Long-Term Investments
Jessica Lawrence
Beekeeping is one of those hobbies (or jobs) where planning for the future is a necessity, or you have wasted a lot of money. You need to know what equipment you have, what you will need, where your bees are going to live, how you are going to feed them, what sort of interventions you will use, and what your plans are for your bees. It also seems that most beekeepers are more environmentally aware of their surroundings than the average person. You might always be on the lookout for a pollen or nectar source, tracking bloom periods, or just identifying local flora. Some people are dedicated to conservation of native plants, or re-introduction of natives. I have a cousin (I use this term loosely as most everyone here is related) who is fantastic at local plant identification and spends a lot of time trying to plant native grasses and trees. This is a neat long-term project that will be beneficial several years from now and hopefully his children will have the same appreciation he does (they’re all girls so poor guy might need some outside time). It’s not as important to me if it is native or introduced as long as it’s controllable and it has some sort of value.
I’ve been loaning my time and tractor to help plant American Chestnut trees that are about a year old. Beamon planted all of the trees from seed in pots and they range from one to four feet tall while being the same age. To be honest, I can’t even remember how many there were, but the previously planted ones didn’t take very well so they have some reinforcements now. The chestnuts planted this year are on several different tracts of land. Hopefully these will take a little better since the holes were dug by an auger, and the soil was amended during planting with sand, garden soil, and moss. We all know that American Chestnuts have been almost eliminated due to the chestnut blight brought in around 1904, but there have been multiple attempts at establishing new populations. The trees we’ve been planting are original American Chestnuts, not genetically modified or hybridized with the Chinese Chestnuts.
If you check out Honey Plants of North America, you will find chestnuts distinctly in the pollen section, as the catkins give off a substantial amount of pollen, but there’s not really nectar to be had for the bees. There is a little description about Chinquapins (internet spelling is now different than the book’s spelling in some places) as they are basically dwarf chestnuts but produce nectar and are described in detail in the honey section. These plants also seem to have dwindled away in our area, but perhaps others have more. Often times, it seems like pollen is overlooked as an important food for bees and everyone focuses on nectar. I am hoping that having bees around will help these trees produce nuts more efficiently. Chestnuts cannot self-pollinate and need a minimum of two additional trees nearby to successfully set fruit. They can also start producing nuts as soon as four to five years old, typically before the blight starts doing significant damage.
Chestnut blight is caused by a fungus called Cryphonectria parasitica and is difficult to control. In a forest setting it is almost impossible because chemical treatment is required on a semi-annual basis and would be cost prohibitive. The fungus can cause galls and will kill chestnuts while not killing other tree species but using them as vectors to spread spores. Once it infects a tree, it will kill the cambium and create a canker. The canker releases oxalic acid that reduces the pH to toxic levels and ends up girdling the tree and killing it.
Since these chestnuts are being planted in an area where there are virtually no other chestnut trees, they may be able to stay clean for a little longer. It is not feasible in a forest setting to try chemical control of the blight, but in this case it may be possible. It has only been recently that any fungicides could offer much control of chestnut blight, especially without near phytotoxic levels of injection. It would be so irritating to try to medicate your tree and then kill it with the medication. There have been some combinations of fungicides that seem to be able to control the blight, but only for a few seasons at most. Chestnuts are known for fast growth and high reproduction, so it would not be difficult to imagine that they would quickly outgrow the application from months prior. My only concern at all is that there’s not a lot of research on how much residue from the fungicide treatments would end up in the pollen, but typically trees don’t transfer in the same way that a crop would (for multiple reasons) and fungicides concern me less because they’re not going to really be dangerous to bees. If you’re looking for treatment ideas, copper oxychloride and carbendazim or copper oxychloride and benomyl have shown to offer some protection, as well as epoxiconazole and Agrifos when combined with Pentrabark.
In addition to these trees, we threw out some camellias since the auger was already running. These shrubs are essentially the opposite of American chestnuts in that they are definitely not native, super showy, produce a lot of nectar, and are very low maintenance. All of the camellias are different varieties or species, which includes a Camellia sasanqua (var. Yuletide which is burn-out-your-eyes red), a non-reticulata hybrid (night rider, almost black flowers), and a Camellia sinensis propagated from the Lipton tea factory in Louisiana. The other camellias are variegated flower varieties. There is a lot of extremely varying information on camellias and their relationship with bees. It seems that in some areas, they will strip the anthers bare and not use the flowers for nectar, while in some places they seem to only collect nectar. There are some forms that don’t have anthers at all and they are obviously not going to give your girls much in the way of pollen. The varieties that do have pollen are reported to have high protein and nutrition content, but I was not able to find proof of this or a quantified amount of protein.
Camellias are useful for honey bees because they bloom at times when nothing else is available. The sasanqua and sinensis species usually blooms first, starting in mid-fall and runs through part of Winter. The more common Camellia of the japonica species usually starts blooming mid-Winter and lasts through early Spring. They also tend to like shady spots in the summer and get planted in areas that normally don’t house the showy Summer and Spring flowers. They like moist spots and mulching but don’t like to be compacted in the ground or have a lot of mulch around the trunk. A wide spread of mulch that thins at the base is better for camellias. They also need a little space from other plants because they tend to get large and being crowded can give them diseases.
Beamon also bought all the leftover butterfly bushes from Lowe’s because they were steeply discounted at the end of the season. They were mostly purples and blues and I have read that sometimes these aren’t as attractive to honey bees as other butterfly bushes. I added to his purchase with two golden ball butterfly bushes, which are reported to be a fan favorite of honey bees, and two bicolor butterfly bushes that are supposedly easier for bees to see in their color spectrum. Butterfly bushes in general have a lot of available nectar, and will at least support other pollinators if it doesn’t attract honey bees. These are a little different as far as maintenance because they will get massively out of hand if you do not cut them back every year. Some of these bushes will be used for privacy screening down fence lines and roadsides and will be better off not being cut. They have potential to reach around fifteen feet across and well over ten feet tall.
The issue that a lot of people have with butterfly bushes is that they are non-native to America. Butterfly bushes originated in Asia, but were intentionally introduced rather than accidental. They have what is estimated to be around 40,000 seeds per flower spike and have an 80% germination rate once dispersed. Any stalks that break off have the ability to root as well. They can be spread by water or by wind because they are winged, and can still germinate up to five years after being in the soil. They are so easily reproduced that they outcompete native bushes and cause food scarcity for caterpillars and butterflies that depend on those native plants. Butterfly bushes can also be difficult to remove once established, although if you’re planting them on purpose you’re not likely to dig them up.
While it is always important to focus on native plants to improve the natural landscape, non-native plants can be beneficial when planted with purpose and maintained within your parameters. Beamon is planting to feed bees naturally while also trying to repopulate native trees. The most important thing is to do your research before you start spending money on plants so you know that you can meet their requirements and that the plants can meet your design needs.
