I’ve been keeping bees for almost 40 years now.  Nothing big. Never more than 50 hives.  One of the first things I wanted to learn about bees is what they made their honey from.   I learned that I lived in a region known as the tulip poplar region.  So named because that was the largest source of nectar in my area.  That would be Southern Maryland (St. Mary’s County).  It was by this tree that I made sure my honey supers were in place.  I also learned that black locust was also a big producer.  And it bloomed before the tulip poplar.  After the tulip poplar there was the American holly tree.   The tulip poplar and the American holly were in my own yard.  The several black locust trees were just up the road.  I watched these trees with great anticipation that I would get a good honey crop.    

One year I noticed that I did not get any tulip poplar honey.  How did I know that?  Tulip poplar honey is a dark honey, but it is mild tasting.  We didn’t have any other dark honey that amounted to much.  Then came all the questions.  Was there enough moisture in the soil?  Was it too cold or too windy for the bees to fly?  Was there some other flowering plant that was producing more nectar or nectar with more sugar content?  Each year there were new questions to answer.  I only had about three weeks to look and see if there were bees working these trees.  After the honey flow someone would ask another question like; “Did you look early in the morning?”  Then I would have to wait another year to answer the question.  I have ruled out all the questions I have been asked.

I have been watching these trees for over thirty years.  Bees and any other insects were no longer visiting the very same trees that I stood by and watched in awe of all the bees and other insects gathering the nectar in the past.  When I noticed that the bees were not bringing in tulip poplar nectar I made it a point to look closely at all the trees when they were in bloom.  All three trees had no visitors.  How could that be when they used to produce nectar?  I particularly remember going to pick up my mail up the street and stopping for awhile to listen to all the buzzing on the several black locust that were there at the mail box.  I also remember a neighbor that had two large American holly trees.  He would call me and ask me to come down and watch my bees as they swarmed over his trees.  Now they produced nothing. 

I realize that I might live in a microclimate.  I live near a river that is 6 miles wide.  That cuts out about 180 degrees of forage area.   There are two main roads that run to my home from the north.  It was easy to ride down the road and spot the black locust when they are in bloom.  I stopped 6 times on one trip home and 9 times on another.  The greatest distance from my home was about 30 miles north on both roads.  There were no bees working these trees.  I hear other beekeepers say that they have seen the bees working these trees where they live.  The tulip poplar were too hard to spot and not as many and did not look at them. 

It dawned on me one day that I should look to see if there is nectar in the flowers.  And so I did.  The blossoms on the black locust were first.  As hard as I squeezed the flowers I could see no sign of any moisture.  The same thing happened with the tulip poplar and the American holly: NO NECTAR.

I did not have any answers so I began to ask other beekeepers.  No answers.  I would say that most of them watched their bees bringing in nectar and knew that trees were in bloom but never really went looking at the three trees that used to produce the most honey.   I have asked many knowledgeable people about what could be happening and got no answers.  For the most part there was little interest in finding out.  It just did not generate much interest except for a few beekeepers.  And why would it?  What does it matter that a few trees in one area do not produce nectar.  And if the cause were to be found, what would be the implications?  For one, if there are no insects visiting these trees then there will be no pollination.  No pollination, no new trees.  This is especially true with the American holly that has both male and female trees.

My only conclusion is that the nectar starts in the roots and as the weather warms the nectar flows up.  It seems like the nectar flow and the timing of the blossoms do not coincide.  What could happen?  Perhaps the trees will move farther north and cease to exit here. But we are talking about many years for this to happen.  Will anybody take notice?  Could it be from climate change?  I don’t know.  I just wonder about what I have stumbled upon by just being a beekeeper.

Bill Bartlett
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