Black Willow in Bloom

The beekeeping seasons change rapidly in the Mid-South, and the sight of black willow trees in bloom along sandbars of Arkansas’s Buffalo National River is a milestone in the beekeeper’s year. Willow trees bloom in Arkansas between February and April. Throughout March, the honey bees’ harshest month, beekeeping efforts are largely devoted to trying to keep colonies alive. Rapidly expanding colonies are eating the remainder of last fall’s stored honey. This honey consumption is largely occurring ahead of the spring nectar flow. If the beekeeper was too greedy in robbing the hives last year, starvation during March is likely.  However, April sees a massive increase in available flowering plants, and many of these important bee plants are trees along waterways. Willow trees are an abundant source of both nectar and pollen, and they are highly attractive to honey bees. On warm spring days, large numbers of honey bees may be found foraging willow’s colorful yellow catkins.

Increases in pollen being brought into the hive stimulate queens to increase egg laying. Honey bee colonies never turn away excess nectar being brought into the hive by foragers. As the honey bee foragers bring in greater amounts of nectar, many colonies experience brood nest congestion when the bees store nectar in the brood nest. If there are not enough empty honeycombs outside the brood nest to hold the nectar, the bees will place it in the cells needed for the queen’s egg laying. Brood nest congestion often leads to swarming. Mid-South beekeepers experience many occurrences of swarming in early April. Some see their own hives swarming. If the beekeeper is able to capture his or her own swarm, the bee yard merely receives an unscheduled colony division. Many beekeepers capture swarms to replace colonies lost over winter. In areas where Africanized honey bees are not present, swarms are welcomed as a source of honey bee genetic diversity. Willow honey is light in color and described as having a pleasant aromatic flavor.

--Richard

Willow in Bloom

Along with helping individuals share their enjoyment of growing flowers and plants, garden clubs are effective groups for spreading information on horticulture and for raising awareness of environmental issues. The Memphis Herb Society invited me to speak to their group. I gave a presentation on the relationship between the herbs, people, and the honey bees and other pollinators. Many of the herbs are flowering plants that rely upon the bees for reproduction. In turn, the bees receive food from the flowering herbs. We use herbs for flavorings in our cooking, for medications, and often simply for enjoyment. Many of the culinary herbs, like thyme, rosemary, and sage, are excellent bee plants. Thyme is used to produce control treatments for parasitic honey bee mites. Herbs are used to produce many of our important medications. Some herbs, like lemon balm, bee balm, and hyssop, are grown for their fragrance. These herbs in the mint family are all important bee plants producing nectar and pollen. I encouraged the members of the Herb Society to make their plantings “pollinator herb gardens.” I told them that their herb gardens designed to attract, feed, and provide nesting areas for pollinators would eventually be connected to other pollinator gardens and pastures by a series of pollinator corridors.

One of the plants that I featured in my presentation to this environmentally conscious group was the black willow, which is now in bloom. Willows are trees that grow along the banks of waterways. They are important medicinal plants that were used by American Indians for their anti-inflammatory and antiseptic effects. An Italian professor extracted salicylic acid from willow flowers and buds in 1838. In 1899, Bayer created the name “aspirin” by rearranging the genus name for meadowsweet willow, “Spirea.” Willows attract large numbers of honey bees to river bottom lands to fly among golden-colored catkins. These are clusters of flowers without petals; the willow is evolving a reproductive strategy relying upon wind pollination to replace insect pollination.

--Richard

Willow in Bloom

In the early spring we see a series of colorful flowering trees. We also see some flowering shrubs and flowers on the ground. For the honey bee, much of its early spring food is out of our easy view. At this time of the year a large portion of the honey bees’ forage comes from trees along the banks of streams and rivers. Much of this area is so remote that it can only be visited in flight, as the bees do. I visited a nearby river and located an elevated road passing through a swamp. Here, I found quite a few honey bees foraging for pollen and nectar high in the tops of willow trees. As we observe the willows in bloom, we see that the honey bees continue to forage from a single type of flowering plant as long as it is in bloom. When its blooming period is over, the bees seek out the next plant to come into bloom. Since most of the plants and trees come into bloom at different times of the year, they share the honey bees’ pollinating service in a type of time-share arrangement. The early spring often finds the honey bees in the river bottoms.
--Richard