black locust or honey locust?

[Heritage]

Is there a difference between black and honey locust trees? My boss has several locust trees in his yard without thorns that he says root very easily, however he isn't sure if it is honey or black locust. Is there a difference when it comes to bees? He says the blooms are very fragrant and abundant. Any ideas? Thanks.

[Michael Bush]

>Is there a difference between black and honey locust trees?

Yes.

The black makes more honey. (and nice honey)

I don't have a lot of experience with the honey locust.

I'm sure there's someone with more experience.

[louis1st]

black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), is widely grown in Europe, and particularly in Hungary.

They grow many species of Robinia pseudoacacia and it blooms there for a long period.

This honey is exported to many countries. the honey is called "acacia honey" and has the particularity of staying liquid for a very long time.

the honey locust is a good bee plant, but is not as common

I hope this helps!

[BerkeyDavid]

Heritage
The Black Locust also roots very easily. I planted about 100 spring of 2004. This spring I thought I had lost 50% of them, mostly from rabbit damage. But amazingly they sprouted back and going into this winter I have about 95% survival rate, some of them are 10 feet tall!

There was a very interesting article by Walt Wright in Bee Culture this spring about Black Locust Honey. It depends on the part of the country you live it whether the bees store the black locust honey or consume it (use it for brood rearing). Too complicated to summarize here, but defnintly worth reading.

[Michael Bush]

Unfortunatlely, mine rear brood on it. :( But it's still a significant source of nectar.

[MichaelW]

The honey locust have larger thorns while the black locust will usually have smaller thorns on the young trees branches. The honey locust can have huge spikes with "spikelets" comming out of the trunk of fully mature trees. The black locust produce a much smaller legume than the honey locust. The honey locust produces a large flat legume that you can peal open and harvest nicely textured food out of. It is sweet as honey when ripe. I'm eying the top of a tree at our place waiting for the wild locust to fall from the sky.

[Heritage]

Well thanks so much for the information. My boss found a tag under the mulch around one of his trees and found it is a thornless honey locust. He bought his from a nursury. We have a lot of black locust trees around here, not too many real close, but a lot on an adjacent piece of property, but FIL doesn't want them anywhere near because the thorns can puncture a tractor tire. I think the thornless honey locust should work perfectly for my bee yard. Thanks so much for the info!

[Hillside]

I think the common name of honeylocust comes from the natural sweetness of the sap in the pods not because it's a good honey plant. My bees pay no attention to these trees.