Sunday, May 31, 2009

Native Dogwoods in Bloom

We are attracted to flowering plants by the same things that attract honey bees to them. We see the color of the blossoms and their shape. The honey bees pay particular attention to the interruptions in the pattern of the petals. We smell the fragrance of the flowers. The honey bee’s antennae can sense the faintest of odors. They can detect the smell of flowers even when flying over the plants. The bees can discriminate between different nectars offered to them by scout bees. This attraction of the honey bees has the result of accomplishing pollination of the flowering plant. The honey bee is rewarded for its work in pollinating the plant by receiving a small ration of pollen or nectar. Thus, the flowering plants and the bees share a most important beneficial relationship. Click on the picture and you can see a honey bee approaching a native dogwood. In preparation for collecting nectar, the bee’s tongue, or proboscis, can be seen being brought forward from the area where it normally rests under the head.

Native dogwoods are in bloom in the woodlots thinly scattered across the Arkansas Delta. These low trees of the hardwood understory have tiny flowers unlike those of the well-known flowering dogwoods. The native dogwoods are quite fragrant and attract honey bees as well as a number of native pollinators. I think that the dogwoods smell soapy; Rita says they smell like a bouquet of flowers. After the dogwoods are pollinated by the bees, they produce their fruit, a berry. The berries are eaten by numerous birds which scatter the seeds. Deer browse the dogwood, a favored food, clearing the ground for the growth of wildflowers and more dogwoods. The honey bee is a partner in a number of beneficial relationships.
--Richard

4 comments:

  1. Thank you. We became hosts of 12 hives this year. I just looked at how to propagate dogwood in my efforts to provide more blossoms for them. I'm pleased to have found your site and blog and am subscribing as I'm working to learn as much as I can to support our hives.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Once established, dogwoods thrive in the understory of hardwood trees. Enjoy your beekeeping!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've heard some about allergy sufferers and how "local" honey helps. My question is, what if it is a certain pollen. If it is dogwood pollen, can the allergy be addressed using any dogwood based honey, or is the "local" dogwood honey better? I love in Metro Atlanta, GA and don't know where to get this specific product.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Allergy sufferers are more often affected by the small, wind-blown pollens of the grasses than the larger grained pollens of plants like dogwood trees. Some benefit is likely afforded by eating locally produced raw, unfiltered honey, which will contain traces of pollen. The honey will include pollen from numerous flowering plants. You can purchase local raw honey from beekeepers in your area. Visit your local farmers market.
    --Richard

    ReplyDelete