HS>From: Harry Sweet <[log in to unmask]>
  >Date:         Fri, 2 May 1997 23:19:50 -0400
  >Subject:      BUCKEYE
 
HS>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?
  >Harry Sweet
  >N. California
 
Hi Harry,
 
California Buckeye honey is good to eat, but it is seldom produced in
amounts that a beekeeper would extract it other then with other sources
such as Sage or Vetch.
 
The California Buckeye tree makes much of the foothill pasture in
central and northern California a poor place to keep bees during its
late spring bloom. It produces a toxin that will kill the bees.
 
It is believed that if aphids are working the trees the toxin is
produced in grater amounts or is more toxic. It is a natural protection
for the tree or something. Anyway depending on when the trees bloom and
what else is blooming it can not only kill the bees but also will effect
the brood to the point that they young bees will hatch out with deformed
wings. With bees who have worked the Buckeye it is common to find lots
of dead bees in front of the hives, and occasionally you can find dead
bees under the California Buckeye trees or on the flowers or leaves.
Many times the hives appear OK on the coast but when moved to summer
locations in the hot interior valley they will die. There is no cure.
 
In different areas the trees seem to be less destructive. I believe
this depends on what other flowers are in bloom. The grater number of
other flowers the less the loss. Some hives are not damaged by
California Buckeye, and at one time their was several old time bee
breeders who lived in the Buckeye and produced stock that was reported
to be immune to Buckeye. The bees they produced were dark.
 
It is not a good idea to work hives during the California Buckeye bloom
such as moving frames around only causes the bees to search out new
pollen and nectar to replace what is no longer in the right place in the
hive and if this is from the Buckeye the loss will be greater.
 
The loss can not be prevented by trapping pollen. Feeding sugar syrup
during the bloom many be helpful because it may dilute the toxins in the
Buckeye nectar.
 
The Buckeye trees of Europe is considered a honey plant. The trees
growing in the Sierra foothills seem more toxic then the coastal areas
and may cause loss every year when the coastal ones will be every five
years. All seems to depend on the relationship to what else is blooming
and the amounts of different bloom and what the beekeeper is or has
done.
 
Buckeye bees look black or hairless when they pile up in large numbers
in the bone yard in front of the hives. Most beekeepers move out or stay
away from the California Buckeye.
 
                       ttul, the OLd Drone
 
 
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