“As a honey plant, Ball Clover appears to have great possibilities. I have been told by a Plant Materials Specialist of the Soil Conservation Service that bees will store about three times more honey from Ball Clover than from White Clover.”

 — G. Perkins
Louisiana Soil Conservation Department

 

From an article by George S. Ayers, Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, published in the November 2008 issue of American Bee Journal:

Several times during May he checked a 30-acre field of ‘s-1’ white clover in full bloom growing on good bottom land and found only a few bees working it. At the same time, a 15-acre field of ball clover on adjoining hill-land was “alive with honey bees”. Both clover plantings were within 1/4 mile of a 30-hive apiary.

 

Ball clover blooms over a period of 7 to 8 weeks and has a high density of bloom (840 blooms per yard)... Ball clover is an excellent honey plant, and bees show a strong preference for it over other true clovers.

— S. E. McGregor
U.S. Department of Agriculture

 

 

 

In G. Perkins’ study, ball clover had 840 mature flower heads per square yard compared with 315 for white clover and 300 for crimson clover.