- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Published on: March 17, 2014
St. Patrick's Day is the "wearing of the green," but it's also the "wearing of the yellow."
Wild mustard, that is.
If you drive through the hills of Napa, around St. Patrick's Day, or from January through March, you'll see bee hives nestled in the green landscape with a flourish of mustard (Brassica spp.).
It's a child's delight, a photographer's dream, and a painter's inspiration. But mustard is also a good cover crop and bee food.
Indeed, honey bees crave mustard just like folks on "Irish Day" crave corned bee and cabbage (with that yellow condiment made from mustard seeds).
![Bee hives nestled in a field of green and yellow (mustard) along Highway 12, Napa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Bee hives nestled in a field of green and yellow (mustard) along Highway 12, Napa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/blogfiles/21163.jpg)
Bee hives nestled in a field of green and yellow (mustard) along Highway 12, Napa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
![Honey bee foraging in mustard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Honey bee foraging in mustard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/blogfiles/21164.jpg)
Honey bee foraging in mustard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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