> >Has anyone had experience with bees vs buckeye trees?
> >Is it a good idea to keep bees where the buckeye grow?
> >Is the honey any threat to humans?
>
> My hives are surrounded by buckeye trees, and they bloom profusely around here
> in May. I have never seen a bee on a buckeye flower, and I have looked numerous
> times. Nor have I ever noticed any negative effects on my hives during the
> buckeye bloom.
 
In the central coastal region of California there is a tree called
buckeye that apparently causes the bees to produce severely deformed
brood.  Most of the locals around here insist that you should never
allow your bees to stay in an area where it's in bloom.
I have no personal experience with this, and am not sure what the tree
in question is.
 
When I kept bees in Seattle there were lots of horse chesnuts that were
also called buckeye and my bees never payed any attention to them as far
as I could tell.  I have no idea if the California buckeye is the same
thing.  I suspect that it isn't.
 
Michael Reddell
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http://www.hotcity.com/~mwr