> One year I noticed that I did not get any tulip poplar honey...
> The same thing happened with the tulip poplar and the American holly: NO
NECTAR...

Tulip poplar is the bulk of the spring harvest for VA beekeepers, too.
Black locust to a lesser extent.
I haven't kept bees in VA since the sale of my operation in 2006, but an
umbrella was a good idea when walking under tulip poplars on a windy day
during bloom. Massive amounts of nectar per blossom should  be the norm.
If nothing else, I would have noticed a significant drop in my honey tonnage
had tulip poplar not produced.
I had the advantage of being along the Blue Ridge Parkway and the National
Forests (Washington and Jefferson in VA), so some trees were massive.

But a rainstorm would wash it all away, and the trees took several days to
"recover".
You can track historical rain going back decades at weather underground and
on other weather web sites.
You may want to look at rain dates.

A quick Google search found a number of beekeeper blog and discussion group
mentions of "tulip tree" and "tulip poplar" blooms and nectar in springs of
2010 and on, so there are some anecdotal reports that seem to indicate that
the problem is not universal.  If there are successful blooms to the South
of you, it would be difficult to blame global warming for the problem.  I've
seen worthwhile numbers and sizes of tulip poplars from SC up to southern
PA.

This sounds like a perfect SARE grant research project for your state
association to undertake.
Drafting a SARE proposal is a drag, but it is easier than most of the
others.

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