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Lacy phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia Benth.), a plant of North American origin, has been cultivated in the Carpathian Basin since the end of the 19th century. It was sown for ornamental purposes, but at the same time its potential for beekeeping was also recognized. It was prophesied to save the future of the Hungarian apiculture, but in the period following the Second World War with the collapse of the large estate system, it was cultivated as a bee pasture only on a small scale. Since the beginning of the 20th century, Hungarian researchers have been studied its forage potential in several experiments. Despite the first contradictory conclusions, it has been respected as a valuable forage crop for several livestock species since the 1970s. Its excellent potential for green manuring and soil disinfection has been also confirmed in many experiments carried out in the Carpathian Basin for more than a century. Since the end of the 1970s, its exportoriented seed production has boomed both in small and large farms in the Little Hungarian Plain (in NW Hungary). This practice has been strongly linked to migratory beekeeping, which has elevated lacy phacelia to the most important melliferous plants producing monofloral honey in Hungary. Its annual production area has fluctuated between 1500 and 11,000 ha in the last 20 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]