed people or animals. It is almost certainly deemed 'pollinator-friendly' and planted to satisfy some conditions of a subsidy scheme. It will be ploughed back into the land as 'green manure'. From an agronomy point of view, it absorbs some nutrients and stops them leaching into waterways; it suppresses noxious weeds; its roots condition the soil a little. But I wonder how much environmental benefit it actually provides - its temporary presence is not going to have any long-term impact on local ecosystems. The government schemes that have led to it being here are about to be scrapped anyway, and the details of any replacement remain uncertain

For now, the bees have found it; we will hope to make honey while the sun shines