Plum in Bloom

The plum is the first white-blooming tree seen in the woods early in the year. Plums blossoms have just started showing in the Mid-South. Plums can be seen in large thickets and scattered among the understory of forests. In the next few weeks some stands of plum in full bloom will give the woods the appearance of a late winter snowfall.  Their locations often reveal pioneer homesteads long abandoned. When one encounters plums, pecans, mimosa, sassafras, yucca, forsythia, daffodil, catalpa, or wisteria in the woods, bricks and rubble of earlier dwellings are usually close by. We often find a number of varieties of plums in a woodlot, forest margin, or abandoned farmstead. Along with wild plums one may find Chickasaw plums, thought to have been cultivated by the Chickasaw Indians and early settlers. Many domestic plums require pollination by honey bees or bumblebees to produce fruit. Wild animals attracted to the fruit scatter plum seeds.

In today’s photo, an aging forager gathers pollen from a plum blossom. The old worker bee, a survivor of the winter, has lost much of the hair from her abdomen, giving her a black, shiny appearance. The bee clings onto the plum flower using the pads and hooks of her feet. Using body attachments shaped like combs and rakes, the worker preens the pollen granules from her hairy body, into pellets of gray-colored pollen to be carried on her hind legs. The arrival of pollen being brought into the hive in late winter serves to stimulate the queen to increase egg laying. Plums provide valuable nectar and pollen early in the year when it is most needed for winter survival and for starting the colony’s population build-up for the spring. The plum is a member of the important family of bee plants, the roses. Other roses include California’s almonds and other fruit trees: pears, peaches, cherries, and apples. Hawthorns, blackberries, strawberries, and greenbrier are also roses. The bees and beekeepers welcome the plums in bloom.

--Richard

Plums in Bloom

The plums are the first bright white-blooming trees to appear in the woods early in the spring. These members of the rose family grow in woodlands, fencerows, and old fields. The roses are important bee plants, providing ample amounts of nectar and pollen. There are numerous species of plums in the Mid-South including the wild plum and the Chickasaw plum, thought to have been cultivated by the Chickasaw Indians and early settlers. Many domestic plums have escaped into the woods, often forming thickets of white-blooming, low trees. Many of the domestic plums require bees to cross-pollinate the blossoms. The early bloom of the plums comes at an important time for honey bee colonies rapidly expanding their spring populations. After the bloom of the plums, a series of other fruiting trees in the rose family will come into bloom: pear, apple, cherry, peach, and crabapple. The almond tree, cultivated in California, is also a rose. All except the peach, which is usually self-fruitful, require pollination from bees to produce fruit. If you click on today’s photo, you can see honey bees actively foraging a plum tree. Some bees are collecting nectar, and others are collecting pollen.

A report has been released which indicates that Colony Collapse Disorder still persists after four years of honey bee die-offs in the United States and Canada. The report reveals that continuing CCD losses coupled with a more severe winter than normal may bring record over-winter colony losses this year. The study found bee pollen and hives laden with pesticides. Many of the pesticides are systemic agents which are designed to be taken up by the plants and carried throughout the plant. It is felt that the systemic pesticides are brought back to the hive by honey bees foraging for pollen to feed to the brood. The report can be followed at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100324/ap_on_sc/us_food_and_farm_disappearing_bees. Hopefully, this and similar reports will make more of the public aware of the effect certain pesticides have on the pollinators.
--Richard

Plums in Bloom

There is a close connection between the honey bees and the flowering plants that they visit. The bees are attracted to the flowers by their color, shape, floral pattern, and aroma. From the flowers, bees derive their food in the form of nectar and pollen. While visiting the flowers, the bees inadvertently carry pollen from one part of the flower to another accomplishing cross-pollination, a necessary step in the plant’s reproduction. There is also a close connection between beekeepers and the plants that feed their bees. Beekeepers are always on the look-out for the particular flowers that are attracting the bees on any given day.

In the late days of winter, the first white-blooming tree to be seen in the Mid-South is the plum. The blossoms shine through the bare forest margins as we drive through the country. Plum thickets often remain as reminders of long-abandoned home sites. On a warm late winter day, plum trees will attract large numbers of honey bees.
--Richard