Flora - Indigenous melliferous plants: silver fir (Abies alba)

Flora – Indigenous melliferous plants

Silver fir (Abies alba)

The silver fir is a conifer that occurs naturally in Slovenia and can grow to a height of up to 50 metres. Its needles can be distinguished from those of the spruce by the two distinctive white stripes on their underside; they have blunt tips, not sharp points. The silver fir is declining in Slovenia’s forests, possibly due to acid rain in the past or perhaps because of drought. Its vulnerability has greatly increased, as evidenced by the widespread growth of fir mistletoe. Bees visit the silver fir to collect honeydew, a sweet substance excreted by certain insects that feed on the tree’s sap. Bees then transform this honeydew into fir honey. The honeydew-producing insects found in trees in Slovenia include three different species of aphids and scale insects. The silver fir has fragrant resins and essential oils, the aromas of which are preserved in fir honey.

Mitja Kaligarič